In the USA, a story about the trading card game Pokémon is causing political upheaval in the divided country. A 17-year-old claims he was disqualified by the “head referee” of a Pokémon tournament because he nervously laughed when asked what pronouns he preferred. This was apparently perceived by the referee as an affront to transgender people. However, the player says: He simply couldn’t think of the third pronoun and laughed out of embarrassment.
This is the situation:
- The story exploded on Twitter and received almost 400,000 views there. On the platform, the 17-year-old Makani Tran posted photos of a trip he was planning.
- He would participate in the “Regional Championships” in the trading card game Pokémon, something like the national championships. These were hosted in Charlotte. Tran is from Utah, which is about a 4-hour flight away – so quite a distance.
- For the player, this was a big deal: he skipped school for it, booked 2 flights, had to book a hotel, spent about $800, and participated in this big tournament, which was also live-streamed. He was excited and nervous, as he writes.
Player is asked about pronouns – He can’t think of the 3rd and laughs
It went wrong: The player says the tournament was going great for him. He was able to win the first 5 rounds and stood at 5-0. He then faced a particularly strong player, the 22-year-old Alex Schemanske. The 17-year-old was told that his match was selected to be shown on stream.
On the way to the table, a referee asked him about his preferred pronouns. How did he want the casters to refer to him in the stream.
Tran was unable to answer the question about the pronouns immediately. He says he stammered: “Uh, he or him or um …”
The boy says he simply couldn’t think of the pronoun “his” at that moment. So, he stood there, looking foolish, and he was terribly embarrassed that he couldn’t come up with the third pronoun that the referee wanted to hear. He said: Because he was nervous and stressed, he let out a “little laugh.” And the answer was ultimately something like: “Uh, he or him or Haha his.”
When the referee asked his opponent about his pronouns, he replied “He and him,” and then the 17-year-old exclaimed: “Uh, yeah, he and him – Haha.”
The referee told him he preferred the pronouns “They/Them,” a gender-neutral variant, and he shouldn’t be an ass about it. However, he neither seemed angry nor upset.
Tran emphasizes:
To clarify, I have never had a problem with people’s pronouns or how they choose to identify, and I will never have one because ultimately it is their decision and it does not affect my life. As long as people are happy with it, I am happy too.
The match between Alex Schemanske and Makani Tran is available here on YouTube. It lasts a little over 21 minutes:
Head referee disqualifies him for violating inclusion rules
What happened next? The 17-year-old then recounts:
- At first, he thought nothing of it and was able to play normally.
- But he then noticed that there was unrest among the referees, who were standing together, apparently discussing an incident.
- After the match, a referee approached him and questioned him about the incident: What pronouns did he indicate? In what tone did he speak? Tran says he answered all questions politely and calmly. Although he was a bit confused about what exactly was going on.
He was then asked to leave the stage and be questioned separately by the head referee. Tran explained again that he had only laughed out of nervousness and because he was embarrassed that he couldn’t think of the third pronoun.
The referee initially seemed understanding but then explained that the 17-year-old would be disqualified from the tournament due to violating the “inclusion rules.” The head referee told him that he was also sorry and that it was unfortunate, but he had violated the Pokémon policy.
Player is completely distraught after disqualification – Cries for minutes
No matter what the young man said. The decision had been made and he was even expelled from the hall.
Tran says he cried like a baby. He was totally devastated. The referee took everything away from him, the big chance, the money. But the referee showed no compassion; he only cared that Tran now signed the match sheet:
While I was still crying, the referee asked me to sign the match sheet. I felt like he didn’t even acknowledge me and that he was just glad that the problem was solved. I had just told him that he destroyed so much for me and took away so much money and hard work and all he cares about is that I sign the match sheet.
I said: “Give me a moment,” because I was totally done and crying like never before. A minute later he asked me: “So are you refusing to sign the match sheet?” which only made the situation worse. I signed the sheet and continued to cry. He left, and we haven’t spoken since. I sat there for at least 10 minutes and cried until one of my friends came by.
The player writes that he is extremely frustrated by the whole situation. He has never felt so unfairly treated in his life. Never has a chance been taken away from him like that. Even the referee told him that he didn’t believe Tran had bad intentions. But that doesn’t matter because one person felt offended.
That is, in his view, totally ridiculous.
What does his opponent say about the incident? Schemanske, who witnessed the incident live, said in a now-deleted tweet:
This is probably a dangerous tweet for me. Did Makani have to be disqualified? I don’t think so. But remember: This is not an excuse to attack inclusion or the identity of others. Also remember that the referees, due to the rules, are not able to convey their perspective.
Incident spirals on Twitter – Leads to fundraising, but also to hateful posts
What is the outcome? The incident made waves on Twitter. The community came together and raised $3,025 to cover the player’s expenses.
At the same time, however, things also became uncomfortable for the 17-year-old, as Fox News, a major right-wing news outlet in the USA, picked up the incident.
Tran feels that this will only fuel the “culture war” in the USA.
Even the sentiment on his Twitter channel seems to be shifting. In the early posts, you can still sense that he is angry with the referee. He shares posts about referees who are bad people.
But later he shares repeated calls not to use the situation to make transphobic remarks or to insult people. He absolutely does not want that.
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