In light of the criticisms of our statement on the Free Bambi campaign, we, the members of Support Ho(s)e, have realized we have some explaining to do. We screwed up, and we screwed up badly.
While we were compelled to release some kind of statement on the situation, seeing that we had boosted the campaign, we were too hasty and in our attempt to do the right thing we spoke too soon, and before we had any information beyond “Bambi isn’t real.” This was our first mistake.
As more information came to light, and it became clear that not only was Bambi not a real person, she was a creation of a white woman who, long before she used the character to scam money out of people, had used the character to take space from actual sex working women and femmes of color, we also failed to amend our statement to reflect the new information.
When we finally did change what we had said to reflect the facts we had, we admit that we were still far too gentle in our criticisms of Lily’s actions, prefacing them with a passage speculating about what level of desperation she must have been facing. This speculation was and is irrelevant in the face of the harm she has caused to the community at large, but ESPECIALLY to black women and femmes within our community. We don’t deny that Lily’s life is hard, but having a hard life does not make it acceptable to use internet blackface to invade the spaces that belong exclusively to women of color.
We have several differences of opinion within our collective about what the most effective treatment of the situation is, but ultimately it isn’t up to us. We are predominantly white workers, Lele is the only black member of our collective. We are based in Chicago, not New York. It was not our place to speak on that community, nor was it our place to dictate what the response by women and femmes of color should be, and for that we apologize and take accountability.
Lily has done untold damage to the general struggle and to the community as a whole, but it goes without saying that the people she has harmed most are sex working black women and femmes, the most vulnerable members of our community. She weaponized the traumas that these people face on a daily basis for her own personal gain, both in the form of ally cookies and monetary support.
As a collective predominantly comprised of white folx it was completely out of line for us to do anything but advocate for sex workers of greater privilege to come together to support and listen to the people most harmed by Lily’s actions. That is what we’re calling for now.
In an effort to make amends for our mistake, we invite you to reach out to us either collectively (@supporthosechi on twitter) or individually (either thru C @diamonddumpster on twitter or Sophie @pogform on twitter) with any questions, critiques, or needs you think are left unmet.