(hopefully) Final Update! Skizz supports trans rights!
I will let Skizz speak for himself, because he did it pretty dang well, with some highlights courtesy of me
"Hello all, just gonna drop this right here. I wish to clear up some churn over this stream that was just starting to spin a bit out of control, and quickly at that. Simply put, I was feeling really happy and good with the vibes of the stream (As I most often do), and failed to vet a dono msg prior to instantly reading it out loud. The message was centered on my support of the LGBTQ community and more over requesting I explicitly state aloud āTrans Rightsā. My response was instant and not totally well thought out. While I do think that there is an unfortunate political dynamic to the LGBTQ community, the word I was actually trying to conjure up was āpolarizingā. The reason Iād rather not delve into said polarizing topics is because of what inevitably comes from it. There were several comment threads of people going back and forth at each other over this. Much of which was cordial, some not so much, and all of it not fitting for the comment section of one of my stream VODs. Iāve removed them all because itās just not the place for it. Obviously I believe in trans rights as weāre all people, every one of us. I just donāt fancy, and never will, being told what to say. Itās not lost on me how stubborn I can be. š There was actually some talk that Iām open to harnessing hate in my community. Not sure where I slipped up to give that impression so let me be crystal clear; hate is not tolerated here and never has been. It literally means nothing to me what oneās take is on any matter. I could agree whole heartedly but if the position is delivered in a fashion designed to cause pain, discomfort or divisiveness on any level, then please take that somewhere else. This is indeed intended to be a safe space. So to that end, if you want to hang out where the vibes are real and the good times continue to roll, well then Iām looking forward to seeing you at the next stream. If youād rather be a part of the seemingly endless game of disposition ping-pong, I completely respect that but politely request you all meet at another forum to do so. Now genuinelyā¦..genuinelyā¦..be good, be good to each other, and Iāll see you soon."
So all in all, about what I expected, with two notes:
There was some discussion in the youtube comments saying anon shouldn't have paid Skizz to say 'trans rights', and that is fair. SHOULDN'T is a strong word, as Skizz is notoriously bad at reading his chat and this person clearly wanted to be heard and validated. Either way, try not to use donations to coerce content creators to say things like a damn puppet! Not even Joe!
Don't take his attitude of "disposition ping-pong" to heart
Thank you for being kind in the comments. There were a few people that were getting a little spicy in the approach, but I'll choose to believe that those people did not come from my post. Skizz was not actively encouraging hate with his words, but he also didn't acknowledge the harm that inaction can do.
Keep your tone calm and your points reasonable, be resolute in your feelings, and know that you can only state your feelings, not force action. That is the way to keeping these sorts of discussions calm.
If this is all a devastating ordeal, please take this as hopefully the hardest lesson that the content creators themselves are not the safe space: it's the people in that safe space. If Skizz doesn't want to say "trans rights", find people that will scream it for you. Fandoms and cc's will rise and fall, but friendships and bonds can last FAR beyond that. THAT is your home. Your blorbo is simply the 30 posters you glue to the wall.
This is hopefully my final update as Skizz spoke concisely and without any places to hide. DO NOT BLOW THIS UP. I gave him explicit permission to delete my comment because I knew he would have to, and I hold no grudge against him for it. I am happy with his answer. I still love him as a content creator just as much as I did yesterday morning. I'll wish him the happiest of birthdays on Saturday. Rest easy knowing that you have your answer, one way or another
And for those of you that need it:
ellievsbear
gracieabrams
origamiaround
gummygunk
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
