XSET player Bob spoke out on hate she says her team has been receiving from the VALORANT community since they played with substitute Soto, who recently came out as non-binary, at a co-ed tournament.
In a tweet from June 29, she stated she’d come under fire following the match with Soto. “This scene has never been a safe space for me,” she wrote. “This type of hatred I do not align with and it’s just one of many factors that pushes me further from wanting to be associated with this community.”
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Soto joined XSET as a last-minute substitute player to compete in amateur co-ed tournament Knights, outside of the Game Changers circuit.
Despite this, Soto apparently received criticism as some fans claimed they shouldn’t be considered as from a marginalized gender and shouldn’t join female team XSET. This was due to both misinformation spreading about what tournament they played in, and the fact they used playing with XSET as a way to announce their non-binary identity.
The controversy seemingly backfired on non-binary player Sota, and transgender player Bob, who’s been repeatedly targeted by transphobic comments since she started competing in the Game Changers circuit in 2021.
VCT Game Changers circuit aims to create “new opportunities and exposure for women and other marginalized genders,” which includes non-binary people and transgender women. But those are targeted by hate from the community, preventing the circuit from becoming a safe space for them, according to Bob.
“I believe a lot of the community are not genuinely inclusive of non-cis-women,” she wrote, “and are happy to consistently shut down people who open up about their identity and to assume the worst about their intentions.”
Published: Jun 30, 2023 09:37 am