Our experiences and identity shape us. How has your experience with both abuse and with being a transgender man shaped your creative process?

You know how I said my abuser originally urged me to make comics?

When I first tried to come out to him, he pushed me back in the closet.

When I talked about BL, he teased me for reading it and went on to say that people who write and draw erotica are wasting their time and talent. That they make useless art and are just “slobs masturbating in some basement all day”.

When I started making BL myself, that was my way of saying “fuck you” to all of that. It was a way I could empower myself again. It was also a way for me to express my sexuality in my right identity during a time when no one saw me as a man.

Since then, I have come far enough in my transition that strangers don’t confuse me for a woman. By now, erotic writer and artist has become part of my identity, and something that I’m proud of. These days, I keep writing what I do for two reasons: 1. Because I want to keep my voice out there. If I don’t speak for myself and my community… If I don’t push for a more sex positive and LGBT friendly society, that means one less voice pushing for my rights. And it enables the silent culture that landed me in emotional abuse. If I can save just one person from what I experienced, that alone means the world to me. 2. I just enjoy it. Who doesn’t love naked goth vampires?? Ok a lot of people don’t but I sure do.

(Note: KR likes the naked goth vampires a lot, but also has a huge space in their heart for Sylva and Marcel).

Have you faced any issues when posting or publishing your comics?

Oh, many. Just recently I had to monitor my comments closely due to racism. That was on an activism post, though, not my comic.

As for my comic… America doesn’t have the most sex positive view. I have to adapt a lot to the twists and turns online making things harder for creators of erotica, I’ve had to censor my work several times over, I’ve had to relearn new guidelines… And I always have to expect to be the first target. Straight erotic content always gets away with more than gay erotic content does.

The simple reason for this is that fascists and homophobes use massive report/flag methods against LGBT content online to get it taken down. There’s also the issue where they complain to site owners, who then regulate the content more closely to satisfy demands. Let’s not even talk about site owners who regulate just because they’re homophobic because then things are going to get very salty, and the one I have in mind isn’t even an active site owner anymore…

Have you had the issues of being over-censored on Tapas?

Tricky question! If you ask me based on my artistic purpose, then yes. All censorship I’ve experienced is too much, and the human body and sexuality should be treated as a natural thing.

But if you ask me based on the current business situation, the answer is different. Tapas has done everything they can, given the situation, to protect our creative rights while maintaining their platform. This issue is not in their hands, but Apple and Googles. Looking further, it’s also in the hands of payment processors and banks.

That being said, I recall there being a wave of censorship a few years ago that did seem to primarily target creators of gay content. It appeared that whoever reported the offending pages to Tapas had a bias, let’s just say that.

There were also some of my pages that were mass reported and automatically marked Mature despite not being mature in the least.

What would you ask comic platforms to do for the LGBTQ community?

Listen to the community, give us visibility and make the environment LGBTQ friendly. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to report concerns of certain users and behaviours multiple times only to get a “it’s not that bad” attitude back. It is that bad.

We all want to feel safe and welcomed online. I know in particular, you are concerned about the rise of the alt-right/far right on platforms dedicated to “geek stuff”. Can you expand a little more on that?

Platforms need to educate themselves on the language, terms and methods fascists use to push fascist agenda and get away with it. Then they need to make sure they DON’T get away with it. Unless you want your platform to become a fascist recruiting machine, you need to maintain modern knowledge of how they operate, and moderate accordingly. No matter how much they cry about their “freedom of speech”.

Freedom of speech ends where it becomes hate speech. Hate speech changes and develops along with the development of language. Platforms need to keep themselves aware of how hate speech looks right now.

What do you want to see more of in the LGBTQ comics community? If you could create infinite comics and have the time, what would you create?

This is going to sound so weird, but I would love to see a sexual revolution of trans, intergender and intersex persons. One with our narrative at the forefront, preferably written and illustrated by ourselves. Right now I feel like there’s a polar extreme where trans people get to exist as one of two things: 1. A tragic story of dysphoria, 2. Sex objects.

I can’t tell you about all that many comics where I’ve seen a trans person depicted as a sexual, intellectual being with realistic romantic/sexual struggles and experiences. I haven’t even written much of it myself yet. I have considered writing it, though. Some day.

Can you tell us the most positive experience you’ve had online as an LGBTQ creator?

Whenever I hear people tell me my comic has helped them realize things about themselves, figure themselves out, or come to terms with their identity! It makes me really happy to hear that I can make a difference in people’s lives.

What do you like most about being an LGBTQ creator?

Just being me. Being happy and free in my identity, and expressing it without shame. I’m happy to be at a point in life where I like what I am and can speak out about it. I just wish it was a given.