A Costly Decision: Christian Animator’s Business Blacklisted for Declining to Draw Trans Flag
CBNNEWS.COM – A hate campaign has destroyed yet another business. But this time, it’s a Regent University student’s successful animation work that had paid for her education.
Ever since she’s been able to hold a crayon, art has been Emily Arant’s passion. “At age 11, I saw people drawing online and animating online,” she said. “I was just instantly [drawn] – I want to do that too.”
That was 11 years ago. Since then, Arant has made a name for herself as Lupis Vulpes, a top animator known for her eye-popping animal characters and more than 200,000 YouTube subscribers.
Her business proved so successful that she used it to pay for college. So far, she’s covered her tuition, room, and board for her first year and the fall semester of her sophomore year.
“I know it’s just the Lord and He’s blessed it so much,” said Arant.
But she’s also known for some time that her public testimony is risky. On her Twitter bio, she openly identifies as a “follower of Jesus Christ.”
“I kind of stood out in this community like a sore thumb because I love Christ and I didn’t draw the same things that other people would draw,” she explained.
The hammer came down this summer when she refused two customer requests.
The first commissioned her to draw a character and later asked that she include the flag for the transgender movement.
“I told them I don’t feel comfortable doing that and I’m a Christian,” she said.
Then Arant says another customer insisted that she donate money towards and promote the organization, Black Lives Matter.
“They wanted me to earn a bunch of money for the organization as well as advertise for it but it just felt weird and manipulative so I wasn’t going to do it.”
That’s when Arant’s world suddenly came crashing down. It happened as she was driving to Regent for the fall semester. “My phone started to blow up with messages and alerts from people,” she said.
The animation community had quickly turned on her, beginning what’s known as an “official callout,” namely for what it labeled as her “transphobic and homophobic views.”
It led to a six-page online document complete with links to screenshots and social media posts detailing her so-called crimes.
