Canadian anti-child-mutilation activist Billboard Chris has been fined $806, threatened with arrest and forcibly ejected from Brisbane’s main shopping street for peacefully holding a sign saying “children cannot consent to puberty blockers”.
Chris Elston, who travels the world having conversations with members of the public while wearing billboards declaring his opposition to radical gender ideology, was accused of “obstructing people” while standing in pedestrian throughfare Queen Street Mall on Tuesday.
Mr Elston is in Australia to fight a free speech case against Australia’s online censor at the Administrative Review Tribunal in Melbourne over an X post made last year in which he called an influential female World Health Organisation activist a woman.
Police in Brisbane have used force to remove me from a public street, but declined to press charges.
I don’t think they want an international incident on their hands.
This all happened because a bylaw officer lied and said I was obstructing people’s movement in a public… pic.twitter.com/UQdRfRpQXT
— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇦🇺 (@BillboardChris) March 25, 2025
Videos posted by Mr Elston on X on Tuesday show him being issued the fine by a council worker before Queensland Police arrived, threatened him with arrest and imposed a “move on” order which led to him being forcibly removed from the area.
After the incident he wrote: “I was told I was getting arrested and charged today, and I was willing to go through that. Turns out the Brisbane police were not willing to carry through with their threat.
“They just forcefully removed me and then released me. Of all the people with signs here through the years, I’m the only person they have ever done this to. Having peaceful conversations about children being harmed is apparently the one thing we’re not allowed to do.”
Here’s the moment Brisbane police removed me from their public square today.
I am guilty of having truthful conversations about the harms of child transition. pic.twitter.com/lihDMdA8I4
— Billboard Chris 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇦🇺 (@BillboardChris) March 25, 2025
The incident sparked outrage among everyday Australians, with many pointing out that pro-Palestine protesters were regularly allowed to block streets, and One Nation Queensland Senator Malcolm Roberts among several political figures disturbed by the police action.
“The news that Billboard Chris has been forcibly removed/threatened with arrest for standing quietly to the side of Queen Street Mall, Brisbane is concerning,” he wrote on X.
“Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and Police Minister Dan Purdie must immediately clarify the legal basis for these threats with a formal statement.”
The news that @BillboardChris has been forcibly removed/threatened with arrest for standing quietly to the side of Queen Street Mall, Brisbane is concerning.
Queensland Premier @DavidCrisafulli and Police Minister @DanPurdieMP must immediately clarify the legal basis for these…
— Malcolm Roberts 🇦🇺 (@MRobertsQLD) March 25, 2025
NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick highlighted a comment from Elon Musk asking if Mr Elston was okay, and wrote: “FYI Queensland Police and Premier Crisafulli. Elon Musk is watching you arrest a peaceful campaigner against trans extremism.”
Queensland Liberal National Party Senator Matt Canavan asked: “How come the police never moved on the Free Palestine crowd that were obstructing students just wanting to go to class for months!”
And independent Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick responded to a post about the incident by saying “I hope this isn’t true”.
FYI Queensland Police and Premier Crisafulli.
Elon Musk is watching you arrest a peaceful campaigner against trans extremism 👇@BillboardChris @RachaelWongAus pic.twitter.com/3X09JMpfgL
— John Ruddick MLC (@JohnRuddick2) March 25, 2025
How come the police never moved on the Free Palestine crowd that were obstructing students just wanting to go to class for months! https://t.co/1v5AaX0ClK
— Senator Matt Canavan (@mattjcan) March 25, 2025
Queensland Police were also accused of two-tier policing over the incident with some calling their actions “absolutely shameful” and others describing Australia as a “failing police state”.
Last year it was revealed that Queensland Police is facing more than 1,000 misconduct reports from a single year, including hundreds of allegations of violence in a damning report released at the same time as officers made violent arrests of nationalist protesters in Brisbane’s CBD.
Mr Elston’s free speech case, in which he is appealing the eSafety Commissioner’s decision to block his post on X, begins on March 31 and is expected to last five days.
Robert Clarke, Director of Advocacy for ADF International, who is serving as part of Mr Elston’s legal team, said the case had implications for freedom of speech worldwide.
“This significant legal showdown with Australian authorities represents a litmus test for free speech in a world seeing increasing push back against global censorship,” he said.
“We’re used to hearing about governments silencing or punishing citizens for their ‘wrong’ speech in parts of the world with strict blasphemy laws – but now, from Australia, to Mexico, to across the EU, we see Western governments increasingly take authoritarian steps to shut down views they don’t like, often by branding them as ‘offensive’, ‘hateful’, or ‘misinformation’.
“In a free society, ideas should be challenged with ideas, not state censorship. For years, Chris has been speaking an important truth to which many in Australia are now waking up – children cannot consent to puberty blockers.
“We’re proud to stand with Billboard Chris in defending the right to live and speak the truth.”
Header image credit: Billboard Chris.
