Latest news with #BillboardChris
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
'Billboard Chris' sounds off after arrest in 'most woke city' for opposing transgender treatments for kids
Conservative activists warned about the threat to free speech in Europe after they were arrested in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday for holding signs opposing transgender medical treatments for children. Chris Elston, better known as "Billboard Chris," and Alliance Defending Freedom International senior legal communications officer Lois McLatchie Miller spoke to Fox News Digital after they were released, hours after being harassed by a crowd and taken into police custody. Elston, well known for wearing billboards decrying transgender medical care for children out in public, stood out in the streets of the Belgian capital alongside McLatchie Miller. Both wore billboards with the messages, "Children are never born in the wrong body" and "Children cannot consent to puberty blockers." Elston travels the world to spread his message, which he says mostly receives positive feedback. But in Brussels, it was mostly opposition. "It was pretty much non-stop abuse and harassment," Elston told Fox News Digital. "It quickly became apparent that this is probably the most woke city I have been to in my five years of campaigning, and nothing else comes close." "We had a man throw a glass bottle at us. It landed behind me, but right in front of a five-year-old girl who was walking with her dad, smashed on the ground. People were telling me I needed to get out of there because Antifa was going to come, and no matter where we walked in the city, we were getting a lot of grief," he added. After one man continually harassed McLatchie Miller, the pair called the police for protection. Instead, they were told if they didn't remove their signs, they would be arrested. They were then detained, strip-searched and had their signs confiscated, before they were released three hours later with no formal charge, Elston said. "They put us in handcuffs and everything, but they just let us go, and it seems they just wanted to get rid of us instead of dealing with the angry, unruly mob," he added. The activists were in Brussels this week to share their message and discuss policy issues with members of the European Parliament. McLatchie Miller, who works for the faith-based legal organization, Alliance Defending Freedom International, said it was surprising to find herself detained, when she is usually fighting for ADF clients whose speech has been silenced by local authorities. "I don't think we were quite prepared to expect this level of hostility here in Brussels, but hopefully it exposes some things that need to be exposed about the need to protect freedom of expression in Europe," she told Fox News Digital. Vice President JD Vance recently sounded the alarm about free speech being under threat in Europe. In a speech in Munich in February, he raised the case of a British army veteran who was arrested and charged for silently praying in an abortion buffer zone to warn that Europe appeared to be retreating from some of its fundamental values it shares with the U.S. and adopting "Soviet-era" censorship. McLatchie Miller said her arrest "really represents the free speech crisis that Europe is facing right now." "Vance pointed this out in his Munich speech just a few months ago, and many people in Europe laughed at him and said that this wasn't true," she continued. "But case after case, time after time, we're seeing this assault on free speech unfold." "As Chris and I were just there sharing a very peaceful message, a very important message, that no child has ever been born in the wrong body, and they do not need drugs and scalpels to fix themselves, they need love and affirmation. It's an opinion that's shared by many people across Europe, and yet the authorities came and shut down that conversation in the streets of this capital city, this heart of the European Union." "If free speech is not accessible here in Europe's alleged home of democracy, then it's not accessible anywhere, and it really does raise an alarm bell," she said. Brussels police did not immediately return a request for comment. Their arrest comes at a time when Elston believes there is a growing movement across the globe of those questioning or criticizing transitioning children. "We're making tremendous progress all across the globe," he said. He cited European countries like Finland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom which now discourage giving puberty blockers to children experiencing gender dysphoria. "The truth is spreading," he added. Elston said he speaks to people on both sides of the aisle who share his concerns about transitioning children, and he believes it was one major issue that swung voters away from the Democratic Party in the 2024 election. "This was the number one issue in the U.S. election that caused swing voters to vote for President Donald Trump," he argued. "It wasn't the economy, it wasn't immigration, it was transgender insanity. And even in these Democrat states, a lot of those voters are sick and tired of this."
Fox News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Free speech advocates praise Trump admin for speaking out on global censorship
A Canadian free speech advocate who was fined by Australian authorities spoke out after the U.S. State Department appeared to come to his defense. "It's phenomenal. The Trump administration has been tremendous on this issue," Chris Elston, popularly known as "Billboard Chris" for his custom of wearing sandwich boards with slogans on them, said. In the Australian case, Elston had been fined $806 for "obstructing public movement" in response to displaying his billboard reading "children cannot consent to puberty blockers." Elston said he was peacefully conversing with members of the public and was issued a police "move on" order before being sent away. That incident was separate from a legal challenge Elston launched in April against the country's eSafety commission after the government had his tweet of a Daily Mail article about a transgender activist seated on an Australian board. "It's such a zealous overuse of authority," Elston said. "We don't elect [officials] to decide what we can say." After he was censored, the case was included in a tweet from a State Department bureau decrying government censorship and their coercion of tech companies into targeting individuals. "Freedom of expression must be protected – online and offline," it tweeted. "Examples of this conduct are troublingly numerous. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened X for hosting political speech; Türkiye fined Meta for refusing to restrict content about protests; and Australia required X to remove a post criticizing an individual for promoting gender ideology." "The United States opposes efforts to undermine freedom of expression." Lois McLatchie Miller of Alliance Defending Freedom International, which has been defending Elston, said the group believes "everybody has the right to live and speak their truth, and Chris is a great example of that." "[W]e stood up with Chris alongside the Human Rights Law Alliance in Australia to defend free speech there, but we also see in my own country in the U.K., where people are having censorship thrust upon them, even being arrested for expressing their views."
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Marco Rubio cracks down on Australia for 'censoring' social media posts critical of trans orgy activist
is calling on foreign countries to end their online censorship practices against U.S. companies in an effort to preserve 'free expression.' It comes as the Australian government is embroiled in a legal battle with Elon Musk 's X social media platform and an advocate against transgender treatments for minors. The government there sought to censor the online activity of an American company and one of its users. It placed a geo-based ban on those in the country viewing an X post because the user known as 'Billboard Chris' used the biological pronouns of a transgender individual and Australian citizen. 'I think what this does is put some pressure on the Australian government, because nobody likes to have the United States Government cracking down on them,' Chris Elston told the Daily Mail when asked about the State Department weighing in on the fight. Last week the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor (DRL) called out Australia, the European Union, and Turkey for their recent actions suppressing online activity related to political speech, gender ideology and peaceful protests. Lawyers for X and Elston, who is Canadian, legally challenged the takedown order by the Australian government's eSafety Commission and appeared last month for a five-day hearing at an administrative review tribunal in Melbourne. While the panel originally created to take down nude images of minors can control what people in Australia publish and see online, they are also allegedly seeking to police the online activity of the world when it relates to anything posted about Australians. The post was geo-blocked from being viewed in Australia and X was sent a take down order by the country's eSafety Commission, which the platform is now fighting in Australian court If someone tries to look at the post Elston made over a year ago, they will instead receive the message: 'This post from @BillboardChris has been withheld in Australia in response to a legal demand.' The U.S. has said that the way other countries treat American companies could affect trade relationships – and Trump has already threatened or implemented mass tariff policies nationwide. 'They've made freedom of speech a critical component of their entire campaign and how they manage when they want other countries to do the same, it's a big issue for the Trump administration,' Elston told the Daily Mail. He added: 'So they're not going to be happy that other countries are doing petty censorship about people on the other side of the world.' The DRL Bureau wrote in a statement on its X account on May 1: 'The Department of State is deeply concerned about efforts by governments to coerce American tech companies into targeting individuals for censorship.' 'Freedom of expression must be protected – online and offline,' the statement added. 'Examples of this conduct are troublingly numerous.' 'EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened X for hosting political speech; Türkiye fined Meta for refusing to restrict content about protests; and Australia required X to remove a post criticizing an individual for promoting gender ideology,' according to the statement. 'Even when content may be objectionable, censorship undermines democracy, suppresses political opponents, and degrades public safety. The United States opposes efforts to undermine freedom of expression.' 'As [Secretary Marco Rubio] said, our diplomacy will continue to place an emphasis on promoting fundamental freedoms,' it concluded. The State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor (DRL) on Mday 1, 2025 called out Australia, the European Union and Turkey for their recent actions suppressing online activity related to political speech, gender ideology and peaceful protests of U.S. companies The whole saga with Australia started last year when Elston reposted a Daily Mail article about an Australian transgender member of the United Nations trans health panel under the World Health Organization. This included posting images of Teddy Cook practicing public nudity and attending bondage parties and trans orgies. Cook filed a complaint with Australia's eSafety Commission against news outlets that published the images. Elston reposted the article with the caption: '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.' 'People who belong in psychiatric wards are writing the guidelines for people who belong in psychiatric wards,' he added in the X post from February 2024. Australia took issue with the fact that he reposted an article that 'doxxed' where one of its citizens worked as well as the images, and the fact that the post 'misgendered' the transgender WHO panel member. Elston detailed how lawyers with X informed him of Australia's take down notice. Elston, a Canadian citizen, has gone viral for holding signs in public spaces with messages slamming gender ideology and the implementation of transgender treatments on minors. He told Daily Mail he was fined in Australia for the same actions he takes in other parts of the world The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) came forward to represent Elston in his defense in Australia. 'Everyone has the right to speak the truth online - especially when discussing significant societal debates,' ADF International legal counsel Robert Clarke told the Daily Mail. 'Australian authorities have significantly overreached by attempting to silence a Canadian campaigner on a U.S. social media platform,' he added. 'We're delighted to stand by Chris as he fights his legal battle against censorship, and welcome the State Department's affirmation that Australia, like all governments, must uphold free speech.' The Australian eSafety Commissioner defended the decision to censor Elston in a tribunal last month by claiming his use of biological pronounce was 'intended to have an effect of causing serious harm'
