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A gay POC furry just won Best eSports player and the right hates it
Big congrats to SonicFox for winning Best eSports player at the Game Awards:
Link to tweet
.@SonicFox5000 is officially the Best Esports Player presented by @OMENbyHP! #TheGameAwards
His nervous speech finished with "...I'm gay, black, a furry... pretty much everything a republican hates!" and the right has obviously taken this as an attack. Complaining that he made it about politics and made it about himself when what he's really doing is making it about visibility and representation. The gaming world has traditionally been a pretty racist and homophobic space, so it's exciting to see someone like SonicFox come in and not only be himself, but celebrate that while being the best.
The reaction from most of the furry community has been incredibly supportive (aside from a few alt-right assholes) and also highly mocking of the over-the-top right wing reaction to the end of his speech:
Link to tweet
And there was also this amazing Twitter thread:
Link to tweet
(I'll paste the thread below in plain text)
Lets talk about @SonicFox5000 award speech last night. He was excited, nervous and proud of who he is as a person, not just a gamer.
Of course now there is a large group of people asking why does it matter that he's gay, & black? How does a person's identity impact competition?
Gamers have this idea that society and the real world has no impact on competitive gaming, and that gaming is this meritocracy (definition below).
That idea could not be farther from the truth.
Black people have been systematically oppressed for centuries in America.
"Civil rights act was like 54 years ago!" My living parents and grandparents were alive then. Everything didnt magically fix itself after the law was created either. But thats another talk.
Black people have not had the same financial opportunities as their white counter parts, until recently. Many black people been systemically oppressed into poverty. Thats a fact, yeah there are many of us who have begun to cultivate wealth but many haven't.
So imagine growing up your parents didn't have the money to get you a PC or a Nintendo 64. The skills I learned playing goldeneye I now use in Overwatch. I have decades of experience in first person shooters. The same can be said about fighting games etc.
Sure you may now be able to afford games, consoles and PCs, but how much of a learning gap does the person whose been poor most of their life have compared to me? A lot. That already isn't a meritocracy because I'm entering the competition with skills the poor person may not.
How many LGBTQIA+ people have been thrown out of their homes for coming out to loved ones? 40% of Homeless Youth are LGBTQIA+, do you think they have the opportunity to grind out laddder wins in Street fighter when they may not have a place to sleep tomorrow? They don't.
This even extends to anyone living in a rural area. Internet access in America is mediocre at best if you're not in a major metropolitan area.
You can't get better at a game if you're lagging online every 30 seconds or getting constantly disconnected.
Competitive gaming isn't a meritocracy. If you want to go hard at fighting games, you'll need the income to travel constantly, and that shit adds up.
If you're a girl and want to go hard at any FPS or MoBA good luck finding a group who won't treat you like shit the entire time.
We have so much more work to do, in terms of accessibility for competitive gaming.
Sonicfox's declaration of being gay, black and a furry is important, because you cannot erase history or the way society has treated minorities.
Every one who is into competitive gaming should absolutely read, "The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games" by @real_chris_paul
I promise its worth the read and I'm only 60% done it.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-toxic-meritocracy-of-video-games-christopher-a-paul/1127291925;jsessionid=F01079F367D558E62EC8695BD32571DD.prodny_store01-atgap06?ean=9781452956206
Of course now there is a large group of people asking why does it matter that he's gay, & black? How does a person's identity impact competition?
Gamers have this idea that society and the real world has no impact on competitive gaming, and that gaming is this meritocracy (definition below).
That idea could not be farther from the truth.
Black people have been systematically oppressed for centuries in America.
"Civil rights act was like 54 years ago!" My living parents and grandparents were alive then. Everything didnt magically fix itself after the law was created either. But thats another talk.
Black people have not had the same financial opportunities as their white counter parts, until recently. Many black people been systemically oppressed into poverty. Thats a fact, yeah there are many of us who have begun to cultivate wealth but many haven't.
So imagine growing up your parents didn't have the money to get you a PC or a Nintendo 64. The skills I learned playing goldeneye I now use in Overwatch. I have decades of experience in first person shooters. The same can be said about fighting games etc.
Sure you may now be able to afford games, consoles and PCs, but how much of a learning gap does the person whose been poor most of their life have compared to me? A lot. That already isn't a meritocracy because I'm entering the competition with skills the poor person may not.
How many LGBTQIA+ people have been thrown out of their homes for coming out to loved ones? 40% of Homeless Youth are LGBTQIA+, do you think they have the opportunity to grind out laddder wins in Street fighter when they may not have a place to sleep tomorrow? They don't.
This even extends to anyone living in a rural area. Internet access in America is mediocre at best if you're not in a major metropolitan area.
You can't get better at a game if you're lagging online every 30 seconds or getting constantly disconnected.
Competitive gaming isn't a meritocracy. If you want to go hard at fighting games, you'll need the income to travel constantly, and that shit adds up.
If you're a girl and want to go hard at any FPS or MoBA good luck finding a group who won't treat you like shit the entire time.
We have so much more work to do, in terms of accessibility for competitive gaming.
Sonicfox's declaration of being gay, black and a furry is important, because you cannot erase history or the way society has treated minorities.
Every one who is into competitive gaming should absolutely read, "The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games" by @real_chris_paul
I promise its worth the read and I'm only 60% done it.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-toxic-meritocracy-of-video-games-christopher-a-paul/1127291925;jsessionid=F01079F367D558E62EC8695BD32571DD.prodny_store01-atgap06?ean=9781452956206
So, big congrats to SonicFox for being the best, and for being loud and proud about who he is!
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
