Israel Folau’s GoFundMe page has been shut down after the crowdfunding platform apparently found the campaign to be in violation of their terms of service.
Folau, who is taking on Rugby Australia for his right to be included in the game after he was sacked for sharing a Bible verse on his personal Instagram account, is now being excluded by GoFundMe, once again, in the name of “inclusivity.”
Think about that for a second.
Nicola Britton, regional manager for GoFundMe Australia said: “Today we will be closing Israel Folau’s campaign and issuing full refunds to all donors. After a routine period of evaluation, we have concluded that this campaign violated our terms of service.
As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality for LGBTIQ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity. While we welcome GoFundMes engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion.
In the days since Mr Folau’s campaign launched, more than one million dollars have been donated to hundreds of other campaigns, large and small, across Australia. Those acts of kindness are the heart of GoFundMe.
Our platform exists to help people help others. Australians have shown themselves to be among the most kind and generous people in the world. We look forward to helping more Australians fundraise for causes they care about in the coming months and years.
The campaign, which was set up to help Folau with his legal battle, received more than $650k in donations from supporters.