Dave Marshall, a gay wrestler from Perth, used his “OnlyFans” account, which is a website that people subscribe to and pay to get access to the content. It is mostly used to display what Instagram would ban.
The wrestler donated money raised on the site to a suicide prevention charity after his dad took his own life last year.
He posted on Instagram: “The reason the money I raise from my OnlyFans goes towards Beyond Blue is seeing every day how big depression and anxiety has become in society and almost overlooked…my father took his life last year.”
He continued “Older men have a ‘Harden the fuck up’ mentality they were brought up with. Stats on LGBT in this area are quite scary too so I hope I can in some way, give back to my community. Positivity is everything.”
This was meant to be a story with a happy ending (no jokes here) and that benefitted everyone. Dave would be able to help other people after his loss, to his fans who got to see him in a very intimate way, and the charity would receive a very generous donation of 5k to keep saving people’s lives.
But that was not the case, in fact, the charity refused Dave’s donation alleging that it goes against their rules, because they were generated using activities, such as “gambling, alcohol and pornography,” which are banned by the charity. The charity also required that Marshall excludes all mentions of Beyondblue on his social media platforms.
Marshall reveals he was a little miffed by the whole thing at first, but he didn’t let it get to him for long.
“To me, money is money,” he tells “It came from the heart.”
“At the end of the day, it was a personal donation of my money but I don’t want to be quiet about what I’m doing. So it wasn’t the charity for me.”
He says he’s since found another charity that focuses on mental health to give the donation to.
Black Dog Institute is a non-profit based in Sydney that focuses on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder.
“They are another of the bigger ones in Australia,” Marshall says. “As my father was one of the main factors in the choice of charity, it’s quite fitting.”
He said he would double the amount donated to Black Dog Institute to $10,000.
Marshall contacted Black Dog Institute before sharing on social media this time, and he concluded that the charity is happy to accept his donation.
© 2018 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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