Activist Calls for Removal of Anime Lockdown Convention Staff Member Due to Past Support of GamerGate
A vocal activist has called for the removal of an Anime Lockdown organizer from the convention’s staff due to his past support of ideologies that differed from theirs, subsequently going on to call for gatekeeping of general anime fandom from those they deem to be “assholes.”
In light of the various event cancellations and social distancing restrictions that have resulted from the ongoing COVID-19 Coronavirus, the aptly named Anime Lockdown online convention was organized. Held this past weekend, May 1st to the 3rd, the convention aimed to provide a sense of community and fun to quarantined anime fans.
On May 1st, a Twitter user by the handle @Gabbomatic announced on her Twitter account that she was “Sad to learn #AnimeLockdown has a self-admitted GamerGater on staff,” having dug into the background of convention staff member “Timeenforceranubis,” or @TEAnubis for short:
Sad to learn #AnimeLockdown has a self-admitted GamerGater on staff. In these darkening times we seriously need to make a better effort not to tolerate these attitudes in our community. pic.twitter.com/EDaBoCfl7L
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 2, 2020
From his blog (wont link but it’s in his profile) pic.twitter.com/xNbQS8Iar7
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 2, 2020
He’s one of the guys running the Discord. Unfortunately bigots like to use events like these as honeypots to lure people into more private spaces, where they introduce the harder shit. A GG-er should not be in control of these spaces. pic.twitter.com/ZoLdexrFPH
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 2, 2020
bonus explicit sexism: pic.twitter.com/M280ZYGJuY
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 2, 2020
Under the auspices of equality and keeping conventions a safe environment, Gabbomatic called for Anime Lockdown to rectify the situation by “kicking this guy off of the platform & making public rejection of prejudice part of the mission statement.”
As a coda to this, note that I don’t want #AnimeLockdown to shut down or anything. An adequate response to this would be kicking this guy off of the platform & making public rejection of prejudice part of the mission statement.
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 2, 2020
Unfortunately the world (& anime fandom) is such that these values cannot be assumed.
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 2, 2020
Gatekeeping In Action
In response to Gabbomatic’s callout, Editor of the Anime and Manga Studies resource site Mikhail Koulikov requested “a list of who is allowed to be in the anime fan community”:
So all of us know for the future, can we have a list of who is allowed to be in the anime fan community?
— Mikhail Koulikov (@AnimeStudies) May 2, 2020
Koulikov’s question was answered by Anime News Network Executive Editor Zach Bertschy, who declared that “white nationalists probably should be first on the list of “not invited to the party.”
I can tell you white nationalists probably should be first on the list of “not invited to the party”
— Zac Bertschy (@ActionZacku) May 2, 2020
While many anime fans perceived Bertschy’s statement as a sweeping generalization of fans who disagree with Bertschy’s politics and opinions, the statement appears to have been specifically in reference to an alleged situation involving Koulikov and the exclusion of “PoC and LGBTQ” from the fandom.
This situation was further discussed between Koulikov, Anime News Network Assistant Editor Lynzee, and Bertschy in a lengthy Twitter thread:
Getting catapulted out of the anime academia con circuit for blatantly excluding PoC and LGBTQ didn’t teach you a lot, did it? https://t.co/s9ndrQZ5tv
— Lynzee Loveridge (@ANN_Lynzee) May 2, 2020
For 2018, AX was no longer interested in an Academic Program track on the schedule. All there is to it. And last year, found someone to produce who was local and more convenient to work with, while also bringing a lot of experience. All there was to it. No need for any rumors.
— Mikhail Koulikov (@AnimeStudies) May 2, 2020
Speaking as someone directly involved in your removal from that position, I know you are not telling the truth. You were removed for very specific reasons that Lynzee already mentioned. She is telling the truth. You should back away from this.
— Zac Bertschy (@ActionZacku) May 2, 2020
Calls For More Gatekeeping
Despite Berstchy’s statement being directed specifically towards Koulikov, other prominent figures in the US anime and manga industry built upon his initial declaration to discuss who should-and-should-not be allowed within the anime fandom.
They declared support for “gatekeeping” the fandom from individuals they deemed undesirable. Aside from anyone holding the general intolerant views of “fatphobes, transphobes, homophobes, racists, sexists, pedophiles, and intolerant mfers of all stripes.”
Veteran manga translator Zack Davisson and Yuri proponent Erica Freidman also declared that “anyone attaching themselves to any sort of “-gate”, “anyone being a “Devil’s Advocate”, and “assholes” should also be excluded.
And all the various folks who carry water for them, fatphobes, transphobes, homophobes, racists, sexists, pedophiles, and intolerant mfers of all stripes.
Pretty much anyone else is welcome.
— Erica Friedman, 百合女王 (@OkazuYuri) May 2, 2020
Anyone attaching themselves to any sort of “-gate” is not welcome.
— Zack Davisson @ CoronaVille (@ZackDavisson) May 2, 2020
Or anyone being a “Devil’s Advocate” because fuck that.
— Erica Friedman, 百合女王 (@OkazuYuri) May 2, 2020
I am 100% onboard with gatekeeping out assholes. Just because you like an anime show doesn’t mean you get an invitation to the party.
— Zack Davisson @ CoronaVille (@ZackDavisson) May 2, 2020
TEAnubis Responds
Responding directly to Gabbomatic’s accusations, TEAnubis adamantly stated that he was “not that guy from 5-6 years ago anymore,” renouncing his past support for GamerGate but also questioning why Gabbomatic thought it appropriate to air these issues in public before attempting to resolve them in private:
Yeah, I’m not that guy from 5-6 years ago anymore.
GG ultimately did more harm than good and I haven’t supported or been involved in that movement for years.
— アヌビス | TE Anubis (@TEanubis) May 3, 2020
Also, would it have been that hard to hit me up directly about this? I’ve said since day one that anyone who thinks I said something off-base should tell me so we can discuss it, but I had to hear about this thread second-hand.
Is that an unreasonable ask?
— アヌビス | TE Anubis (@TEanubis) May 3, 2020
Gabbomatic Doubles Down
However, this statement, as well as further explanations from TEAnubis, were ultimately unsatisfactory to Gabbomatic, who refused to accept any explanation unless it blatantly appealed to their very specific standards of ideological purity.
As I said in DM, this isnt about me and you. This is about allowing someone with unreneged support for a hate movement into a semi-legtimate community space. On that matter, what are your current views, and do you renege that support or not? https://t.co/EbPNUZcAKm
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 3, 2020
My views are that I encourage anybody with genuine passion for anime to participate in the subculture w/o being harassed for their sex, gender, race, sexuality, relationship status, political leaning, media preferences, cosplay choices, etc. Anyone who interacts w/ me knows this.
— アヌビス | TE Anubis (@TEanubis) May 3, 2020
As for my support for GG, I’ve made that clear: I don’t anymore.
— アヌビス | TE Anubis (@TEanubis) May 3, 2020
Do you believe white nationalists, homophobes, and misogynists should be encouraged to participate in con spaces?
Sadly this needs to be specified, as these groups have views that are premised on excluding (if not eliminating) others. https://t.co/94esoauB1k
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 3, 2020
I’ll be very clear: -Nobody- in the subculture should be harassed for their sex, gender, race, sexuality, media preference, politics, all that.
And people who -do- harass people, I got a problem with. I’d have a very hard time in this fandom if I didn’t.
— アヌビス | TE Anubis (@TEanubis) May 3, 2020
For simplicity’s sake, it’s a yes or no question and this didn’t answer it.
— Lynzee Loveridge (@ANN_Lynzee) May 3, 2020
Sure. I don’t think white nationalists, homophobes, and misogynists should be encouraged to participate in convention spaces.
Again, I’d have a *very* hard time in this subculture if every time I was at a con, people called me an “n-word” due to my race.
— アヌビス | TE Anubis (@TEanubis) May 3, 2020
I appreciate the clear response. I agree that those kinds of people, racists included, make conventions an incredibly unwelcome space for people to exist and express themselves.
— Lynzee Loveridge (@ANN_Lynzee) May 3, 2020
Also this is a bad thread to be liking while professing that you’re not a Gater. Its problems were that it easy a hate movement thru-&-thru, not tactics or choice of target.
(For those unaware, “5Guys” us code for Z** Q**nn, the game dev who received the brunt of GG harassment.) pic.twitter.com/PtvIB2Ziww
— GAB★GAB (@gabbomatic) May 3, 2020
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