Trang Le

It's truly baffling to see tweets by guys who have been much more deeply involved in esports than I will ever be express their shock / surprise about all these accounts of sexual harassment and abuse, as if this is somehow coming out of nowhere. Newsflash: It isn't.

From my very first lan party over 20 years ago to esport events this day, the events where I DIDN'T encounter at least some form of casual sexism or sexual harassment are the rare exception. It seems bizarre to me that people more deeply involved don't see these things happen.

But the reactions of disbelief, denial and shock all sound very familiar at the same time. Which is a core part of why these things happened and continue to happen. So if you're only now realizing what's been going on for-literally-ever, thank you for finally listening.

I'm just a fan, my inside-view is very limited, but with all the shit I've seen in gaming & esports, I would assume that the people directly involved know that this is happening. With how rampant sexism and harassment are in the scene, nobody should be surprised by any of this.

I was groped by some random guy at a lan party when I was 17. I punched him, there was some drama, I moved on. But he moved on as well. He grew up to work in gaming for years. He thrived. He probably never looked back. But I did. And I wonder if he ever stopped assaulting ppl.

Reactions I see today eerily echo what I was told back then: “He didn't mean it. It wasn't that bad. Are you sure you didn't lead him on somehow.” And this was from "friends" who had WITNESSED what had happened. It was insane. I shoulda punched a few more ppl that night, tbh.

Fast forward ~8 years and I'm at one of my first esport events where the few women attending are openly spoken about like they're part of the buffet. It's a foregone conclusion that they're not here because they like gaming; they're here because they're groupies. Fucking YIKES.

I've seen women shamed, shunned and ridiculed based on assumptions and rumors. Women who subsequently left esports altogether – which I was told more than once is how it should be. If they don't like how they're treated, they are free to leave. Wow. How fucking noble.