‘David & Goliath’ Legal Battle Between Lyle Shelton & Drag Queens Is Still Going

Lyle Shelton continues to be embroiled in a legal battle with two Brisbane drag queens, after a last minute appeal made in 2023.

Johnny Valkyrie and Dwayne Hill, who perform under the names Queeny and Diamond Good-Rim (just Diamond for the kids), tried to sue Shelton for discrimination in 2020. Shelton published a series of blog posts in January after a Drag Queen Story Time organised by Rainbow Families Queensland, at which Mr Hill and Mr Valkyrie read the children’s book ‘Love Makes a Family’, sang ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, and supervised a craft activity where the children drew pictures and made paper dolls of their family.

In the posts, Shelton stated that Mr Hill and Mr Valkyrie were “dangerous role models for children”, and likened them to sex offenders Harvey Weinstein, and Jeffrey Epstein.

Proceedings were initially dismissed in 2023, but Valkyrie and Hill appealed the decision within the 30-day period.

On Tuesday this week, a procedural hearing took place in Brisbane, which set down key dates in the appeal case, which will be heard by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal in March 2025.

Valkyrie & Hill’s new appeal against Lyle Shelton

Jo Sampford, Director and Principal Solicitor of the LGBTI Legal Service, who represented Mr Hill and Mr Valkyrie, said in a statement that the judgement was based on a number of strange statements including a finding that “homophobia and transphobia live in the past.”

“Our clients are deeply troubled by this judgement and have appealed the decision to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal, as is their right under the law.”

Lead appellant Johnny Valkyrie explained that they decided to challenge the ruling because they felt it was “out of touch” with experiences of queer Australians.

“We refuse to set the precedent that our experiences are somehow invalid because of the wonderful progress society has made towards acceptance, inclusion and celebration – this progress and our experiences as a community are not to be undermined.”

Why was the case dismissed?

In 2023, Tribunal member Jeremy Gordon claimed the complaint filed against Shelton failed under section 124A of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, in which a person publicly incites “hatred towards… or severe ridicule of” a persons’ sexuality or gender identity.

Gordon explained that Shelton’s comments were “generally” against drag queens and LGBTQIA+ people, and that they wouldn’t cause “the ‘ordinary reasonable reader’” to incite hate towards drag queens or LGBTQI+ activists.

“I consider this to be justified because it is possible to see from the submissions made on the complainants’ behalf that the case seems to be put rather more widely than in the contentions,” he explained.

Gordon also said that Shelton’s beliefs that the pair were a danger to children and advocated for fluid expression of gender and sexuality, any belief held or criticism generated would not be “on the ground of a relevant attribute, that is (for Mr Valkyrie) on the ground of his gender identity or sexuality and (for Mr Hill) on the ground of his sexuality”.

“In other words, the people would hold the same belief even if the complainants did not have any such attribute.”

David vs Goliath

Although Hill and Valkyrie have refrained from making public comments about the trial until now, this has not stopped Shelton, who has been posting regularly on social media.

“In 2020 I wrote that their advocacy of 🏳️‍🌈 gender fluidity &  🏳️‍🌈 sexual expressionism to little children makes them dangerous role models,” he wrote on X yesterday morning. “This is manifestly true. They should not be conducting drag queen story time in public libraries for little children. No Australian should be dragged through the courts for saying this – not if we consider free speech an Australian value.”

Shelton posted a video of himself standing in front of the court building on Tuesday, and refused to resile from his views.

“It’s disappointing once again to see Mr Shelton immediately turn to social media, mischaracterising the nature of the legal proceedings, disparaging our dedicated staff, and repeating (again) the hurtful and harmful comments he made about our clients in what appears to be a desperate effort to drum up support for his fundraiser,” said Sampford. “Lyle Shelton likes to paint himself as the victim in a David and Goliath battle but his posts, which repeatedly ‘punch down’ on our clients and communities, show us who he is.”

Shelton is represented by the Human Rights Law Alliance, which focuses exclusively on “freedom of speech” cases. His legal fees are paid for by his donors, which Shelton claims has amounted to more than $400,000.

As with all community legal centres, the LGBTI Legal Service is funded by the Government to provide free legal services for vulnerable members of the community whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by the law. Last year the LGBTI Legal Service assisted over 500 people to access legal help, 92% of whom live below the poverty line, 43% of whom live with disability, and two-thirds have experienced, or are experiencing, violence.

Last financial year, the LGBTI Legal Service received just $285,000 in funding to deliver a statewide specialist legal service, which they report is sufficient to support just 0.3% of the estimated 90,000 LGBTIQA+ Queenslanders who will experience a legal problem in any one year, 40% of whom live below the poverty line.

According to the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission, the Human Rights Law Alliance received three times the funding that the LGBTI Legal Service did in the 2022-23 financial year.

“Lyle and his lawyers don’t realise that they are in fact Goliath, having raised 40% more than our entire budget to deliver a statewide legal service for this one case, backed by a billionaire social media machine which amplifies misinformation spread about our clients.” Ms Sampford said. 

“We are proud to support Dwayne and Johnny in their historic fight for dignity and respect for all drag performers and diverse families, just as we are proud of every courageous member of our community who stands up for themselves knowing they deserve better.”