It’s a tough week for the gays.

Yesterday, OnlyFans announced that they will be banning sexually explicit content from their website, a place that many sex workers use to sell their personal explicit content to their fans. It created a safe space for sex workers to comfortably continue their work. It also allowed many others an entryway into the sex work. OnlyFans says their creators will still be allowed to post nude content, it just needs to fall within their new policies. OnlyFans stated that more details on their new policies will be revealed in the coming weeks.

OnlyFans changed sex work in 2018 when the platform started to focus on NSFW (Not Safe For Work) content. It became known as a pornography platform, however the difference was that anyone could become a content creator. Many people with strong social media followings used OnlyFans as a way to share content that they couldn’t post on Instagram. It also allowed anyone to get into the sex work industry without becoming a Pornstar for mainstream websites. Pornstars even found their way to OnlyFans to post more of their own content.

Due to the pandemic and many people being stuck inside, OnlyFans began to receive even more success. Everyone was home and lonely, and sometimes even broke. We only had our phones and computers. Just as TikTok grew, so did OnlyFans. And with that, it caught the attention of mainstream celebrities like Bella Parker, Cardi B, Tyler Posey, and more. Many OnlyFans users were upset by this, specifically Bella Parker’s introduction, because OnlyFans changed their policies to limit how much creators can charge, and extended the waiting period before creators can cash in on their earnings around the same time that Bella Parker created her account.

The series of moves, specifically this move to restrict sexually explicit content, is a result of OnlyFans trying to attract new investment and banking partners to raise their funding valuation over $1 billion. In return, however, the platform is making the conscious decision to block the creators that built their brand name and brought them billions of dollars in income within the recent years. These creators are now being tossed aside and they, and their fans, are not happy about this transition.

Many users took to Twitter to express their sadness, disappointment, and concern. Cosplayer and OnlyFans creator Laura Lux tweeted out that: “the real villains here are the banks/credit card processors. been a lot of pressure on visa & mastercard etc from evangelical anti porn groups to stop providing their services to porn companies and i know onlyfans was on their hit list”

@DarthLux on Twitter and Instagram

Popular OnlyFans creator Sean Austin (@seanaustinxx) believes that the move is a regression in terms of sex. We’re trying to push the world more towards acceptance, and now OnlyFans is blocking one of the major platforms that was pushing more towards ending the stigma against sex work and sex altogether. When speaking with JJ Malibu, Sean Austin stated, “Instead of becoming a more excepting diverse world we are regressing, and sex is still such a taboo subject in 2021. It’s sad really.”

@seanaustinxx in JJ Thong

Diego Barros (@diego_rodrigob), one of the the top 0.01% creators on OnlyFans can only laugh: “Remember when Tumblr removed all their explicit content? Look how that’s doing now,” he stated to JJ Malibu. As he was one of the first few that were invited to and began an OnlyFans account in it’s early stages, he’s one of the pioneers that helped build the brand to what it is today. Not to mention, he also brought the company billions of dollars in revenue. “I bet the competition [of OnlyFans] are laughing and celebrating right now.”

@diego_rodrigob in JJ Briefs

And it’s true. While OnlyFans created a safe space for sex workers, these people will now flock somewhere else and create a new space. This is an interesting opportunity for the competition as there will be many strays looking for a home. Diego believes that Just For Fans will become the new prime hub for sex workers. And with that, whichever platform becomes the new hub has the potential to gain not only billions of dollars in revenue, but the opportunity to fight the stigma against sex work.