Some of you may be surprised at the amount of harassment and “Mark Waid non-fan fiction” being posted in the GoFundMe comments section. I’m reasonably sure that most GFMs don’t attract trolls.
(Here’s a short list of the things I’ve learned about myself by reading the comments: Apparently, I’m a millionaire. Evidently, I was once in business with an African-American woman. I'm surprised to learn that I made some phone calls to some unnamed university in Scotland and got a woman thrown out three weeks before graduation--AND drove her unnamed husband to three suicide attempts. AND it turns out I had a wife, so screw all of you for not sending me a wedding gift. There’s so much more, I’m tempted to publish it as an anthology stretch goal.)
I’ve deleted exactly one ugly comment, aimed at others. The rest, I’m leaving untouched so you can see for yourself the sort of hate and harassment I’m having to lawyer up against--and *I’m a straight white man.* This is nothing compared to what women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community receive every day from ComicsGate’s representatives. Think about that.
Read their comments. Pay attention to the language. It's important to see for yourselves how these people react and what fiction they’ll throw at you when you take a stand against bigotry and for inclusivity. When you object to Black writers being called "race hustlers" whose writing is a "minstrel show." When you call people out for comparing transgender people to "dog-faced boys" at the carnival "freak show." When you object to women in any industry being accused of being hired "because BEWBS" and unqualified as a gender. I’m fighting a lawsuit that I strongly believe is designed to silence anyone who speaks out against that sort of prejudice. I'm fighting back. Please donate and PLEASE keep sharing. Let's send a clear message that online harassment is unacceptable. Thank you.