Rebecca Oas
(ZENIT News – Center for Family and Human Rights / Washington, 07.07.2024).- He has faced screaming mobs, been violently assaulted, had his posts censored on social media, was described as a “far right activist” by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Hatewatch” newsletter for his advocacy to protect children from harmful gender ideology.
Despite all this, “Billboard Chris” remains a calm, soft-spoken presence at rallies and protests, ready to have a conversation with friends and enemies alike. Chris Elston has traveled well beyond his home in British Columbia, wearing his signature sandwich boards with messages like “Children cannot consent to puberty blockers” and using a camera to document his interactions.
An insurance broker and father to two girls, Elston earned his nickname when he joined with other activists to put up billboards in Vancouver expressing support for the author J.K. Rowling in 2020. Rowling faced a flood of vitriol for her comments criticizing transgenderism.
Elston’s particular focus is on the issue of youth gender transition, puberty blockers, and keeping gender ideology out of schools. “I have conversations with people,” Elston writes. “The core of my message is that our children are beautiful just as they are. No drugs or scalpels needed.”
These are conversations and messages that transgender activists and their allies are determined to stop. Elston has been physically assaulted more than 40 times, and has the video evidence to prove it. On the other side of the world, Elston is at the center of a debate over free speech in Australia after the Australian government’s eSafety Commissioner ordered one of his posts on X (formerly Twitter) to be taken down.
Elston’s post criticized the World Health Organization’s inclusion of an Australian transgender activist on an expert committee to draft a new set of guidelines on health care for transgender and nonbinary persons. Elston linked to an article revealing 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 panel of 20 ‘experts’ hired by the @WHO to draft their policy on caring for ‘trans people’” wrote Elston. “People who belong in psychiatric wards are writing the guidelines for people who belong in psychiatric wards”.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, has come to Elston’s defense, suing the eSafety commissioner over the takedown order.
Elston has taken his microphone, camera, and sandwich boards across Canada, the United States, and Europe. Though he comes equipped with statistics and citations, which he also documents at his website, his primary credential is that of “dad,” defined on one of his boards as “a human male who protects his kids from gender ideology.”
When Elston attended an event hosted by the conservative group Moms 4 Liberty, the Southern Poverty Law Center contacted him about a forthcoming article that would mention his “attacks on the transgender community.”
Elston responded by praising the work of Moms 4 Liberty and its allies, expressing pleasure “to be included with such esteemed individuals and organizations.”
As for the issue of youth gender medicine, he brushed off the accusation of being “far right.”
“My opinions on this matter are evidence-based and shared by the progressive medical bodies of England, Sweden, Finland, and Norway,” Elston told the leftwing group. “You might want to do a bit of research.”
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