A Reminder about Equality (PAX and DZK)

The violent backlash regarding PAX and subsequently DZK isn't about women getting opportunities. It isn't about women having a chance, or being shown a bit more attention. I'm going to boldly speak for the League of Legends community as a whole, and see how the votes go..

We eagerly and energetically support and promote women in video games. This industry has room for everybody, and the more women involved alongside men, the better. Getting equal views, getting everybody a voice and offering everybody a chance to have representation is something that we're all very happy to work towards (and regretful that we don't have already.) With that being said, the violent backlash is not about the idea of women having early access to a panel at PAX, but instead about the panel ending before men had the opportunity to get in. Furthermore, had the panel's function been clearly explained before PAX started (like an official statement on what it was going to be for, who would be let in, etc BEFORE it all happened), I'm sure that there wouldn't have been a backlash at ALL. I'm confident that we'd have understood, that we'd have agreed, because with the recent scandal on sexism and gender inequality, it IS STILL a great idea in theory. How it was practiced, was not.

This leads us to the DZK controversy. Again, our issue is NOT with the outspoken support for women, nonbinaries, and other identities that aren't included in those two terms. Our issues are NOT focused around the fact that DZK ranted about inequality towards women, or that he desperately wanted to promote more representation for minorities (transgender, nonbinaries, etc) alongside more women in the game. Our issue with DZK is that in the midst of his ranting in support of women and nonbinaries, he simultaneously put men down, he belittled them, downright insulted them, and even in the face of people trying to have a civil discussion, were met with hostility. Our issues are that instead of fighting to balance things out, he seemed to advocate flipping the scales. A direct quote being that "Men are no longer welcome in gaming." Things snowballed very far out of control, and I won't get too deep in to that, but..

Please don't get it twisted. Our demands for DZK to be let go, our demands for an apology over PAX, our outcry is NOT in opposition of gender equality or equal representation. Our outcry was over the way things were handled. Our outcry was over the way we've seen the company views us. Our outcry was not over attempted intros to the video game industry, but a lack of clarity and the aftershocks of that lack of clarity.

To summarize, Riot, please do not be afraid to try something like the PAX panel again. It was a good idea. None of us are going to tell you it was a bad idea. We will all tell you that keeping the core principle of it hushed and left as a surprise was a bad idea. Be open with us. Be transparent. Communicate more with us and we'll be far less toxic, because our toxicity is born from frustration.

This game's awesome. I love it. Let's keep it going. DZK being let go is a great weight lifted off, and all that's left now is a public statement on PAX. Not an apology for hosting the panel, but an apology for not telling us about it. It's not just men that are upset about it. We appreciate the effort and support you in this, as long as we're kept in the know.