Manton Reece’s “Enough” responds to the heavy pummeling he’s taken over the past couple days, as people accuse him of protecting a developer (@vincent) who they accuse of being transphobic, among other things. His difficulty in determining the facts and in weighing how to act on them has led to blanket charges of his endorsing transphobia and fascism in this community. Anybody who steps in to try to un-muddle the situation (for example, myself) is subjected to the same relentless accusations of complicity and ill intentions. It’s pretty absurd, IMO.
I find it particularly distasteful that somebody a lot of people in this community don’t know well, Adam Newbold from Omg.lol, can march in, announce that Manton is some kind of evil fascist, and for some people at least, all of their personal experience and knowledge of how Manton ticks is thrown out the window. Let’s get him!
I’m not saying Manton didn’t make mistakes or that there isn’t more he can do. I don’t think he would ever claim either of those either. But too many people (thankfully not all of this community) seem prepared to throw his reputation out on the basis of his having a difficult time weighing the nuances of a sticky situation.
Yes, there are nuances. Even if I look back at the main piece of evidence of Vincent’s bad behavior, a post in which he laments having to enter pronouns in a video game, I can imagine nuances that might mitigate the situation. True, it’s an ugly look in today’s charged atmosphere, but the pitchfork raisers are not interested in nuance. This is essentially the only evidence they offer, as they allude to dozens of other examples of bad behavior which, unfortunately, there is no longer any verifiable evidence of.
Maybe Vincent is a master of covering his tracks. Most transphobic, fascist people on the web prefer to make their feelings overtly known, and certainly don’t apologize (even if imperfectly) about it when they’re called out.
Honestly, I don’t think Manton, or I, or any of the others who have timidly stepped in to ask, essentially “oh, how bad is it?” are natural scapegoats for the worst behavior of people on the internet, but that seems to be the MO of Adam and his growing legion of supporters who, in my opinion should demand a bit more nuanced understanding before throwing Manton off a cliff.
I probably shouldn’t post this, because undoubtedly I’ve left openings that will make me a perfect target for somebody’s “see, he’s just like them!” argument. The arguments are flimsy and I know a lot more about who I am, what my intentions are, and how I choose to evaluate the goodness or badness of other people than any of you do. Thanks for reading.