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…

Read more at TechCrunch…