On The Airplay Debate - A #GamerGate supporter's perspective

With the Airplay only a little over a month away, I thought I'd take the time to write down my thoughts on Airplay, #GamerGate, and anti-GamerGate. I'm not a very big voice (only 367 followers on twitter as of this tweet, and I don't have much experience in practical writing apart from a rudimentary supplemental college education. But I hope I'll be able to convey my thoughts accurately and clearly to those interested in reading.



Before I begin, let me warn you: This isn't a fluff piece. I'm not going to talk about how fucked aGG is in the debate, I'm not going to talk about how #GamerGate was right all along, and I'm not going to talk about any of the other memes that circulate the GG twitterverse, except insofar as they relate to what I think. Due to this, I probably won't get a lot of praise for writing this, but as I said, I'm a small voice, so I don't reallly expect much any way.



When I first heard the news of @koretzky taking an interest in our little internet culture war, I was extremely happy. I mean, after all the shit we'd gotten from the MSM, from the hipster journalists, and from the politically-correct crowd, here was somebody who actually knew something about ethics saying "GamerGate, you have a point. There are ethical concerns being raised here."



Everything that happened afterwards would have been fairly easy for anybody to predict. #GamerGate banded together to form the most badass ethics in journalism panel anybody could have asked for, and aGG... aGG scoffed at the notion that we had anything worthwhile to say, and refused to join in on our conversation.



We've seen both of these things time and time again. #GamerGate has proven a powerful force in getting shit done on the internet. All the charities we've funded, all the support we've given to the victims of the progressive crowd, and all the ways we've stuck it to that same crowd. For this, we're likened to other fringe groups who believe aggressively in a cause, such as ISIS or the KKK.



We've also seen anti-GamerGate simply refuse to give us the benefit of the doubt, to do everything in their power to discredit us, slander us, and silence us so that they don't have to listen to our "oppressive hate speech". They refuse to entertain the idea that we might actually be normal people who simply have different values and ways of thinking than they do.



Being different isn't a good thing. Being different isn't a bad thing. We're not better people than anti-GamerGate for placing value in ethical practices, nor are they better people than us for placing value in equality and diversity. We're simply different groups of people. That's all there is to it.



I just wish more people could learn to accept these differences, and not look down on others for them. Being bigoted is being bigoted, whether it's an SJW or a Gator being the bigot. And you don't defeat one bigot by being a bigger one.



What does all this have to do with Airplay, you ask?



Anti-GamerGate are refusing to come to Airplay for several reasons. The most obvious one, as many before me have stated, are that they don't have anything to throw at us. They're all out of victim ammo, so they can't discredit our ideas through libel. It's not enough of a mainstream event that they can turn it into a media circus, and thus, they can't steal the spotlight. And they can't go toe to toe with us on even footing, because they know they'll lose.



They simply have nothing to gain by joining our debate. The only way they can feel superior to us is by sitting on their high horse and plugging their ears.



And all this makes me really sad. I was looking forward to this debate, not only because it was a chance for #GamerGate to be proven right, but for us to meet them as equals. If you counted the number of times we've spoken to each other, publicly and directly, I doubt you'd get past one hand. Many Antis and neutrals who actually did speak with us, like Mark Kern, Boogie, or Liana K, found common ground with us and often ended up on our side.



But I fear the well of Antis willing to speak with us has dried up.



We're getting close to a year of #GamerGate. At this point, anybody who still cares about this topic either supports us, or is too bigoted to even speak with us. There are no more neutrals any more.



I'm afraid that #GamerGate and anti-GamerGate are not going to be able to heal the rift between them. We're the internet, after all. We never forget, and we rarely forgive.

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