ohdeargodbees:

Hi [Insert “The Truth Is Somewhere In The Middle” Advocate’s Name Here],

I am writing this letter in good faith and hoping that you can see it as such. Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone with this stance, but I want to let you know why people like me, who you deem “anti-gg”, may not be so eager to accept a chance to debate or publicly speak with you directly to defend our views. Especially if you make your request public.



You may not understand the nature and current context surrounding GamerGate, especially if you’re a late-comer, so let me get you up to speed on what you’re asking of someone before you think that we’re simply afraid of debate or being “called out on bullshit”. People who have been targeted by GamerGate (I am not going to call them “anti-gg” because that is a nonsense term created by GamerGate to falsely paint this as two equal groups when in reality it is a mob calling themselves a movement and the targets of their scorn. There is no organization or movement that runs counter to it, just individuals who condemn their actions) are under constant watch. There are bots collecting everything we say, and people who camp out watching everything we do, waiting for a slip-up or something that can be twisted and used against us. Deleting anything for reasons of phrasing or even typos has become impossible - everything is instantly archived and passed around. Beyond that, any perceived slip up or misstep can instantly become fuel for the group to go after not just us, but our families, colleagues, employers, and friends. The environment is too charged, ruthless, and toxic against those who would defend their stances to reasonably expect that you’re making a simple request when you ask for a dialog. Without fail, I have watched every critic of GamerGate end up harassed at the least, and had their families targeted and terrorized at worst. The stakes on those being asked to speak out or defend themselves are exceedingly high, and we all know it. We’ve all been watching, and we are *scared*, not just for ourselves but for the people we love.



It’s not just the environment, either. The simple fact of the matter is that GamerGate is *not* about games journalism, and even if it was, their targets are disproportionately powerless in the industry, disproportionately female or feminist, and disproportionately *not games journalists*. Their methods are centered on destroying the livelihoods, safety, voices, and mental health of who they oppose, and that’s the primary progress they’ve been able to make thusfar. And as a personal note, I’ve watched this evolve out of a specific (successful) attempt to destroy my life, knowingly given to people who wanted to do just that. Weeks before GamerGate had a name, it was purely about finding myself and those I love and hurting us - the false veneer of ethics came to retroactively justify the harassment, recruit more neutral people to the cause for the use of whitewashing the hatred, and vent pent up frustrations with the industry. None of this is reasonable. None of this is a simple matter of difference of opinion, no matter how many well-meaning people still associate with the group thinking that the destruction of the lives of GamerGate targets are somehow not a big enough deal to leave, for whatever reason.



So in this environment, when you, well-meaning person who wants to have a conversation, request that people on “the other side” defend their positions, what you’re asking them is to defend their right to exist in the industry without having it ruin their lives. When you do so publicly, you draw the attention of those obsessed with proving them worthy of this destruction, looking to take whatever is said and twist it to perpetuate an environment of fear and violence. It is impossible to actually have that conversation - I’ve tried it. Every time I’ve tried to answer specific allegations, the answers are immediately talked over and new allegations get thrown in my face until they run out of them and resort to simply calling me a whore. Most of my day is spent dealing with the extensive damage and fallout caused by GamerGate - I had to leave an industry function to go have a panic attack shortly before writing this. I’m looking at having to potentially spend years going to court dates, I have to relocate, and I have to help my partner find a new job. You have nothing to lose by asking and they risk their family’s safety by answering. Threads on 8chan and Kotaku in Action spring up around them, their twitter mentions become an untenable hellhole that would make a youtube comment thread blush, and they now have to worry about how long until they get doxed.



Think I’m being hyperbolic? Look at what happened to Phil Fish when he stood up for me. Look at what happened to Brianna Wu when she made a meme mocking GamerGate. Look at the anonymous person that had to explain to their children what to do in case they got a SWAT team called into their house.



Look at what will happen to me after I post this letter.



This is not a debate with two sides. It never will be. It makes it really hard to have a conversation about anything when it feels like one side has a gun under the table. Even if the gun isn’t yours, even though you don’t condone it, it’s there all the same. Treating it as though it were a mere matter of difference of opinion when one group has been relentlessly ruining lives and trying to cover it up, and the other is made up of people targeted by that group, treating them equally is NOT fairness. It is NOT balance. It is falsely seeking the Golden Mean for the Golden Mean’s sake, while discarding the spirit of fairness it represents by asking victims of a group attacking them for weeks or months to defend their right to live their lives without that. Even if every single false justification that GamerGate has given for their existence was true, even if I was the Machiavellian hellbeast they make me out to be, no one deserves to be GamerGate’s target. No one deserves to have their real lives ruined over video games.



Someone punching you in the face isn’t a dialog, and it’s not something you should be called upon to prove yourself undeserving of. Beyond that, you cannot reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into in the first place. I appreciate the noble intention of attempting to build a bridge, but maybe consider why some of us have been forced to live behind a moat.