My Encounter With a Comicsgater ( August 27th 2019 )

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(A version of this originally appeared on my tumblr)

A couple of weeks ago had a guy come up to my table at Coulee Con and told me how great he thought comicsgate was, and I honestly had to work so hard not to yell at him. And I mean, this guy had terrible opinions, and I pointed out that comics have always been political (like have these people never read Captain America or the X-men?) but a couple of things struck me.

Like this was a pretty sociable guy, but he showed no indication of seeing how uncomfortable I was. Like my whole body language changed. He just didn't give a shit. It never occurred to him that I might disagree with him.

(I mean, he saw me as another straight guy at a con - most people outside the LGBTQ+ community aren't going to recognize the genderqueer pride flag that was plastered across my shirt)

What was weird about the experience though was that he was telling me about some comics he liked. It wasn't like dealing with the trolls you usually end up with online. He wasn't trying to be a bad dude. He wasn't into this stuff because he knew it would piss off "SJWs." I don't think that thought ever even occurred to him.

He was just into some comics that happen to be made by some gross and awful people. But since he's not the target of those people's hate, he just dismisses it.

It's literally privilege in action.

He can sit out "politics" because his very existence isn't politicized.

And I told him that. I hoped he'd listen.

He did not.

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