For the past six months, I’ve been fighting TikTok Support. I get an error. It is very specific:

Hysterically, after 16 straight days of the ID Uploader not working, when it did, I got auto-denied.

I have been back-and-forth with Support. At one point, I was denied Verification— mostly without asking, or cause— six times, in a 2-3 day period.

I’m done.

Not worth fighting for.

I’ve always strove to stand up for myself. When I thought I deserved something, or was eligible for something, I said so. I continued. I persevered.

This is fucking bullshit. I’m not even saying, ‘oh, look at me, I’m so great, I can pee upon a tree’. I’m saying, I just got off 47 denials from Twitter, and my applications have only strengthened.

I have interviews. I have been quoted alongside celebrities. Multiple times! I was fighting alongside a Wachowski sister and LUCY FUCKIN’ LAWLESS on some of this shit! My name sits next to ROGER WATERS on a petition! I GOT MENTIONED IN THE SAME BREATH AS KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD!

I’m not saying that I’m special.

I’m not saying that I’m better than you, or anyone.

I’m saying that these Verification systems do not work.

I am also saying, and I do not say this to be a pest, but these things just don’t fuckin’ work for trans people. I am a trans people.

LinkedIn, I’m verified. Can’t show it because it’d show my legal name. No protection for stage names? The fuck?

On TikTok it gets auto-declined now… for some reason, I don’t know. But if it’s because my legal name doesn’t match my stage name?

Why?

The fuck? I know I’m not an actor, but other people don’t have this problem. And I shouldn’t, either.

The Rule, not the Exception

I’m not asking for special treatment.

I am asking that the rules, as stated, apply to me, as they apply to others. Equally.

But this doesn’t happen. I have, in fact, seen the opposite: the rules are only applied to punish me, never to uplift me.

People online often want to make fun of others, saying that they’re ‘melting down’ and/or that their anger is hysterical. I’m here to say the following: I want the rules to be enforced, and applied.

I understand that being on the spectrum may have influenced my strong sense of Justice. But, also, for the love of fucking CHRIST, how am I supposed to take you motherfuckers seriously when you demand authority and then never fulfill your end of the bargain?

The Evidence

I’d like to make my case. Not because I’m pleading the court for mercy, but because I’m done and this is it, Luigi. I’m done trying.

I have:

  • A stable, well-cited Wikipedia page.
  • A Google Knowledge Panel.
  • I’m verified on YouTube.
  • I was verified on Twitter.
  • I’m on Spotify, Apple Music, and every major digital platform for music.
  • I’ve had my music played on the radio.
  • I’ve published a music album, with its own record label.
  • I have written and published a book, art book, and comic book.
  • I have animated my own cartoon short. I composed the music for it, too.
  • I was on every Western major broadcast news network.
  • I have been the subject of five academic articles, two or three of which, God help us all, discussed if I had a penis. Yeah, I don’t know, either.
  • I helped write and edit a letter read on the floor of Congress. No, seriously, dude. I helped write and edit a letter read on the floor of Congress.

Just to give you a break here: again, I’m not saying, ‘look at me, I’m Mr. Big Dick, why aren’t you respecting my authority?’. I’m saying, I’m genuinely fuckin’ baffled, dude. If I can’t get Verified through these forms, DO THE FORMS EVEN WORK?

Also, respectfully: as a person doing the right thing, does anybody even care? Is anybody gonna help me? I’ve been out here fighting alone for over 30 years. Why isn’t anyone giving me the sympathy, empathy, and compassion I’ve afforded them?

I’m not asking for the world. I’m asking that the world plays by the rules it’s set.

Let’s continue.

  • I have enough press. I have a solid decade of press. Things I’ve done have been written about by every single major news outlet: Barron’s, The New York Times, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, Vice, NBC, ABC, CBS, UPN, you pick a service, something I’ve done has been covered on it.
  • My art, though stolen, has either appeared in or been an inspiration for elements appearing in various Hollywood and media productions.

I’m not so much asking, ‘why aren’t you verifying me?’.

I am now asking, why are you pretending that these forms work? They clearly do not.