Lest anyone doubted whether stigma can kill…. Excellent coverage of the outrageous Eden Alexander / WePay debacle, by Josh Constine at TechCrunch —
Should credit card processors and crowdfunding sites be able to deny funds to adult entertainers and sex workers? That’s the question at the heart of an unfortunate situation where donated medical funds are being withheld from a sick woman. Legal and moral issues often entangle to facilitate discrimination against those who earn a living in adult work, or at least complicate their lives in ways that induce hardship.
Here’s what’s happened, according to Alexander’s tweets and reporting by The Rumpus. Adult entertainer Eden Alexander had an allergic reaction to a medication, causing her to need serious medical care. In Alexander’s account, doctors wrote off her condition as stemming from hard drug use, due to her occupation, and did not give her proper treatment, which made her even sicker. Alexander then set up Crowdfunding campaign for her medical bills on GiveForward (now removed), which processes payments with WePay.
Unfortunately, one of the campaign’s supporters tweeted offering nude pictures in exchange for donations to Alexander’s campaign, and Alexander retweeted the offer.
That retweet was deemed to violate WePay’s terms of service…
A tweet by WePay CEO Bill Clerico
My own take on that ugly situation here:
http://redgarterclub.com/RGClubNetwork/rgclub3dot2/2014/05/18/antisexwork-antiporn-discrimination-jpmchase-eden-alexander-wepay/
Especially rage inducing is the excuse WePay gives that Alexander had earned sanction by RT’ing offers by two porn companies of reduced prices for their content in exchange for donations. You mean, if you merely associate with porn companies raising funds for a MEDICAL CONDITION, you lose your account?? Sorry, but that is pure horseshit.
I sincerely hope the money raised doesn’t have to cover Eden’s funeral, because if that happens, blood is on WePay’s hands.
Also..here is Eden’s new donation page, via Cloudtilt.com:
https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/eden-alexander-emergency-medical-care-fund/description
[…] institutions denying services to people in the sex industry. WePay hit the news lately when it shut down the account of a campaign set up by adult performer Eden Alexander to cover the medical bills she incurred […]