in the 5 years since I found The Gauntlet and took over running it:
in the 5 years since I found The Gauntlet and took over running it:
-I have been called “The new RPG Pundit”
-I have been referred to as “just like Anna Kreider” (I don’t consider that an insult, but it was intended to be one).
-I have been called a misogynist
-I have watched as no one in my community defended me while I was being called a misogynist.
-I have been called a harasser
-I have been called a bully
-I have been referred to as having “fascist tendencies”
-I have been called a “hardcore leftist”
-I have been called a SJW
-I have been the victim of several whisper campaigns
-I have been doxxed by a major convention organizer
-I have received six harassing phone calls
-I have been banned from being on panels at Metatopia
-I have been told I am “not what people are referring to when they say ‘queer’”
-I have been told I don’t count as a person of color because I’m half-white
-I have been told my experiences as a queer POC in the hobby are invalid because I am the leader of The Gauntlet (because being in a position of authority over something automatically invalidates your other experiences, I guess?)
-I have been accused of stealing someone’s intellectual property.
-I have been asked “Why do you have a problem with white men?”
-I have been asked “Why do I only see white men in The Gauntlet?”
-I have had to deal with the insinuation that I am personally greedy ever since we launched our Patreon (note: The Gauntlet pays my cell phone bill and I repaid myself for some big expenses incurred prior to the Patreon. I otherwise work 30-40 hours per week on Gauntlet stuff on a strictly volunteer basis).
-I have been told I am not Mexican enough to criticize another Mexican-American (who is now also not Mexican enough)
-i have been called “combative”
-I have been called “abusive”
-I have been called “opinionated”
-I have been called “tyrannical”
-I have been called “a joke” by a game designer I used to admire
-Just yesterday I was gaslighted by a particularly nasty individual who has been coming for me for months.
I could actually keep going and going.
Maybe I am garbage. There are definitely some days when I feel like it. All I have ever wanted to do is create and sustain community around tabletop roleplaying games. But I feel like I just keep getting things wrong or something. I don’t know.
