The future looked bright for Lackadaisy earlier this year when the animated short released its long-awaited pilot on YouTube.
Based on the popular webcomic of the same name by artist Tracy J. Butler, Lackadaisy details the lives of a group of anthropomorphic cats living through the Prohibition era in St. Louis. It went from a niche 2006 webcomic with a devoted fanbase to a viral animated sensation with over 10 million views and counting on YouTube.
Given the unprecedented success of the pilot, Iron Circus Animation — a subsidiary of Iron Circus Comics — launched a crowdfunding campaign to help fund the remainder of season 1. On the heels of that campaign, which has reached $1.6 million as of this writing and closes on August 24, one of Lackadaisy’s artists, known by the name Zebirdbrain, is facing accusations of transphobia mere hours from arguably one of the webcomic’s most pivotal moments in its 17-year history.
Several Lackadaisy supporters have been confronted with the disheartening reality that Zebirdbrain’s online footprint is linked to a number of anti-trans posts on X (formally known as Twitter). The posts in question relate to discussions regarding the exclusion of trans women in male sports.
“I don’t agree that transgenders should be allowed to compete with women,” one post that Zebirdbrain liked said. “Imagine prime Mike Tyson transitioning into a woman and fighting female boxers.”
The issue is compounded by a post many have called disrespectful in which Zebirdbrain took aim at another animator Vivienne Medrano — also known an VivziePop — for not sharing the link to the Lackadaisy animation crowdfunding campaign.
“Since Medrano could not be bothered to share the link to support the project; here’s the Backerkit if anyone’s interested,” wrote Zebirdbrain. “And KNOW THAT every share of the link, words and donations (how ever small!) are appreciated. It’s not about how rich you are!”
Despite the backlash, people close to Zebirdbrain have come out in support, offering messages of patience and kindness against the impassioned calls of disappointment and ridicule. One Twitter user in particular — Evan Olover — shared a video advocating for Zebirdbrain’s support of the transgender community and cautioning against prematurely tearing down her reputation. Olover described themselves as FTM (female-to-male) trans and claimed Zebirdbrain has been a close and supportive friend since they started transiting in 2013.
The director of the Lackadaisy pilot, Fable Siegel also came out in support of Zebirdbrain – saying, “I have heard people reaching out to me wondering if our crewmate Zebirdbrain is transphobic due to some screenshotted likes. Take it from trans folks like myself, Evan here, and others who count Ze as our peer and mentor that she is a fellow queer ally we’re proud to call friend.”
The creator of Lackadaisy — Tracy J. Butler — shared Siegel’s post and even responded to it with her own take on the situation.
“Some people trying to fly their banner of moral superiority while being suspiciously quick to outright dismiss the words of multiple trans people with direct, long term knowledge about this person…”
However, despite numerous sources close to Zebirdbrain coming to her defense — including the director and creator of Lackadaisy — the public is having a hard time digesting the facts. The mere notion that Zebirdbrain liked several posts relating to anti-trans ideology has become a hurdle too large to overcome.
What most Lackadaisy fans want, it seems, is an apology from Zebirdbrain, not third-party people coming to her defense.
The situation reeks of those early days of J.K. Rowling’s descent to the pits of popularity. In those days, Rowling had liked posts on Twitter about articles pertaining to Maya Forstater – the English woman who sued her company for not renewing her contract after asserting that sex is real and transgender women are not biological women and thus are not entitled to the same rights. Those liked posts by Rowling eventually turned into posts of her own, an essay, and finally, a proud megahorn of transgender ideology that she has continued to vocalize online that is continually deemed wholly anti-trans.
Indeed, Zebirdbrain’s current online climate feels akin to the slippery slope Rowling found herself on. However, unlike Rowling, an influx of transgender people have come to the Lackadaisy artist’s defense to shut down any notion of transphobia. More importantly, they have called her opinions “much kinder and more empathetic than what detractors would have you believe.”
With less than 24 hours left on Lackadaisy’s crowdfunding campaign, there’s no doubt the $1.6 million that has been donated will go toward bringing the popular webcomic to life. Whether or not it will retain the large fanbase it aquired is another question entirely.