Racism, Transphobia, and The Perils of Pigeon Post
On March 25th, Seven Seas is releasing two new volumes of ongoing series: the fourth and final installment of The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish and the third of four volumes of You’ve Got Mail: The Perils of Pigeon Post by Blackegg (Hei Dan Bai). While I’m excited about the former, I’m not going to read the latter and you won’t see reviews or many other references to it on Danmei Dreams. This has nothing to do with the qualities of the book itself, but concerns about the author.
The author of Perils of Pigeon Post, Blackegg/Hei Dan Bai, has publicly posted racist and transphobic remarks on social media. Here is a key quote from this excellent post from Danmei News from June 14, 2023:
Hei Dan Bai “replurking” (equivalent to retweeting) a Japanese article criticizing the “trans movement” and adding supportive comments inviting “rebuttals of trans movement discourse.” Another post shares a link to a video criticizing the casting of a Black woman as Ariel for the live-action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023), with commentary below that references “a trans movement lurking in wait.”
Please consider reading the full article for a more thorough breakdown of the issue with all receipts included.
Ultimately, I want to spend my money supporting writers (and artists of all sorts) who create a better world through their art, even if it’s just a tiny sliver at a time by making space for queer love and attraction. Especially when it comes to queer media, I try to put my capitalistic dollars towards artists who are members or allies of the queer community, not authors who want to make a quick dime on the backs of people they despise.
This isn’t a position I’m interested in debating, so please don’t attempt to engage if you feel otherwise. You are of course free to buy any books you want. For me, though, I’m very happy to skip this one in favor of all the other amazing danmei out there such as: Guardian, Stars of Chaos, Ballad of Sword and Wine, and many more.
