Quill Etoy is a lovely nonbinary person in the Boston, MA area. They are active in their local contra dance community, teach crafting lessons, and strive to be a vibrant and glorious person in all of their interactions.

In 2015-16, they spent months being sexually coerced and abused by a fellow dancer they had hoped was a friend. When they tried to share their story with their dance communities, hoping to protect others from the same harm, their abuser attempted to continue their violence by suing them for slander in an attempt to silence their victim. $55,000 in damages—$5000 in mental health medical feels and $50,000 in emotional damages.

Adding insult to injury, the abuser's complaint deliberately deadnamed Quill, incorrectly identified their transition, and then consistently misgendered them throughout the entire complaint.

Quill is currently able to hold down a part-time job and makes ends meet teaching knitting and crochet lessons within their community; they don't have $55,000 tucked away to pay for the privilege of being harassed and abused with the legal system for telling the truth about their assault and trauma.

Along with managing their own mental health challenges, which have been exacerbated by this ongoing harassment, Quill is currently organizing treatment for their father, who is dying of cancer, and their mother, who suffered a catastrophic brain aneurisym in March and is still critically ill. They don't have the resources to fight this violent attempt to continue the months of gaslighting they've already endured, and they have tapped every community resource available for assistance. They have contacted legal aid organizations, law school student programs, and friends of friends who might be asked to do pro bono work—but they have been unable to find anyone willing to help them.

With this gofundme, we are hoping to raise enough money to help Quill retain a lawyer and fight this lawsuit. We want to raise $12,000. Our goal is based on the following estimates:

$2,000 for a retainer

$8,000 for ongoing legal fees

$1,000 to make up for anticipated lost wages

$1,000 to cover medical costs related to mental health care

Sexual assualt survivors struggle to tell their stories, and this is just one example of why. Please help one struggling person stand up to their assaulter and protect their community by telling the truth.