I have heard the whole payment processor argument, but I am really wondering how much of this censorship is due to the payment processors and how much is due to Patreon itself. This is why I am happy to see developers thrive outside of Patreon, because they are shooting themselves in the foot with this whole censorship and banning mission they are on.
Honestly I've debunked this argument myself many times. Paypal is the only remote possibility and its only out of fear of chargebacks. Too many and paypal will drop you. But patreon is too big of a customer for that to really be an issue.
Chargebacks happen with big companies, but as long as its not a lot, most payment processors don't really care. (I've worked with payment processors so I have some experience with them as a business fwiw).
If you go to an adult toy shop or porn outlet they still take CCs so obviously they don't care that you buy porn. After all you buy a dildo you could just as easily say you didn't purchase it and the card company would issue a chargeback being the same headache as patreon would.
But I also don't think it's a moral agenda either. I honestly think it has more to do with bad press making patreon out to be the people who fund the sex industry and patreon responding in kind. Its foundational belief was support artists in the ways they were supported during the Renaissance.
The issue IMO is this social stigma. Their answer should have been "In order to allow our artists to be supported we cannot stifle their bodies of work if they do not violate the law, we must allow them to express themselves fully" Instead social stigma is forcing change for the worse.
