Hey y'all. I'm going to be quiet about this other than this post, but I just wanted to explain what I think to the couple people who follow me here, now that it's been a while since everything happened and we've had a little time to see how everything has panned out.
I'm referring to the whole Skizz trans rights thing.
I'll admit, I thought the guy was better than this. They're all online content creators with their own lives and opinions that we aren't always privy to, but I can't help but feel at least a little hurt at the insinuation that my existence is political, that my survival isn't worth pushing away those who would see it destroyed.
This is not about whether he chose to say trans rights. I've always found the push to get content creators to say specific things a little performative, and anyone can say anything that they don't mean. However, all he had to have said, was that he doesn't want to be told to say anything, regardless of the meaning behind it, or that he wants his actions to speak louder than his words. There was no need to double down on referring to trans people as political.
There is no being neutral when it comes to the rights of entire groups of people. If you want to cultivate a space for both wolves and sheep, you will only get wolves. There should be no "wanting to keep things neutral for both sides" here, because that's not how human rights work. You cannot remain neutral on this point. There is no neutral.
Additionally, I may be a slightly older trans person, having just finished college, but there are so many teen and baby trans kids that watch Hermitcraft, because it's always been a safe place for them. I've never worried about the younger members of my community here. Skizz saying things that made me, a full blown trans adult, feel unsafe in his community, definitely made the trans kids in his audience feel unsafe. Community is more important than ever when you are a trans teen or tween, just figuring yourself out. I've always been protective of the younger members of this community, and it has been really difficult to do the responsible thing and avoid picking fights.
Just to allow myself one sentence: how fucking dare he insinuate that the kids of my community, some of the most vulnerable groups to suicide out there, are politically controversial and that he wants to keep things neutral for those who would encourage them to that end?
As such, I'm finding that I don't really have the motivation for the Hermitcraft projects, even though I very much handle the characters rather than the creators. I know I've been absent for a bit, but I did have plans to return eventually. I'm less confident in the completion of any of my WIPs.
I'm officially taking a major step back, both from this fandom and from my projects, because of this issue. I'm grateful to everyone I've interacted with, y'all have really been welcoming.
I encourage anyone who feels similarly to do the same thing I'm doing. Keep mostly quiet, make a single post to get your thoughts in order, and then take a silent step back. This isn't a fight we should focus our energy on when we have much bigger fish to fry.
And to the trans kids: we see you. We were you. It gets better, and you, the kid reading this, you are not the exception to that. Some people won't accept you, and they are just gonna have to be okay with being wrong. There are plenty who will accept you, entire groups and communities that will love you as you are when you find them. Don't waste your time in communities that don't. And learn this lesson young: any place that wants to be neutral? They will end up overrun by transphobes. Get out before that happens.
The Trevor Project is free, and you don't have to be "sad/depressed/bad enough" to give them a call (or text!). If you feel like you want to, then do. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/contact-us/
