Dozen of protesters have stood vigil outside of the New Zealand High Commision in London, voicing their objections to Kiwi transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard's Olympics selection.
Hubbard - who transitioned from man to woman in 2013 - is among five NZ weightlifters to compete at Tokyo next month, where she'll become the first ever transgender Olympian.
Her selection has caused widespread outrage across the world, with the likes of UK media commentator Piers Morgan calling Hubbard's inclusion a "disaster for women's sport".
Among the signs carried by streetside protesters were 'Laurel Hubbard is a man', 'Keep men out of women's sports', ' as well as pictures of Hubbard labelled 'This man is a cheat', while chanting "no men on women's teams".
"I'm here today because I know sex is binary and I believe we need to protect women's sports, because men are biologically faster and stronger than women," said one protester.
Another said: "We don't think that any biological male should be competing in female sports, that's it.
"I don't believe that women have fought for decades for our rights to be transduced by men pretending they're women."
READ MORE
- Transgender cyclist defends her world championship win after Donald Trump Jr. calls it "BS"
- Laurel Hubbard set to become first transgender Olympic athlete
- Former Olympians challenge Sport NZ draft guidelines on transgender athletes, want more consultation
- Petition for Massey Uni to cancel 'Feminism 2020' gathers steam
A handful of people took exception with the nature of the protests and screaming matches broke out between the two factions.
"You bigoted prick," shouted one man at a protester.
"It's disgusting," said another. "If one woman wants to do the sport she is good at, you cannot come and protest against her.
"They don't care about her voice, they're not listening to her. They should be ashamed of themselves."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been among those who have supported Hubbard's Olympics selection, saying "all parties have simply followed the rules".
University of Toledo professor Jamie Taylor - an expert and author on transgender rights and policy - believes the widespread backlash that's greeted Hubbard's inclusion will see more restrictions in place for future Games.
"I'm not going to be surprised if we do see more restrictions in place, because of the backlash that's building here," Taylor has told Newshub last week.
"She's in a no-win situation to me."
One of Hubbard's potential rivals in Tokyo - Belgian Anna Vanbellinghen - says the situation was "like a bad joke".
"Anyone that has trained weightlifting at a high level knows this to be true in their bones - this particular situation is unfair to the sport and to the athletes," Vanbellinghen has told Olympics news website insidethegames.
