(Fountain)
A teenage player has been disqualified from a Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina, after an exchange with a judge about his preferred pronouns.
Makani Tran, who skipped school and spent $800 to enter the tournament, broke down in tears when told by the head judge that he had been disqualified from the event due to alleged violating their inclusion policy making someone feel insecure and uncomfortable.
He gave his version of the incident in a long post. shared from his Twitter account.
On the way to the creek area, the judge asked us our preferred pronouns. I said “Um he or he or uh” and stopped trying to think of the third pronoun (the third pronoun being his). As I was standing there looking stupid trying to think of the third pronoun, I felt embarrassed because I was failing to think of a simple word. Due to my nerves and my embarrassment, I let out a small laugh, just a normal nervous laugh. My response together ended up being “Um him or him or uhhhh haha his.” That’s all.
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It seemed the judge felt uncomfortable after Tran gave an awkward laugh when asked his pronouns.
“Okay, I just wanted to check to be sure. I go through them, so don’t be a jerk about it,” the judge apparently replied.
Tran was escorted off the game stage by the head judge, to whom he explained that his nerves had made him laugh. According to the teen, he was 5-0 in the tournament and was given a sixth-round matchup against well-known player Alex Schemanske.
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“I remember saying ‘Wait what?’ He was so confused. I had just very calmly explained to him what had happened and it seemed like he was listening to me,” Tran wrote.adding that she broke down in tears after her appeal request was denied.
I have never cried like I cried that night. I told him I didn’t even have service and no way to contact anyone and I didn’t even have a key to my hotel room that I would have had to walk to. I am being completely honest with everyone when I say that I have never been so upset in my entire life.
The teenager also clarified that he does not have a problem with the use of pronouns nor did he have negative intentions.
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After Tran shared his account of the incident, his friend started a GoFundMe Page to help reimburse your 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 fundraiser contributors, Tran stressed that she does not condone the harassment of members of the trans community:
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One more thing, don’t use what happened in charlotte as an excuse to bully and harass the trans community. That shit is not okay and I don’t condone this behavior at all. That’s all I had to say and thanks again for all the support. I am very happy at this moment.
Tran’s opponent, Schemanske, also took to Twitter to express your thoughts on the matter.
This is probably a dangerous tweet for me. Should Makani have been disqualified? I do not think. But remember, this is not an excuse to attack people’s inclusion/identity. Also remember that judges are, by the rules, completely incapable of sharing their side of things.
However, Will Post, a Pokémon tournament judge, later responded on Twitter.
in a tweet now deletedPost appeared to agree with the decision to disqualify Tran.
Whether agreeing or disagreeing with a decision, a Pokémon judge shouldn’t have to worry about people coming to the workplace because of a call that they participated in a Pokémon tournament. If you think cheating people for judge calls is the right move, go home and rethink your life. This community complains about the quality of judge calls all the time. I promise no quality judge wants the pressure of taking a leading role at an event to worry about their safety and professional life after an event if a call goes wrong.
Tran has declined to provide a statement to NextShark.
