Teen disqualified from Pokémon tournament for laughing upon being asked his pronouns
On our way over to the stream area, the judge asked us for our preferred pronouns. I said “Um he or him or uh” and I paused trying to think of the third pronoun (the third pronoun being his). As I just stood there looking stupid trying to think of the third pronoun, I felt embarrassed because I was failing to think of a simple word. Due to the nerves and me being embarrassed, I let out a little laugh just a normal nervous laugh. My response together ended up being “Um he or him or uhhhh haha his.” That’s it.
I’ve never cried the way I cried that night. I told him that I didn’t even have service and I had no way to contact anyone and didn’t even have a key to my hotel room that I would’ve had to walk to. I’m being completely honest with everyone when I say I have never been this upset in my entire life.
One more thing, do not use what happened at charlotte as an excuse to bully and harass the trans community. That shit is not okay and I do not condone this behavior at all. That’s all I had to say and again thank you for all the support i’m so happy right now
This is probably a dangerous tweet for me. Should Makani have been DQ’d? I don’t think so. But remember y’all, this isn’t an excuse to attack inclusivity/people’s identity. Also remember that judges are, by the rules, completely unable to share their side of things.
Whether you agree/disagree with a ruling, a Pokémon judge should not have to worry about people coming to workplace over a call they were involved with at a Pokémon tournament. If you think doxing people over judge calls is the right play, go home and rethink your life. This community complains about the quality of judge calls all the time. I promise no quality judge wants the pressure of breaking even taking a lead role in an event to worry about their safety and professional life following an event if a call goes sour.
