When I was 16, Danny Hooper (Alex Day's cousin) made unwelcome sexual advances towards me and I don't know what to do about it.
(sorry it’s taken me legit 12 hours to reply to this – i’ve had very sporadic access to tumblr today. if you want to talk more about this on OR off anon, please please please don’t hesitate to send me another message! <3)
i think the biggest thing i would stress is that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. come forward publicly or not, that is totally your call, and there is no shame or responsibility in either decision. like – if you don’t want to do anything about it, you don’t have to do anything. i just wanna make that super clear!!!
i wish i could confidently promise you that, if you decided to come forward, your word would be 100% accepted and believed and you would receive universal support from the nerdfighter/youtube community at large. but i think by now we’ve learned that this really isn’t the case. prominent youtubers aren’t doing nearly enough to combat this problem, they aren’t publicly calling out the accused, they aren’t keeping them out of conferences (see: luke conard) – they’re just sort of. keeping quiet. (which, in doing so, is ultimately supporting the abusers.) THAT BEING SAID, i do think there has been a NOTICABLE amount of support extended to survivors and/or the people who have made the decisions to step forward publicly – from prominent female youtubers like lex, becky, bryarly, and especially lindsay pottermoosh, as well as a significant portion of the nerdfighter/youtube community. i consider myself a part of this significant portion, and i promise i believe you. even if other people don’t.
obviously calling him out on social media isn't your only option, there are definitely LOADS of others – this is just the one i personally have the most exposure to, given that i've primarily been engaging with this discussion through social media. but you DEFINITELY have other options other than stepping forward on tumblr/twitter/youtube or not.
again, please please please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on or off anon. i hope you’re doing okay. <333
