Fighting for freedom of expression in the arts

My name is Louise Distras.  I’m a musician.  But in 2023 my career and my life was turned upside down after I was accused of being transphobic and subjected to a sustained campaign of harassment, stalking and malicious communications. Now I need to raise £30,000 for the legal expertise to fight a trial in April.

Before the Covid lockdowns I was an internationally touring musician – I performed all over the UK, America, Canada, Europe and Scandinavia. I toured with The Damned, Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzocks and performed at Glastonbury Festival. I released two albums ‘Dreams from the Factory Floor‘ and ‘Beauty After Bruises‘ and Kerrang! The UK’s biggest rock music weekly named me as a ‘Star of 2017’

But in May 2023 I began to notice radio stations had stopped playing my music and venues had stopped booking me. I suspected this was because of the rumours that were circulating online claiming I’m transphobic. To deal with this and stay in touch with my fan base I opened a Bandcamp page, which hosted my discography of 2 albums, 1 EP and various singles.  This went really well – I made sales, rebuilt my profile and built a 20,000 strong fan base on X (formerly Twitter). I was glad to be making music again.  I was truly independent, and wrote a new album of 12 tracks which I want to record in 2024.

Then on 28th October 2023 without notice, Bandcamp closed my artist page. My discography disappeared along with my income already held on the platform.  I contacted Bandcamp to find out what had happened but I’ve still had no response. Freedom in the Arts also wrote to Bandcamp and raised my case online with the UK Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer.

I believe I am the victim of an online harassment campaign.  It has led to reviewers updating good write ups of ‘Beauty after Bruises’ to bad, and my booking agent withdrawing his support for me and me being arrested by West Yorkshire Police and released without charge in December 2023. Bandcamp closing my page means it is now almost impossible to reach the international audience I once did and earn enough income to pay my bills.

Why is this happening to me?  I ask myself this question every day!  Put simply I don’t believe people can change sex.  I’m vocal about that – being a woman, and the experiences I’ve had because I’m a woman, are central to my music and my life.  Believing that people can’t change sex is a completely legal view, thanks to the Forstater ruling, and most people agree with me.

What can I do about the harassment campaign?  As an independent, freelance musician it’s very difficult to challenge ‘rumours’. I don’t have recourse to a trade union or litigation as I would as an employee, and speaking my mind publicly is what making music is all about. International platforms like Bandcamp operate outside British legal control, making it difficult to challenge them if they decide to close down an income stream for no stated reason.

To speak out against harassment and cancellation I went public about what is happening to me and my career.  Along with 4 other women in the arts my story was covered in a feature in the Daily Mail, and I talked to journalist Andrew Doyle on his TV show, Free Speech Nation.

Whilst all of this has been going on I have had to start legal proceedings. In December Denise Fahmy, co-founder of Freedom In the Arts, who successfully claimed at an employment tribunal in June 2023 that she had been harassed due to her gender critical views, transferred the remaining balance on her Crowd Justice campaign to this campaign.  

This meant I was able to  instruct Rosalind Fitzgerald of Rayden Solicitors. The case is complex and confidential and unfortunately I’m unable to disclose any details.  

I have to be honest, as it stands I have been legally advised that the case is unlikely to be able to be reported in the future, and will not make headlines or set legal precedents in the way the Forstater case did, because the nature of the proceedings are confidential, and are brought by people personally connected to me in a “family law” case.  

However, what I can say is that the trial in April will engage arguments about my personal rights to exercise free speech and express personal opinions in my musical and artistic work and although I cannot provide evidence, I firmly believe that I would not be facing this case and the prospect of needing tens of thousands of pounds for my defence if it were not for the legally held views that I express online, that a person cannot change sex.    

I realise it’s difficult for people to make donations without more detail about the case, but if I share details that would seriously jeopardise proceedings.  

What I can say is that although in the past12 months I’ve found myself in a very frightening situation, I have refused to give in to bullying.  My t-shirts are available here, my music is available here and I am determined to keep making the music I want to make and that people want to hear.

Thank you for all your messages of support this year, and if you can make a contribution, thanks so much for your generosity.

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