Penny Arcade Creator Truly Sorry For TERF Tweets Donates 20G To Trevor Project

Not being a gamer this whole episode flew under my radar until I stumbled on a an apology by "Gabe" a Creator of Penny Arcade, apparently a highly successfully game dynasty. Gabe's apology to the trans community was so heartfelt I needed to find what happened.

Apparently he believed in the rigid gender binary construct, men have penis' and woman have a vagina. Period.

Gabe writes: "I was called a bigot and told that I was giving a stage to bigots. I had not even had breakfast yet. I said again that if they have a different opinion they are welcome to submit their own panel. I was then called “cis male garbage”. Someone then tweeted at me that I should die.

"I should have walked away from my computer at this point and played with my dog but instead I put on my asshole hat and went to work. I said if you use the word “cis” don’t bother tweeting me. This brought back another twitter argument from a week or so ago in which I defended a game about female masturbation. This game only included vaginas which I thought was reasonable given the point of the game was to teach women how to masturbate. It was pointed out to me that not all women have vaginas and I will admit right here in front of everyone that this came as a big shock to me."

"I don’t want to be the reason people don’t go to PAX or don’t support Child’s Play or don’t watch the shows on PATV. I hate the idea that because I can’t stop being an asshole I hurt all these other amazing things."

"I’m very sorry about yesterday. There are very few things that someone can say to me that will actually make me lose my temper. All my buttons got pushed yesterday though and I snapped. I doubt that will change anyone’s opinion but there you go. I’m not qualified to talk about the ambiguity of sexuality and frankly I don’t give a shit about it. I like drawing comics and playing video games. I’ll keep my mouth shut when it comes to all the other stuff."

What transgression caused Gabe to apologize so profusely?

I realized I wasn't that upset about Gabe's view about gender, then it hit me. I was giving him a pass when a few posts ago I took it to Brownworth for her TERF beliefs, essentially the same as Gabe's. Time for me to check my x-male privilege.

Anyways there's a couple more twists and turns and one admonishment. First a indie developer pulled out of a upcoming convention, Citing Penny Arcade Controversy. That was a blow to the industry but maybe not one of the magnitude that would have motivated Gabe to apologize as he did.

Turns out a close friend of his contacted him after his initial tweets and came out as transgender. . They had a heartfelt conversation, not something you can do in 140 letters.

But Gabe wasn't done making amends. He decided to donate $20,000 to the Trevor Project. That's what I call an sincere heartfelt apology.

Now apart for occasionally confronting BugBrennan in a unscripted response with a few doz other activists I have never been a participant in a twitter bomb and especially never one like the one that fell on Gabe. It was vicious and mean spirited.



I went all the way back and couldn't find one apology from a transgender person. There were many thank yous and tweets appreciating Gabe's apologia, but no apologies from the trans community I could find. (maybe there was one but I couldn't find it)

I would like to offer Gabe an apology on behalf of the trans community. I am sorry those mean things were said to you Gabe and in the spirit of good humor that has guided you through this mess I'd like to share a video I know you appreciate.

NY Senate Refused To VOTE on GENDA! WHY?!

[email Empire State Pride Agenda]

Despite this, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) made historic progress during the legislative session that just concluded. Virtually every major New York newspaper, including the New York Times, called for the Senate to pass the bill, which this year passed the Assembly for the sixth time with a nearly two-to-one bipartisan majority.
In addition, 78% of New Yorkers polled support ending discrimination against transgender people.
 A sixth city, Syracuse, passed their GENDA law; a ninth county,Albany County, passed theirs, bringing the percentage of New Yorkers living in a jurisdiction that protects all of their citizens equally to 60.25%.

Law enforcement officials from around the state also voiced their support for enactment of GENDA as a strong tool for public safety, including this year for the first time Commissioner Ray Kelly of New York City. This broad and deep statewide coalition of law enforcement, labor, faith, civil rights, LGBT, progressive and women’s organizations stood shoulder-to-shoulder and called for GENDA. The community was united behind language that would offer strong protections, particularly in the areas of housing and employment.

We believe we had a bi-partisan majority of the Senate to pass the legislation and send it to the governor for his signature. We were defeated by the adamant refusal of the Senate leadership to bring the measure to the floor for an up-or-down vote.
What were they afraid of?

The Empire State Pride Agenda, on behalf of tens of thousands of transgender people and their families and others who wish to live their lives without fear or discrimination because of who they are, is angry and disappointed. Seventeen other states have already enacted a version of GENDA (including Delaware that passed a GENDA bill earlier this week). New Yorkers who are currently treated as second-class citizens by the laws of their home state deserve better. The LGBT community deserves better. Citizens of the United States deserve better. Frankly, New York State deserves better.

Every statewide elected official in New York has publicly expressed support for passage of GENDA, joined by 36 members of the New York City Council. More than three-quarters of voters support GENDA.

Today, the fight for GENDA continues. We are convinced that the passage of GENDA in New York State is inevitable. We invite all people and all parties who believe in freedom and equal opportunity to work with the Empire State Pride Agenda and its allies to ensure the swiftest possible passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act.

Sign our pledge committing to keep fighting for the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act. Send a message to Albany that we won’t stop until we win.

In solidarity, 

Empire State Pride Agenda

Nathan M. Schaefer

Executive Director