KazeoLion: An Update + An Important Message
Certain events have been brought to my attention that require me to make a follow-up to a post I made 3 years ago; This post of mine linked to a Twitter thread as a call-out. Trigger warning as this post will mention a lot of heavy subject material, including, but not limited to, zoophillia, suicide, transphobia, and doxxing.
The thread was a call-out of a user by the name of KazeoLion, someone who admitted to being a zoophile, and posted publicly about their preferences towards animal genitalia despite claiming to be getting help for their ZOCD (that is not a bad thing, but doing that stuff is). The account behind that thread is now private, so what I will link to anyone interested in seeing the evidence is an archived thread.
This was over 3 years ago. I don’t know if they got the help they claimed they would get, and in general I had not given this person a single thought since then until just yesterday afternoon, I receive several more likes and reblog on that post. I assume it’s either the algorithm, or just people scrolling very far down on my page, but that speculation is essentially null and void when I come across a post where he is called out for playing a hand in bullying a young woman, Mikayla Raines of the Save a Fox foundation to suicide.
Connecting the dots was not only horrifying beyond all belief, but deeply triggering, as someone who has, in many ways, been negatively effected by suicide in my life. From what I am aware, KazeoLion accused Mikayla of many terrible and false things involving her organization several years back, but was not the biggest or only person involved in the harassment campaign Mikayla; Many people, and other animal organizations were involved, some of whom were Mikayla’s closest friends.
Upon the news of her death spreading like wildfire and people connecting the dots that link him back to her, he has doubled down, denying any accountability, responsibility, or guilt, claiming that the chaos will “die down within a month.” As per usual for the Internet, people did not pull back any punches, and from what I’ve learned, he has been banned from multiple subreddits due to previous unrelated comments of his in the past being swarmed in the replies, resulting in comments' sections on many posts being locked. Apart from his Reddit, all of his other socials have been taken down. At the time I am writing this, his Reddit post, "I'm not backing down, fuck off" has been taken down, and any comments of his that he has made in his defense are deleted, with the comments' section being locked.
My thoughts on this have rang in my head like a bell for the past 24 hours, but I’ve been able to mentally unpack all of this enough to make a statement. What I’ll say first, which is the one we can all agree on, is how messed up this all is. Mikayla was a human being. Someone who had a life, a family, a career, and a goal, all of which were either torn apart forever or permanently destroyed. And Kazeo not feeling a single shred of remorse or even sympathy for the woman speaks volumes about what kind of person he is. Him claiming that “this will all die down within a month” is beyond callous. Because remember, that woman had a life, goals, ambition, and a family that were all affected by her death. That cannot be changed, undone, or “die down” within a month. That is fucking permanent. His attitude on the manner after the fact is absolutely vile and does nothing but to dig himself into a hole that will be next to impossible to bring himself out of. I can’t say he isn’t deserving of scrutiny.
THAT BEING SAID.
I have seen the public reaction to Kazeo’s actions, from tweets, to comments, to replies on his socials, to videos. I’ve even seen screenshots of my post from 3 years ago used as ammo in the discussions surrounding Kazeo's unsavory history, which I am almost 99% certain where the new notifications were from. That is partially why I decided to make this post, both to update it on anything outdated [in this case being the faulty link] and to use my platform to say many things that I think need to be said.
DO NOT USE THIS SITUATION AS A LICENSE FOR TRANSPHOBIA OR DOXXING AGAINST KAZEOLION.
Within less than 24 hours of Mrs. Raines being pronounced dead, people have gone for the jugular on the offensive, spouting transphobic rhetoric towards him, calling him slurs, making entire subreddits and accounts dedicated to bashing him, sending him death threats, deadnaming and misgendering him, to the point where people were surprised at people who refer to him as a man, (if you were legitimitately mistaken on his identity, that is not a moral failing upon you as long as you correct yourself in future) and doxxing him via showing his actual physical address.
I do not need to explain any further why this is all fucked up. It’s one thing to say “fuck you” to him for what he did, and completely another to spew transphobia and to dox him. In terms of the former it is never okay to deadname someone because it implies that what should be the bare minimum is a ‘privelige’ to some. To say that is a slippery slope would be a gross understatement as to how abhorrent. this line of thinking and acting is.
In terms of the latter; As someone who has been doxxed at the age of 15, this entire matter, among many things angers me down to my flaming core, but to keep things as brief as they can be, it is not going to work. Doxxing, much like cyberbullying someone to suicide, fun fact, IS a crime! Penalties vary in many states, but from my research, it can lead to up to over half a decade in jail.
Kazeo, as shitty of a person he may be, would be well within his rights to take legal action against the people doxxing him, especially since many of the people doing so are the same people spouting transphobic death threats towards him and using the scenario to push anti-trans propoganda. The court of law could easily label this as a hate-crime against him (and they wouldn’t even be incorrect!). Not only does this not solve the issue, not only is this wrong on a moral, ethical, and logical scale, but it ultimately gives Kazeo the upper hand by giving him a smoking gun to use against, which will cause bigger, more quantitative problems down the line.
Whenever I pointed this out to some people in the comments of a video doxxing Kazeo (that I have successfully reported and taken down for privacy infringement), people attempted to guilt-trip me by mentioning Mikayla’s husband and daughter, in a “Oh, imagine saying that with her family in front of you” or “Try saying that after seeing Ethan’s statement.”
….It’s sad that this is not the first time or last time that I am going to have to say this, or that I'm likely the ONLY person willing to say this at all thus far, but to anyone who has even paid attention to this point… to anyone who is willing to fucking listen or take at least one thing away from my post.
DON’T! FUCKING. DO. THIS!
Bigotry DOES NOT equal accountability. It NEVER does. Implying it does insinuates that trans people and minorities in general have to “earn” the bare minimum. That is fucking horrible! Seeing so many people defend it is awful enough on its own, but using Mikayla’s family as some “gotcha” against people pushing back from it is undeserving of any words. I can’t speak for Ethan or Freya, and frankly, I would rather not; However, I do think the irony on using a woman’s dead family to shield accountability from actions that can and have killed people (i.e. transphobia and doxxing) is verrry lost on people. So I will once again, say this to anyone who gives enough of an iota of a fuck to listen to what I have to say because this is important -
YOU DO NOT GET TO PUT WORDS INTO RELATIVES OF THE DECEASED TO JUSTIFY BIGOTRY.
You want to hold Kazeo accountable? Acknowledge what he did wrong? Spread awareness as to what he did? Good. That can be done WITHOUT resorting to bigotry and doxxing. With how much traction my original post is getting, and with how it's being used as a smoking gun in flame-wars against Kazeo, and with just how rampant the bad-faith discussions and malicious talking points against him have become, I felt the need to say this here and now to bring to light something with far better substance, that I hope will make just as great of, if not, more an impact without being weaponized by people that I not only want nothing to do with, but hold in just as much contempt as I hold Kazeo himself.
You are not doing anyone any favors by spreading hate and whatever problems you think are going to be solved, will only be magnified beyond repair. And if the worst ever happens, YOU may be the one to have blood on your hands one day.
SO WHAT SHOULD BE DONE THEN?
Block him. Report him if you see fit. Spread posts that let his terrible actions be known to the public. Be wary of circles where he may be in or has been in. But also be sure to report people doxxing him and using the situation to spread transphobic propoganda. As I've stated before, I took down a video last night that shared his personal address and deadname, but there's no telling how many people that downloaded that video and are sharing it, so this is something y'all will need to be on the look-out for and report - and if you do know his address, DO NOT SHARE IT.
Additionally, Kazeo, to my knowledge, was not the biggest or only person involved in the hate campaign against Mikayla. If you are going to hold him accountable, then it is imperative you hold the others accountable as well if you can (and that is via the same means listed above. Blocking, reporting, calling them out, spreading awareness). And the same standards apply to them. Don't dox them, and do not use their role in a woman's death to justify spreading bigoted right-wing propoganda, or put words into her grieving family to shield from accountability.
But most importantly, show your support to Mikayla's family and her friends. it is imperative we show support and care for the decease's loved ones so they can properly move on from this loss. For anyone who wants to donate to Save a Fox, here is the official website.
To end this off on a hopeful and informant note. If you or someone you know is struggling with being on the receiving end of cyberbullying, or with suicidal thoughts and ideations, here are some resources that can hopefully be helpful.
INTERNATIONAL SUICIDE HOTLINES
PSA: CYBER BULLYING
STOPBULLYING.NOW
SUICIDE PREVENTION RESOURCES:
SUICIDAL PREVENTION RESOURCES (DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH)
That's really all I have to say on the matter.
REST IN PEACE MIKAYLA RAINES. YOU ARE GONE, BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. EVER.
