OnlyFans creator and former New York City traffic court judge Gregory Locke took to social media over the weekend to comment publicly for the first time on his removal from the bench.
Locke was fired from his job as an administrative court judge following a complaint from city council member Vickie Paladino. He'd been in the position since April 2022.
Palindino’s complaint took issue with a tweet of Locke’s that told her to “choke on a dick.” The post was in response to Paladino’s own tweet calling Drag Queen Story Hour “an absolutely shameful display.”
Locke had previously tweeted his dissent to other politicians about a myriad of issues.
The complaint led to Locke being fired for “unprofessional behavior,” according to the New York Post.
The tweets may have been perceived as having run afoul of rules of conduct that mandate judges avoid actions that “cast reasonable doubt” on their impartiality, even in their "extra-judicial activities."
Locke’s inciting tweets have since been deleted as his account autodeletes after a certain amount of days.
“Last week, I was fired from my job as a New York City Administrative Law Judge,” Locke tweeted on Sunday night. “This came after a member of the City Council took issue with tweets I wrote in response to their bigoted and misguided statements about drag queens and about the queer community at large. The Councilmember and news outlets also took this opportunity to expose me for unrelated x-rated work, none of which occurred during or at work for the City.”
The New York Post story that broke the news of Locke’s firing trumpeted the lawyer’s x-rated Twitter account. On it, Locke sometimes showed his face, admitted to others that he was a judge, and promoted for-pay x-rated OnlyFans and JustForFans accounts. In some of his captions, he referred to his job and sexual acts, in line with the “storylines” of popular porn accounts which take a nod from the narratives of studio porn. In another post, Locke also stipulated that tweets about work were about things he was doing not as a judge but as a partner in the law firm he founded in April 2021, Locke LLP — the firm continued to do business even as Locke took on his role as a judge.
Much of the media about the firing centered on Locke's sex work as the cause of the firing.
“It is disappointing that the City of New York decided to take the side of a documented bigot instead of seizing an opportunity to stand against ever-growing anti-LGBTQ hatred, particularly the fervent hatred toward the trans and nonbinary communities,” Locke continued. “The ethics rules guiding New York City Administrative Law Judges do not require a judge to abstain from politics or political speech. I remain steadfast in my insistence that my tweets, even if not polite, did not violate any ethical guidelines.
“The most vulnerable members of the queer community are fighting for their lives, and the only people offended by my tweets are those more interested in policing language than opposing policies and politics which kill.”
“I will continue my private work,” Locke wrote, referencing his own firm, “using my legal skills to represent paid clients and to offer pro bono services for members of the LGBTQ community who need it most. I will also continue my work on [OnlyFans and JustForFans.]”
To promote those accounts, the lawyer also operates a separate promotional Twitter account.
“Sex work, including porn, is not shameful and I will not filter my thoughts and actions to appease those who enact harm on my community,” he finished. “This started not as a political disagreement, but as a human one. A politician used their influence to win this battle, underscoring just how important it is — now more than ever — to stand up against bigotry and ensure the protection of the rights of the most vulnerable.”
