{"id":928695,"date":"2025-02-12T16:26:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/?post_type=gap&p=928695"},"modified":"2025-02-12T16:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:26:08","slug":"chris-elston-aka-billboard-chris","status":"publish","type":"gap","link":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/gap\/billboard-chris\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Elston, aka \u201cBillboard Chris\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2014Protests against transgender health care and transgender people. Elston travels the United States, wearing a sandwich board with messages including, \u201cChildren cannot consent to puberty blockers.\u201d Since June 1, 2022, Elston has been involves in <\/span>20 incidents including 15 protests and five cases of harassment. Elston frequently targets gender-affirming care providers, school districts \/ college campuses, and other public events.<\/p>\n

\u2014Works\u00a0with many far-right “parents rights” groups, including Moms for Liberty,<\/a> Gays Against Groomers<\/a>, Genspect, Do No Harm, Independent Women’s Forum<\/a> (IWF), and the Heritage Foundation.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014Appeared with three other protestors at rally organized to support transgender youth<\/a> in New York City.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Chis Elston, aka “Bilboard Chris,” protesting at a rally to support transgender youth in New York City.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2014Invited to attend White House event for President Trump signing an executive order<\/a> against transgender youth participating in school sports.<\/p>\n

\u2014Harassed<\/a>, intimidated, and followed a gender consultant in Canada, questioning her about puberty blockers while filming her without consent.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Staged<\/span><\/a> protests near schools in Canada, opposing the teaching of \u201cgender ideology.\u201d Transgender people exist. <\/span>\u201cGender ideology\u201d is not a term transgender people use to describe themselves, it is an inaccurate term deployed by opponents to undermine and dehumanize transgender and nonbinary people. (See GLAAD’s Fact Sheet for Reporters\u2013Term to Avoid: \u201cGender Ideology\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span>Framed<\/span><\/a> transgender identities as mental illness and criticized LGBTQ rights organizations for supporting rights for transgender people. Elston is not an expert on mental health, not a health care provider, and not an expert in biology or endocrinology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Denies the existence of LGBTQ people, and falsely equates \u201cQ\u201d (which is typically understood to mean \u201cqueer\u201d or \u201cquestioning\u201d as umbrella terms for people who do not identify as cisgender or heterosexual) with pedophilia. It\u2019s a baseless and damaging slur. (See GLAAD’s Online Anti-LGBTQ Hate Terms Defined: \u201cGroomer\u201d<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2014Baselessly claims, \u201cThere is no such thing as an LGBTQ community,\u201d and instead decries \u201ctransgenderism.\u201d Elston makes both claims numerous times on his Twitter account. The LGBTQ community exists, and transgender people exist. The current usage of \u201ctransgenderism\u201d arises from anti-trans extremists who seek to delegitimize and dehumanize trans people by implying that being trans is an ideology rather than an identity. (See GLAAD’s Online Anti-LGBTQ Hate Terms Defined: \u201cTransgenderism.\u201d<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":435,"featured_media":928697,"template":"","categories":[138754,138418,139170,138409],"tags":[142325,141202],"region":[138564],"hashtag":[138636,138635,141989,138633,138634],"class_list":{"0":"post-928695","1":"gap","2":"type-gap","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"category-gaps","7":"category-global","8":"category-hate-extremism","9":"category-transgender","10":"tag-billboard-chris","11":"tag-canada","12":"region-international","13":"hashtag-anti-transgender","14":"hashtag-commentator","15":"hashtag-education","16":"hashtag-transphobia","17":"hashtag-trump"},"aioseo_notices":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t