There has been a new development in the long running legal battle between two Queensland drag performers and the former leader of the Australian Christian Lobby.
An appeal against a finding that ruled that Lyle Shelton had not vilified two drag performers in an online article and social media posts has been found to be flawed and has been set aside.
Shelton, who came to prominence as the CEO of the Australian Christian Lobby and as the leader of the No campaign against marriage equality. Shelton has gone on to repetitively and unsuccessfully run for parliament in several jurisdictions, and for a variety of political parties. In 2020 he published his thoughts on drag performers Johnny Valkyrie and Dwayne Hill.
The drag performers who perform under the names Queeny and Diamond had hosted a children’s event at Brisbane City Council library. The event saw stories red to the children, songs sung and craft activities undertaken.
The event which has been organised by the council and local community group Rainbow Families saw the performers read stories and play games with around 20 young children. Hill performs as Diamond Goodrim, but shortens their name to Diamond for children’s events, while Valkyrie uses the name Queeny.
The event was protested by a group of university students who chanted “Drag queens are not for kids” which drew national media attention. The protestors were led by Wilson Gavin, a member of the Young Liberals, who had developed a public profile during the marriage equality campaign where he argued against allowing same-sex marriage. The day after the library protest Gavin took his own life.
Shelton posted a piece on his website that was critical of the event and the two drag performers. The post deployed what many would describe as crude terms to describe gender confirmation surgery.
The two performers sued Shelton for vilification but in 2023 a tribunal found his comments did not meet the legal standard of vilification. The two performers launched a last minute appeal, which has now found that the decision was flawed.
The case will now return to the tribunal and parties can make new submissions ahead of a new decision being made.
Shelton is currently the national spokesperson for the Family First political party. He joined the party after stints with Cory Bernardi’s defunct Australian Conservatives and Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic Party. He is a candidate for the next New South Wales election.
Shelton commented on the latest legal development saying that while the ruling has been set aside, there has still been no finding that he vilified the two performers.
“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.” Shelton said.
