A young tattooed politician has fired back at online trolls who flooded her social media accounts with vulgar remarks about her past life as a stripper.
Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgia Purcell, 31, the youngest politician in the state parliament, suppressed the derogatory messages by sharing photos of herself pole dancing online on Saturday.
The latest round of online hate speech against Ms Purcell was sparked by her push to end duck hunting as an investigation into recreational shooting of native birds in Victoria is underway.
The final report will be submitted to parliament next week.
“The duckshooters are back with their VERY convincing and not at all misogynistic arguments about keeping their blood sport in Victoria,” Ms Purcell wrote in the caption of her pole dance post.
Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgia Purcell (pictured), 31, fired back at trolls who flooded her social media accounts with derogatory comments about her life as a stripper
She incorporated trolls’ comments about her previous job into the photos she uploaded.
“Here’s just a selection of what I’ve seen over the past few days,” she said.
“When are you going to realize I’m not ashamed of my former children, and ten years later I’m still on pole.”
The young politician was supported in her position by her followers in the comments.
‘Fit and relentless. Meanwhile, they are lying on the couch and feeling miserable…,” one wrote.
“I love how you named and shamed! Keep doing what you’re doing,” said another.
A third commented: ‘Doing a sport that requires some physical fitness and talent?! They wouldn’t know what that is.’
“I mean it must be a pretty hard ego blow for all these misogynist cavemen,” another added.
Members of Labour, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party have called for an end to duck hunting in the state.
But this action has drawn opposition from hunters and a number of trade unions, including the CFMEU, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, the Electrical Trades Union and the Plumbers’ Union.
Some Victorian Labor MPs have also expressed opposition, especially regional members representing voters who take part in this practice.
Duck hunting is banned in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, but is still allowed in Victoria, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
The young politician crushed the posts by sharing photos of herself pole dancing online with the comments on Saturday
Ms Purcell was supported in her position in the comments, with followers criticizing her critics
Ms Purcell’s path to parliament has been beset by obstacles due to her inky life and former life as a stripper, exposing her to attacks from trolls and political enemies.
Earlier this year, Ms Purcell told Daily Mail Australia she was just 19 years old and studying law at university when a photo of her work as a stripper leaked – and she thought her future dreams of working in law or politics were over. goods.
She took up work as a topless waitress and stripper, as well as working at a post office, to try and make ends meet, as she lived away from home while in college.
Despite trying her best to keep her job private from her personal life, it all changed when she was tagged in a Facebook post.
“I worked far away from where I studied and grew up so I wouldn’t meet anyone I knew, and while I felt there was nothing wrong with that kind of work, I knew a lot of others would feel differently,” said she.
“Then one day I was at the hairdresser’s and when I logged into Facebook, I saw that I had been tagged without my permission in a photo of me working as a stripper, and there were a lot of comments.
“I grew up in a small country town in Geelong, so everyone knows everyone and it spread very quickly and viciously.
”
After the photo was shared, Ms Purcell said she felt like her life wasn’t worth living anymore, and that she thought her career as a lawyer was over as she would never be considered a trustworthy person.
Members of Labour, the Greens and the Animal Justice Party have called for an end to duck hunting in the state. But the pressure has also led to resistance from hunters and some unions (stock image)
Ms Purcell recalled the horrifying moment when photos of her work as a stripper were leaked online to Daily Mail Australia
Trolls messaged her to tell her she was disgusting and should be ashamed — many from people she went to college with.
The abuse caused her to withdraw from on-campus teaching just two years into her five years of college.
Ms Purcell said she felt like a bad person for her choice of work, which led to her eventual diagnosis of PTSD, amid regular anxiety attacks.
But after becoming chief of staff to former MP Andy Meddick of the Animal Justice Party, she decided to run for parliament herself. She decided to get the skeleton out of the closet before a political enemy could use it against her.
“Politics is so mean and cruel that if you have political enemies, they will find out everything about you,” said Ms Purcell.
“So a few years later I shared my story and wrote an op-ed about what I had been through,” Ms Purcell said.
Mrs. Purcell proudly archives her accomplishments and beliefs in the many tattoos affixed to her body.
“We all have a past and a digital footprint and for younger politicians it is much more traceable than the average politician, so after sharing my story I felt the weight lifted off my shoulders.
“After I did it, I became a new person. I gained confidence and because of my past I thought I could only be a spectator, not a participant. But now that I have been elected as a Member of Parliament two years later, it has been a dazzling experience.’
Ms. Purcell also proudly archives her accomplishments and beliefs in the many tattoos affixed to her body.
She has a tattoo of a wombat after helping to pass laws banning recreational shooting of the animal, and another of a duck, the next animal she plans to protect from shooters.
Another of her tattoos features a woman boxing next to the phrase “stand on your ground.”
She’s also made a nod to her past in the adult entertainment industry with a tattoo of a stripper on a pole with the words “real work.”