Wilson Gavin, 21, was the president of the University of Queensland Liberal National club and had appeared in a viral video showing young Liberals protesting against drag queen story time on Sunday.
On Monday, Gavin was found dead and his death was immediately ruled a suicide.
Gavin, who was openly gay but committed to traditional values such as traditional marriage and the monarchy, was subjected to a torrent of online abuse from proponents of drag queen story time.
Wilson Gavin, a young conservative who recently lead a protest against a so-called "Drag Queen Story Hour" at an Australian library faced a massive media campaign of hatred against him, laballing him as a "bigot".
Today, he committed suicide… pic.twitter.com/88mW4j76KJ
— BasedPoland (@BasedPoland) January 13, 2020
The video of the UQ Liberal National club confronting drag queens, chanting “drag queens are not for kids,” caused an outpouring of politically charged harassment against Gavin.
Liberal National MP Trevor Evans was among the many public figures who dogpiled onto the students, calling them “ratbags” who “wouldn’t know liberal values if they fell over them.”
LNP Councillor Vicki Howard called the students “narrow-minded” and “appalling” and said their protest “will not and will never be tolerated.”
After Gavin’s suicide, many left-wing Twitter users were quick to delete their previous attacks against Gavin and the LNP students and express remorse for their actions.
Others, however, celebrated Gavin’s death.
https://twitter.com/rollerska8er/status/1216758112755093505
The outpouring of sorry for Wilson Gavin who killed himself after terrorising children at a library story time.
The silence for the scores of dirt poor vulnerable people who did the same after receiving a #Robodebt.
That's privilege I guess.#auspol
— jansant (@Jansant) January 13, 2020
The death of a young gay man after being the target of an online harassment campaign would normally be front-page global news, but the story appears to have trouble gaining traction outside of local Australian media.
Gavin had previously appeared on Sky News and described himself as “a lover of all things traditional, all things beautiful.”
Australian Monarchist League's Wilson Gavin: I’m a lover of all things traditional, all things beautiful, and there’s nothing more traditional in this country than the monarchy. It’s a tremendous asset. MORE: https://bit.ly/2KFGBA0 #outsiders
Posted by Sky News Australia on Thursday, May 24, 2018
