Drag Queens are not for kids. That is a fact. They are hypersexualised caricatures of women that do nothing to enrich our children, but do everything to sexualise them.

Lyle Shelton wrote a blog in 2020 about Drag Queen Story time not being appropriate for children and has found himself embroiled in legal action ever since. 

It is six years, going on seven, that Lyle has had to endure many court hearings, victories and appeals.

This week he was told the Queensland Civil and Administrative Appeal Tribunal applied the wrong legal test to a 2023 decision that dismissed a vilification complaint against him.

Lyle wrote the following on his own blog.

While disappointing, importantly, this week’s ruling does not make a final finding that I engaged in vilification.

There has been no order for compensation, apology, retraction or costs. QCAT is yet to consider whether my good-faith defence applies.

Six years of legal proceedings for expressing a view about a matter of public interest shows how easily the legal system can be used to silence people.

My concern has always been child protection. I believe children should not be exposed to early sexualisation through sexualised role models and they should not be exposed to role models who promote gender fluid ideology.

Below are some of the sexualised and gender-fluid images from the public social media accounts of Australian drag queen role models. Out of a desire to help parents and the public understand DQST, I included these and other images in my 2020 blogs which then became the subject of the vilification complaint against me.

Writing about my concern for children sparked this extraordinary legal ordeal.

My lawyer, John Steenhof from the Human Rights Law Alliance, says the case highlights a deeper problem with Australia’s speech laws.

“This decision is a blow to free speech advocates,” Mr Steenhof said.

“Whatever the final outcome, six years of litigation over public commentary is a punishment in itself—and that reality chills free speech for everyone.”

The courts can’t seem to agree on the correct legal standard. It is the same in my case, Sall Grover’s and several otters. There is a massive conflict between ideology and reality. Laws have been written that defy reality and are impossible to logically make sense of.

As a result ordinary Australians are living on a knife’s edge not knowing what can and can’t be said to avoid legal battles.

According to Mr Steenhof, the implications go well beyond my case.

“This is bigger than one case,” he said.

“It exposes how weakly freedom of speech is protected in our laws when expressing unpopular views can mean years trapped in legal proceedings.”

The reality is this is not even an unpopular view. Many Australians agree Drag Queens are not for kids. They are hypersexualised adult entertainers. In fact they are men making a mockery of women. The fact that a man cannot say that without being embroiled in very expensive litigation in this country is beyond comprehension.

The drag queens are of course taxpayer funded. Lyle is not. I proudly stand with Lyle and back him all the way.