Jessica Hunter · @Emeldavi_dota
18th Oct 2014 from TwitLonger
An Open Letter To @chrisgrant - One writer to another.
I want to start this by saying Polygon, before all this started, used to be an outlet I used regularly and while it wasn't my favorite by any means, I respected you and your staff's work. It's unfortunate that this.. for lack of a better term, drama, has tarnished that in the minds of so many in the gaming community.
Quinn, Sarkisian, and Wu have never been the issue for me, and I've tried to avoid talking about these women who have been victimized by terrible sociopaths. Make no mistake though, that is not the majority of #GamerGate supporters. Your decision to not cover Quinn following the initial blow-up is one I agree with wholeheartedly.
"Boldly tell the story of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience. Seek sources whose voices we seldom hear." is a quote you used in your Op-Ed. It's most relevant to me because the mentioned quote is exactly what drove me to the #GamerGate side. You mention conservatives out there in gaming, in connection to #GamerGate. I'm a liberal, born and raised, Canadian, progressive, living in BC.
I support #GamerGate more than I've ever supported a political cause (including gay rights, as a lesbian) in my life because this has been the first time in my life that my voice and my view point has been silenced by the media. This is the first time where I have felt pushed down and told I am the irrelevant minority. With all the sexism and ableism (etc) in the world I've never once felt "oppressed" until you and your colleagues in the gaming media hurt me. I saw inconsistencies in coverage and disclosures, others did as well. I quietly supported the movement which was investigating potential issues and then before I knew it; "Gamers are Dead".
That hurt me, deeply. To see not only a large part of my identity dismissed and called dead, by institutions I admired professionally. Then the mainstream news, the likes of MSNBC and the New York Times going after us the way I haven't seen since the 90s.
We took Intel away from you because you hurt us and drove away the consumer base Intel was attempting to reach with its advertising. You did that, not us.