LOS ANGELES — A new op-ed by Cherie DeVille for The Daily Beast, published on Monday, addresses the blatant discrimination against trans adult performers on Facebook-owned Instagram even as the companies paid lip-service to LGBTQ+ rights during Pride Month.
“During Pride Month, we saw Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a zillion other tech platforms blast to the world how much they love trans people,” DeVille wrote. “But you didn’t hear a peep from tech companies about how they are currently destroying the economic health of a large sector of the trans community.”
DeVille decried the regular deletion of trans performer accounts in an arbitrary fashion for which the platforms have become notorious when enforcing fuzzy moderation “rules.”
For the trans performers, DeVille pointed out, “the infractions allegedly range from posting a photo in a bikini to simply… posting a photo. Similar stories have emerged about Big Tech de-platforming cisgender female adult performers and sex workers, and how de-platforming impacts porn stars’ monthly revenue. If you can’t promote your videos, you can’t sell them. But my trans colleagues are losing their accounts at [a] faster pace... Instagram’s transphobia leads trans sex workers to lose a significant revenue stream.”
DeVille offered her Daily Beast forum — where she regularly pens thoughtful editorials about sex workers' rights and other social issues — to elevate the voices of trans performers Natassia Dreams and Nikki Vicious.
“Sometimes the posts were not even X-rated,” Dreams said. “I feel like it was discrimination. I find it very frustrating that I can see POC getting their lives taken away on Instagram, but I can’t post a pic that is fully covered.”
Vicious shared that she lost her original “completely SFW” account when she reached 59,700 followers.
“Now, when potential producers look me up, I’m no longer the girl with 60,000 followers,” Vicious protested. “I’m the girl with 1,200.”
Instagram’s bans — which confusingly seem both arbitrary and particularly targeted against sex workers — “put a permanent dent in the stars’ income, with FanCentro estimating sex workers lose $260 million a year due to social media bans,” DeVille noted.
Tech conglomerates, she continued, “are de-platforming trans performers at an alarming rate, yet the conservatives who cry about cancel culture aren’t speaking out to defend trans women’s free speech. Based on Facebook’s public declarations about free speech, and their Pride Month PR blitz, you’d think they’d care about the LGBTQ+ community.”
“If Facebook really cares, they should give Vicious, Dreams and other trans adult performers their accounts back,” DeVille concluded.
To read Cherie DeVille’s “How Instagram Is Ruining the Livelihoods of Trans Porn Stars,” visit TheDailyBeast.com.
