Transphobic Defamation from Rianne Schestowitz

This is the tale of a GNU/Linux news site owned and operated by Rianne Schestowitz. It was purchased some years ago by her husband Roy Schestowitz and he put her in charge of running it.

A tale of transphobia and defamation that started in August 2023. Police were involved, although all they did was tell them to stop harassing me.

I Have this evening spoken to Roy Schestowitz and advised him about his conduct. I have told him that any direct or indirect communication between you must stop and that if GMP is provided with any evidence that his behaviour or harassment continues we will be seeking criminal prosecution.

It all began in July 2023, I found out that Roy and Rianne were fired from Sirius Open Source because Roy defamed them on his website in his published chat logs.

Roy insists they both resigned, and it is possible that Sirius lied about it. But Roy has a history of publishing half truths and bald faced lies to support his agenda.

I pointed out that he was fired in his IRC Chat room. Roy was furious, and he called me by my deadname, linked a really old profile and accused me of being a pedophile.

I was disgusted by this and left his channel. I went on with my life and was busy doing other things. In August, I noticed that Rianne published an article about me.

This incident marked the starting point of a distressing campaign of transphobia and harassment that deeply affected me and made me fear for my safety due to the harassment, doxxing, group stalking and defamation that ensued.

Services
1 Every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status or disability. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, s. 1; 1999, c. 6, s. 28 (1); 2001, c. 32, s. 27 (1); 2005, c. 5, s. 32 (1); 2012, c. 7, s. 1.

Infringement prohibited
9 No person shall infringe or do, directly or indirectly, anything that infringes a right under this Part. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, s. 9.

Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19

Rianne used a screenshot of my former masculine classmates’ profile alongside my current feminine LinkedIn profile, essentially doxxing my deadname.

Throughout the article, she consistently misgendered me and referred to me by my old deadname. Even more distressing, she accused me of being a criminal and claimed that I was evading the police and authorities in Canada, insinuating that I was using the LGBTQ2+ community as a shield. None of this was true at all.

Additionally, Rianne alleged that I had changed my name solely to avoid financial responsibilities and the police. She also accused me of participating in a Microsoft conspiracy. She went so far as to label me as evil, a psychopath, a sociopath, and a serial defamer while asserting that I embarrassed the transgender community and did not represent them.

She even wrote an extremely creepy poem about me.

In another article, I was consistently subjected to derogatory treatment by Rianne, with the use of deadnaming and calling me “Lobsta.” It was both disrespectful and offensive.

Throughout the article, there was even more persistent misgendering and bald faced lies. Rianne went to great lengths to vilify me, labeling me a “completely deranged freak” for merely discussing the Human Rights Code in their IRC chat room. She was implying that my transition was a means to evade authority, painting me as a criminal. None of which was true.

The article also contained shockingly inappropriate and offensive statements directed at both me and others, with vulgar sexual remarks involving her using a sexual device on us.

Additionally, she taunted us with the fact that our names were showing up in Google search results due to the defamatory articles. The use of fake log files in the article cast doubt on the authenticity of her claims.

I reported the doxxing from Tux Machines (and Techrights) to Ariadne Conill via Mastadon with the URLs. She took down the sites citing violations of RCW 4.24.792(1)(b) and 4.24.792(1)(c) (USA: Washington Laws) for doxxing.

Rianne’s husband Roy would later claim this act was “social engineering.”

He certainly likes to use words in which he doesn’t understand the meaning. His definition of “doxxing” and “social engineering” are far different than what everyone else means.

They brought both of their sites back online and by November 2023, I had had enough. I filed what is essentially a human rights lawsuit with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Britney Lozza v. Tux Machines was approved by the Tribunal on January 27, 2024. Unlike Small Claims Court, it matters more where I am instead of where she is located. Tux Machines is hosted in the United Kingdom, but she does make it available to readers in Ontario, Canada. I was in Ontario when I read the transphobic articles.

That’s all that matters.

Instead of hiring a lawyer, they opted to publish more lies about me. Roy claimed I was “harassing” his wife in a post on Techrights. Rianne apparently called the police to report this as harassment. And today, Roy is claiming violence and blackmail.

Where does he come up with this stuff?

I didn’t even send her the Notice of Application, it was the Registrar of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Although I do maintain that I have the right to contact her in regards to this lawsuit and that doing so wouldn’t be harassment because I am representing myself.

It’s called “lawful excuse” and she isn’t the first one to try this strategy on me.

The act of calling the police is just a reprisal under S.8 and S.9 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19. I will definitely bring this up during the proceedings.

I will keep all of you up to date as more comes out. Rianne has until March 2, 2024 to file a Response using Form 2.