[Source]
A teenage player has been disqualified from a Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina, after an exchange with a judge over his preferred pronouns.
Makani Tran, who took time off from school and spent $800 to take part in the tournament, broke down in tears when the chief judge told him he was being disqualified from the event over allegations Violation of their inclusion policy By making someone feel insecure and uncomfortable.
He gave his side of the incident in a lengthy post subscriber from his Twitter account.
On our way to the table area, the judge asked us what our favorite pronouns were. I said “um he or he or uh” and paused trying to think of the third pronoun (the third pronoun is his). As I stood there trying to think of the third pronoun stupid, I was embarrassed that I was failing to think of a simple word. Because of the nerves and my embarrassment, I laugh a little, just a normal nervous laugh. My answer all together ended with “um he or he or ah ha ha”. That’s it.
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Apparently the judge became uncomfortable after Tran laughed at his own conscience when asked about his own.
The judge apparently replied, “Well, I just wanted to check to be safe. I go over to their side / So don’t be stupid about it.”
Tran was escorted off the playing stage by the chief judge, who explained to him that his temper had caused him to laugh. According to the teen, he was 5-0 in the tournament and had a sixth-round match against well-known player Alex Shymansk.
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I remember saying, “Wait what? “I was so confused. I just explained what had happened so calmly he seemed to be listening,” Tran wrote.He added that he was crying after his appeal was rejected.
I never cried the way I cried that night. I told him I don’t even have service and no way to contact anyone and I didn’t even have a key to my hotel room which I had to walk to. I’m completely honest with everyone when I say I’ve never felt this much discomfort in my entire life.
The teen also made it clear that he had no problem with pronouns and had no negative intentions.
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After Tran shared his account of the incident, his friend started a file GoFundMe page To help recover his travel expenses.
As of Thursday, the fundraiser has raised more than $3,000 in donations after an initial goal of $1,500.
In a tweet thanking the fundraiser’s contributors, Tran emphasized that he does not condone harassment of members of the transgender community:
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One more thing, don’t use what happened in Charlotte as an excuse to bully and harass the transgender community. This shit is not okay and I do not condone this behavior at all. That’s all I had to say and thank you again for all the support which I am very happy with now
Tran’s opponent, Schemanske, also took to Twitter He expresses his thoughts In this regard.
Maybe this is a dangerous tweet for me. Should my place have been DQ’d? i don’t think so. But remember everyone, this is no excuse to attack the inclusivity/identity of people. Remember also that judges are, according to the rules, completely unable to share their side of things.
However, Pokémon tournament judge Will Post later responded on Twitter.
in Tweet now deletedPost, it appears, agrees with the decision to disqualify Tran.
Whether you agree/disagree with a ruling, a Pokémon Judge doesn’t have to worry about people coming into the workplace because of a call they took in a Pokémon Tournament. If you think defaming people over judges’ calls is right play, go home and rethink your life. This community complains about the quality of judges’ calls all the time. I promise no quality judge will want the pressure of a breakdown to even take a lead role at an event to worry about their safety and career after an event if the call goes wrong.
Tran declined to provide a statement to NextShark.
“Writer. Amateur musicaholic. Infuriatingly humble zombie junkie. General internet maven. Bacon enthusiast. Coffee nerd.”