Patreon, a crowdfunding platform, used to be a relatively safe space for cam girls. Historically Patreon hasn’t antagonized NSFW content, giving erotic models a way to raise money from “patrons,” fans who pay creators either monthly or per post. Sydni Deveraux, also known as The Golden Glamazon, is one such erotic model. Deveraux is a burlesque performer and producer from New York City, and patrons can pay $5 to receive access to her photo sets (“just a little smut”), $10 to add on video access, and $15 to see her private Snapchats. Recently Patreon updated its community guidelines, requiring adult content to be marked 18 and over and defining pornography as “real people engaging in sexual acts such as masturbation or sexual intercourse on camera.” The policy changes haven’t affected Deveraux’s work yet—her erotic photography and videos don’t show her having sex or masturbating—but they’ve thrown Patreon’s erotic community into jeopardy. Deveraux explained why she’s concerned for the industry, and explained how she’s made Patreon work for her.

GQ: How did you get started on Patreon?

Sydni Deveraux: I do a lot of boudoir and pinup photography along with my burlesque work. I realized that I was starting to amass a library of light smut. I set up my Patreon about a year ago to share all the work I should be compensated for. I didn't want to litter the Internet with my nudity and not charge for it. As it stands, there are enough people in sex and sexy work that aren’t getting compensated enough. I realized that I was part of the problem by putting all of this content out without asking for tribute.

I imagine being a Patreon creator is far more labor-intensive than most people realize.

It’s a job. It’s another part of my job. I spent time researching it and setting up my Patreon. It took a while, because there was a lot of backlogging and scheduling sets. You always have to have work coming out even if you can’t create it that week. I’m not using it in the same way as someone who uses it as their main income and is creating stuff every day. You have to basically live inside a photo studio where you have the luxury of pumping out work. I’m also a full-time performer and artist in New York. I make between $500-800 now on Patreon per month, and that’s without really promoting it. There are some people who push it pretty hard. I would like to make more, but that’s energy that I spend promoting shows and performing.

Is Patreon more friendly to, as you put it, sex and sexy work?

A piece came out recently about how Patreon’s user terms have changed and that those user terms were now going to censor a lot more sexy work. The language is a little vague. What I am creating is on the fringes of porn, right? I’m not having sex with anyone on film; I’m doing boudoir photography, which in some ways is porn in some ways is art. It’s very subjective. So for me it’s this nebulous bubble. Other people with Patreon are feeling deeply in jeopardy right now. The platform that has been useful to them is not going to be useful soon. Especially with the FCC [net neutrality] stuff, I don’t know if people understand what’s really happening with people censoring all these things. All of their smut is going to get harder to find, and it’s going to get more expensive to find.

Are any of these changes good?

Now you can label on Patreon whether your content is for 18 or over or not. Which I think is great—everything should have that button. Tumblr has it, but Twitter should have that button; Facebook should have that button. I think there should be 18 and up options on all of those different sites, so you can more or less block nudity from people when you don’t want to see it. And then Conservative Charles or whatever can choose not to toggle that button, even though he is.

How do you deal with creeps on Patreon?

I’ve been dealing with creepy men since I became a naked lady on the Internet. One of the nice things about Patreon is that I can block them; I can unsubscribe them from my service. Because I interact with them there is definitely a relationship that is created, but I don’t seek to be emotionally embroiled with them. I want them to be well, I want them to have a good day and I’m glad that my pictures make them happy. Some—and they don’t last for very long—they assume there’s an “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” kind of situation. I’m very clear with them. I’m like, “I don’t want to see that.” Recently [a male follower] said to me, “I don’t understand why I can’t flash someone if I can go online and see women showing blah blah blah on their timelines.” And I’m like, “You came to my timeline, boo boo. You came to my little corner of the Internet. So move it along.”

Why is it an issue how people’s work is shared for free on social media?

I think of my friends who are burlesque performers, strippers, sex workers, and cam girls. I think about Tumblr, and its proliferation of porn GIFs. No one is getting paid for this. I want people to be liberated, and I want artists to get paid. I want sex workers to get paid. I want strippers to get paid.

Censorship changes aside, compared to social media sites like Tumblr, does Patreon help people get paid more?

It’s worth it to use Patreon because hopefully you’ll get paid even if it does end up in the Internet somewhere. Hopefully, you got paid for it first. What I do is a job. What cam girls do is a job. A lot of us love the work, but we should get paid for it. Everyone has to make a living somehow.

Sophie Saint Thomas is an award-winning journalist (Brooklyn Magazine 30 Under 30, High Times 100 Women in High Places) and six-time author in New York City. She grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Her writing, which focuses on sex, love, as well as drugs and queer subcultures, can be... Read moreInstagramXRelated Stories for GQSexMoneySex and Relationships