Transparency, Integrity, and the “Why” Behind LinkedMusicians

[LinkedMusicians]

To the LinkedMusicians Community,

I’ve spent the last week stepping back to reflect on the direction of this site and my role in it. One of the core values I’ve pushed for here is transparency. I believe that in an industry often clouded by opaque interests and deceptive marketing, knowing exactly who is behind the curtain matters.

However, transparency comes with a cost.

Just one week ago, I made the decision to change how I represent myself here. I moved away from operating behind a pseudonym I used as a working musician because of a last name people have difficulty pronouncing. I did this because I wanted to be as real as possible with this community. I always saw the irony that I care so much about transparency yet, because of the pervasiveness of online trolling, why would I want to risk a reputation I’ve spent my life building?

In that process of putting my real name on this project, I discovered a documented, 10-year campaign of coordinated defamation. To be clear: these attacks did not target my professional career as a marketing strategist. These people only knew the hobbyist musician known as PavlovsCat, not Peter DeLegge. These are not professional colleagues; they are individuals from a hobbyist niche who took issue with me for taking a stand against their bigoted and racist posts.

The most telling part is that while I have chosen to be accountable for my words, these attacks remain shielded behind the veil of anonymity. They point back to a specific legacy music forum where, over a decade ago, I first reported hate speech. When you disrupt an entrenched, toxic culture, some treat that as a lifelong grievance.

People have asked why the mission of creating a non-toxic and inclusive environment is so significant, and why I am so passionate with a no-tolerance policy against hate speech that was commonplace on the forum most of our early members came from. The answer is deeply personal.

Thirty years ago, I was the person my cousin Russ trusted to come out to. Russ and I were rock drummers, and we were a lot closer than our own brothers. I was a witness to how silence and bigotry were soul-crushing for him, erasing his dignity just to protect a family image while he battled AIDS. At the time, my aunt and uncle forced all of us to promise to lie and tell people he was dying of cancer—if we didn’t, we were told we would no longer be allowed to visit him in the hospital. To preserve that lie, he spent his final weeks hidden away in the AIDS wing, isolated by a narrative built on intolerance. Seeing that happen to someone I loved like a brother, I promised myself I would never be part of an architecture of erasure.

I have spent my life trying to build the opposite of that silence. Years ago, I designed and led a church program aimed at bringing churchgoers together with our local homeless community. The rule was simple: the churchgoers picked up the tab, but they weren’t allowed to preach. We were there to provide a meal and to listen—to be a friend, not to create a transactional relationship where food was traded for a sermon. It was through that program of radical hospitality that I met my wife.

Four years ago, I watched the “architecture of erasure” strike again. A dear friend, Lee Anne—an amazing woman who spent her life as a radiology tech—came out as bisexual in the final months of her own terminal diagnosis. She had never actually been in a same-sex relationship; she had suppressed that part of herself her entire life because of how she was raised. In her final days, she simply wanted to be real—a level of character and courage I deeply admired. Despite her bravery, and the tragic loss of her son just months before her own passing, she faced rejection from those who should have supported her. Fortunately, she had a wonderful, supportive brother who became a friend to me as well.

I realized then that silence is a luxury the marginalized do not have. I wrote a song for both of them called “Nothing to Hide.” It’s sloppy—it’s all first takes and my voice… Like everything I’ve shared, it’s, at best, demo quality stuff. Lee Anne once told me, “Your voice reminds me of Bob Dylan.” I had to laugh. But as imperfect as that recording is, it was meaningful to her because it expressed my love and support. I can never take it down, because her comment is still there on the page.

The policies here are a direct result of both my business and human experience. I am not LGBTQ+, nor am I a member of any political party. I have no agenda beyond the belief that everyone deserves respect, decency, and kindness. If you want to claim I have an agenda, it is rooted in these three words: “Love one another.”

I have seen what happens when people are forced to hide who they are. I see it even now, recalling the members who reached out to me privately at that legacy forum to thank me for speaking up—colleagues and friends who faced horrific bullying simply for being who they are. They deserve to live in a world where they feel the same safety as everyone else. Until that day comes, I will ensure they find that safety here.

LinkedMusicians exists to be a Safe Harbor. We have just published our official Community Charter & Governance Standards to permanently codify these values. I am committed to keeping this platform a professional sanctuary, free from the legacy toxicity that has held our industry back for too long.

Thank you for being part of this mission. Now, let’s get back to the music.

Peter DeLegge
Founder, LinkedMusicians

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