Gay wrestler Dave Marshall started creating pornography in March this year and donating some of the proceeds to a suicide prevention charity.

Since March, the 29-year-old Aussie’s raised more than AU$5,000 (US$3,617) for Beyond Blue via his OnlyFans account.

But when Gay Star News broke the story last week, Beyond Blue reached out to Marshall and said they cannot accept the donations.

Beyond Blue called the gay wrestler on Friday (7 December) and said they became aware of media articles mentioning them. They then exchanged emails about the donation.

Marshall forwarded his email exchange with Beyond Blue onto Gay Star News.

In the emails, the suicide prevention charity told Marshall they cannot accept his donations because they come from activities such as ‘gambling, alcohol and pornography’.

They say he used Beyond Blue’s name to ‘promote the sale of products’ that he offers ‘in the field of pornography’.

They also say Beyond Blue has a policy that all fundraising activities be registered.

The charity then asked him to remove all mention of them in his social media profiles and personal website. They also requested he make sure ‘future consumers of your products are not given the impression their purchase is in any way supporting Beyond Blue’.

Dave Marshall responds

When the gay wrestler first received the charity’s call, he said he was in shock.

‘To me, money is money,’ he told Gay Star News. ‘It came from the heart.’

Beyond Blue gave Marshall an ultimatum – he can remove all mention of their charity and they’ll keep it as a personal donation or he can accept a full refund.

He chose the latter option.

‘At the end of the day, it was a personal donation of my money but I don’t want to be quiet about what I’m doing,’ Marshall said. ‘So it wasn’t the charity for me.’

He’s since found another charity to donate his money from gay porn to – it’s a mental health charity called the Black Dog Institute.

‘They are another of the bigger ones in Australia,’ Marshall explained. ‘As my father was one of the main factors in the choice of charity, it’s quite fitting.’

He called the charity on Monday (10 December) to confirm they were happy to accept the donations.

After checking with their legal and media team, they confirmed they’re happy to support his cause.

In fact, Marshall said he’s going to donate the $5,000 he got back from Beyond Blue and double it for the Black Dog Institute.

This means he’s going to donate a total of $10,000 ($7,228US) to the new charity.

‘It’s a cause that I am proud the help,’ Marshall said. ‘Now more than ever, I’m even more proud of the organisation for accepting me and my donations.’

Gay Star News reached out to Beyond Blue for comment.

Global reaction to charitable donations

Dave Marshall said he was overwhelmed with the positive reaction to his story when various media outlets reported on it.

He said: ‘99.9% was positive and I can’t be more thankful to the community for that.

‘At the end of the day, everyone makes money in different ways – it’s what you choose to do with it that can make a difference or not.

‘It’s money from my community that has supported and loved me and it’s my way of giving back,’ he said.

Marshall wrestles for Perth-based wrestling company Southern Hemisphere Wrestling Alliance.

‘Southern Hemisphere Wrestling Alliance has been like a family to me since day one,’ the gay wrestler said. ‘They don’t treat me any different.’

The 6’3″ Aussie said he’s not experienced any homophobia during his wrestling career.

Read the full original story.

You can follow Dave Marshall on Instagram or Twitter. You can also sign up to his OnlyFans account.

UPDATE:

A spokesperson from Beyond Blue sent Gay Star News a statement.

It read: ‘Beyond Blue is a mental health not-for-profit organisation that provides information and support to all people in Australia experiencing depression, anxiety and suicidality.

‘We have a proud record of advocating on behalf of, and providing support to, LGBTI communities and this continues.

‘We are humbled by the extraordinary support of many individuals who raise funds for our work. But we have a clear fundraising policy that does not permit us to accept proceeds from certain activities, including from the sale of pornography. We also ask that community fundraisers register their activity with us so we can support what they’re doing.

‘We found out about the background to Mr Marshall’s generous donations through media reports, and we then contacted Mr Marshall to clarify whether the funds he had personally donated to Beyond Blue had been derived from the sale of pornography. To that point we had accepted those funds believing them to be personal donations.

‘We expressed our sincere gratitude to Mr Marshall for his support of people affected by depression, anxiety and suicide and offered to refund his donations. We respect his decision, his ongoing dedication to the cause and wish him well,’ they said.

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WWE lesbian wrestler Sonya Deville offers advice on coming out: ‘Do it’