shfa was unable to send email
We would like to apologize to our supporters who emailed us or donated and never received an email response. Our intent has always been to be highly responsive and unfortunately, we have faced major hurdles. We noticed on July 10th that our outgoing email was not getting sent to the recipients. We opened a case with Bluehost technical support. They claimed that the problem was due to our email server having been placed on 2 blacklists. However, we could find no evidence to support this claim and are left wondering exactly what caused the problem.
shfa website suspended
On July 10th Bluehost contacted us to let us know that JP Morgan filed an alleged trademark violation against our website. We had included their logo in a blog post suggesting that they should sponsor the Straight Pride Parade. Although legally we can use trademarks for informational purposes, as any other website, we removed the logo well before the 48 hours demanded to avoid any problems. Bluehost then informed us that we could not even mention JP Morgan on the website and a few hours later, before we could respond, suspended our website. This is a clear infringement upon our freedom of speech. We have switched to a web host that respects free speech and is not intimidated by fraudulent threats from global corporations. The website is now available again.
shfa teespring store terminated
On July 3rd Teespring notified us that our campaign had been terminated due to “content concerns”. They stated that our campaign may have used content owned by a third party or may have violated their acceptable use policies. However, they did not specify what the violations were.
donations and responses
Donations were tied to our website so we set up a GoFundMe. We still need to pay for parade expenses, etc. and greatly appreciate any donations. Please consider donating through either the website or GoFundMe if you can afford it. As always thank you to our supporters.
https://www.superhappyfunamerica.com/campaigns/permits-cost-money/
https://www.gofundme.com/rm-new-website
A company’s desire not to host or be involved with your site, or to promote your ideas, has NOTHING to do with your free speech rights. You have no more right to a space on their servers, than a gay couple has a right to a cake. You know that.
You are a very capable person!