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“Billboard Chris”: A Canadian father calmly opposes gender ideology

“Billboard Chris”: A Canadian father calmly opposes gender ideology

WASHINGTON, DC, July 5 (C-Fam) He has faced screaming mobs, been violently attacked, had his social media posts censored, and been labeled a “far-right activist” in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Hatewatch” newsletter for his work protecting children from harmful gender ideology.

Despite all this, “Billboard Chris” remains calm and quiet at rallies and protests, willing to speak to friends and foes alike. Chris Elston has traveled far beyond his native British Columbia, carrying his trademark sandwich boards with messages like “Kids can’t consent to puberty blockers” and documenting his interactions on camera.

Elston, an insurance broker and father of two girls, earned his nickname when he joined other activists in 2020 to put up billboards in Vancouver expressing support for author JK Rowling, who faced a torrent of hate for her critical comments on transgenderism.

Elston’s particular focus is on the topic of gender reassignment among adolescents, puberty blockers and the exclusion of gender ideology from schools. “I talk to people,” says Elston. writes“The core of my message is that our children are beautiful just the way they are. That doesn’t require drugs or scalpels.”

Transgender activists and their allies are desperate to shut down these conversations and messages. Elston has been physically attacked more than 40 times, and video footage proves it. On the other side of the world, Elston is at the centre of a debate about free speech in Australia after the Australian government’s eSafety Commissioner ordered him to take down one of his posts on X (formerly Twitter).

Elston’s post criticized the inclusion of an Australian transgender activist on a World Health Organization expert panel tasked with developing new guidelines on healthcare for transgender and nonbinary people. Elston linked to an article that revealed the activist’s social media posts, which included exhibitionism, explicit sexual content and illegal drug use.

“This woman (yes, she’s female) is part of a 20-person panel of ‘experts’ hired by @WHO to draft their guidelines on the care of ‘transgender people,'” Elston wrote. “People who belong in mental hospitals are writing the guidelines for people who belong in mental hospitals.”

Elon Musk, the owner of X, has come to Elston’s aid and sued the eSafety Commissioner over the shutdown order.

Elston has traveled throughout Canada, the United States and Europe with his microphone, camera and sandwich boards. Although he is armed with statistics and quotes, which he also documents on his website, his most important qualification is that of “father”, which he defines on one of his boards as “a humane man who protects his children from gender ideology”.

While Elston was attending an event hosted by the conservative group Moms 4 Liberty, he was contacted by the Southern Poverty Law Center about an upcoming article that would mention his “attacks on the transgender community.”

In his response, Elston praised the work of Moms 4 Liberty and its allies and expressed his joy “to be counted among such valued individuals and organizations.”

Regarding the issue of gender-specific youth medicine, he rejected the accusation that he was “right-wing extremist”.

“My opinion on this issue is based on facts and is shared by the progressive medical organizations in England, Sweden, Finland and Norway,” Elston told the left-wing group. “You might want to do a little research.”