BRISBANE, Australia, (LifeSiteNews) — Canadian Chris Elston, better known as “Billboard Chris,” has emerged victorious in a free speech legal battle after he was threatened with arrest, issued an $800 (AUD) fine, and forcibly moved in Brisbane after conducting consensual conversations with members of the Australian public in March.
“Tremendous news in Australia!” declared Elston on X. “I’ve just won a victory over the Brisbane City Council, who had police remove me from the public square.”
Elston explained that the drama began on March 24 when a disapproving city council worker ordered him to leave the town square.
“He lied outright, saying I was obstructing people’s movement,” said Elston, who was issued an $806 ticket by the council worker. Shortly thereafter, a dozen police arrived.
Video footage that he later shared with the city council clearly showed that Elston had not obstructed the movement of the public.
“I was told I would go to jail if I refused to move, but I knew the council worker was lying, I hadn’t violated any of their bylaws, and the authorities at all levels of Australian government need to stop censoring people peacefully telling the truth about this child abuse, so I stood my ground,” recounted the child protection activist.
Elston suggested that the real issue was not obstruction, but the message on his sandwich board sign stating, “children cannot consent to puberty blockers.”
“It’s clear the problem was the Council’s ignorant bias about my message,” he said.
According to Elston, the police officers admitted that he was the only person ever to be targeted for removal.
While Elston was not jailed, the steep fine had been kept in place.
Earlier this month, Elston and fellow activist Lois McLatchie Miller were arrested by police in Brussels for refusing to discard the signs they had been using to urge members of the European Union (EU) to protect children from the harms of transgender ideology.
Again, more than a dozen police arrived on the scene to arrest Elston and Miller for daring to carry signs stating the simple truth that “Children are never born in the wrong body.”
Elston has long been a target of progressive governments and other trans-extremists — in North America, Australia, and Europe — for speaking out against the dangers of administering puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, and performing so-called “gender affirming” surgeries on children.
