patreon censorship

(the original post was accidentally deleted, so I’ve used the handy-dandy waybackmachine to restore it as best as possible)

Original Post Date: 28/06/2022 atĀ 6:00 PM

Two weeks ago a TIF discovered LB and she started a smear campaign against me. Because of her posts I was sent many death/rape threats, real-life gore imagery and just general homophobia. The usual calling cards of TRAs when someone knows what biosex is.

This advanced to my patreon being reported ā€“ I was notified by the following emails:

(yes I laughed at the irony of the emailerā€™s name too).



First Page she linked Here,


Hello Blaire,

Reading through both of your previous emails has disheartened me greatly, and I have many questions. I also wholeheartedly contest to the notion that any policy has been broken.

In the first link you provided (https://leasebound.com/comic/ch6p86/ ) Jaden, the black female character, is referring to her attackers, who threatened both sexual and physical violence on her, and carried out the former, as "pigs". So to confirm, in Patreonā€™s policy, the depiction of a victim of assault regarding her abusers with derision/mockery constitutes as hate speech?

Are those who assault others when not given what they want aĀ  protected class?

The antagonistic characters in my work are not there to incite hate. They are there to provide satirical, political commentary, and catharsis to the many lesbian readers who have found themselves a victim to identity politics they donā€™t subscribe to.

Ā Would you have taken issue if the antagonistic characters were a different breed of homophobic and misogynistic? Christian homophobes perhaps? Would satire of Westboro Baptist Church membersĀ  flown under your radar of acceptability?

Are all depictions of homophobic/misogynistic characters disallowed by Patreonā€™s policy, or is it only critique of transgender-specific homophobia that is objectionable despite itā€™s existence in innumerable real-world cases.

On the second link you provided (https://leasebound.com/comic/c3p06/), I would like an explanation of where violence, exclusion, or segregation is called for. There are no words on this image, just the silent introduction of the antagonistic characters.

Ā Is it against Patreonā€™s policy to depict antagonistic characters (who later go on to threaten sexual and physical assault ā€“ and carry out the latter) as unsavory in appearance?

Would this page have been acceptable in your eyes,Ā  if the attackers had been depicted as devilishly handsome?

Much like with Jaden in the first image, to provide this link as evidence of hate speech, suggests to me that Patreonā€™s policy takes a stance against victims depicting any mockery of their abusers if their abusers are transgender.

As I have said in my patreon description, Lease Bound is a webcomic for lesbians, about lesbian experiences, by a lesbian. While niche, you may notice I have a small, but dedicated following of women who relate to the story-lines in my webcomic. I have received countless messages of support for speaking out on the way trans ideology harms women, gay men and especially lesbians.Ā 

Would real-life evidence make a difference to legitimize my critique to you? Many lesbians work tirelessly to collect and document such evidence, and I wouldĀ  be happy to provide it. But would that make a difference? Are there other real-world cases of discrimination users are not allowed to create art for on your platform? Or does it simply depend on what is considered most ā€œwokeā€ and ā€œprogressiveā€ by popular vote?

To call my fictionalized recreation of lesbiansā€™ real life experiences with homophobia and misogyny, "hate speech" and to demand I removed it, or be removed myself, is a direct contribution to said homophobia and misogyny. I will not forgive, nor forget your complicity.

I typed all of this, largely knowing your stance wouldnā€™t change. You are not the first to censor me, and you likely wonā€™t be the last. I will not be removing or altering any of my work, so I would like any patrons that joined this month refunded before you close my account.

Deeply dissatisfied,Ā 

Rusty.

I got an even more worthless reply, than I initially expected:


Itā€™s not clearly indicated at all in either initial email, that sheā€™s not even talking about the image itself, but a comment I made below the page with the AGPgangā€™s introduction:

A comment she failed to even COMPREHEND correctly. ā€œTurning TIM-atrocities into charactersā€ is not saying all transgender people are atrocities, itā€™s saying I turned the atrocities committed by trans identified males (eg: the cotton ceiling workshops, the genital preference videos by RJD, all the rape fantasies they espouse on twitter), into characters.

And of course total crickets on everything else.
Real ā€œhow dare you say we piss on the poorā€ reading comprehension all-around.

While I am greatly disappointed to lose the platform ( I was receiving just under $300/month of generous support ā€“ which made making LB so frequently much easier) I am not surprised.

My first ever call-out in 2019 got me removed from Smackjeeves. Tapas followed in my 2nd callout. This is why I host leasebound on itā€™s own site, so it cannot be censored.

I am looking into patreon alternatives (my ko-fi was also reported). Iā€™ve heard some good things about substack but had some trouble with the interface. But these things take time so. Iā€™ll figure it out when I figure it out.

Iā€™ll also be taking a small hiatus from LB to deal with some unrelated IRL stuff, but know, Iā€™m not going anywhere. Thank you gyns all for your kind words of support and to all the new readers Iā€™ve gained over the last few weeks. Glad youā€™ve been enjoying the Jalexis storyline

See you all soon <3