A young conservative has died by suicide after a video of him protesting a Drag Queen Story Hour was circulated online and he was targeted with abuse.
Twenty-one year old Wilson Gavin from Australia was subjected to vitriol and a pile-on from the mainstream media and Members of the Australian Parliament after he dared to protest against Drag Queen Story Hour.
The Australian reports that Gavin – himself gay – was also “vehemently committed to conservative causes such as the monarchy and opposition to same-sex marriage,” and argued such positions publicly.
“I’m not a homophobe,” Gavin told Sky News in 2017. “I love gay men. You can’t call me a homophobe just because I’m opposed to same-sex marriage.”
Back then, Gavin opined: “They’re not going to stop at marriage. Their goal is to tear down the family and every traditional institution in Australia. They just hate everything that I love – they hate me because I’m a conservative. And they hate me more because I’m a gay.”
The Australian Broadcasting Company reported that Gavin and friends from the conservative ‘Liberal National Club’ at the University of Queensland protested a drag queen event.
“In video of the protest posted on social media, Mr Gavin could be seen shouting “drag queens are not for kids”.”
Gay Member of Parliament Trevor Evans called Gavin and his fellow protesters “ratbags” for daring to oppose drag queens engaging with young children.
“The alt left harassed and bullied Wilson Gavin, a gay man, for opposing “drag queen story time” until he took his own life,” claimed one Twitter user.
“They are directly responsible for his death. If this isn’t a wake up call I don’t know what is.”
“Head of an Australian conservative student group has taken his life after being the target of mass threats & harassment by left-wing activists,” wrote journalist Andy Ngo.
Mark Robinson MP spoke in support of Gavin’s actions, and offered condolences: “Wilson & his friends took a principled stand to protect children from inappropriate sexualisation & gender fluid ideology,” said Robinson.
“For that he was treated terribly. Wilson, RIP!”
Gavin had previously written about bullying online for his conservative views.
“As a conservative you are just subjected to an unending barrage of vitriol, and hatred, and of the nastiest comments imaginable,” he wrote in 2017.
