Playing Donkey Kong for Trans Rights

Shane Fite
eSomethin Staff

“Trans rights!” Says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, United States congresswoman on Harris Brewis’ (under pseudonym Hbomberguy) charity livestream.

In a 57-hour livestream on Twitch, according to Mermaids and Brewis himself, Brewis played Donkey Kong almost nonstop, finishing the game. It was all for a good cause: supporting transgender youth.

Twitch is a website where consumers watch other people play video games at a high level, usually for a voluntary subscription fee or donation.

This started with Graham Linehan, known for his endless anti-trans commentary as well as writing British sitcoms such as Father Ted. After he questioned the funding of an organization for trans youth, called Mermaids, Brewis went onto a stream and started collecting donations for them.

The organization says that Brewis raised over $340,000, and told digital media publisher PinkNews that the money will go towards “supporting and expanding our information and peer support services.”

Casey “Explosion,” (she does not disclose her real name) an “impromptu manager” for the stream who did background work, told eSomethin, “I think it’s been a gigantic pick-me-up for a lot of trans people, not just trans kids…” She described that having distinguished figures explicitly saying “trans rights” was a “powerful message.”

Casey is right. This man’s good deed will have a huge impact on trans individuals everywhere, including students at PHS (although not with direct funding). Unfortunately, many trans kids in schools are closeted and unavailable for comment, but they are there.

If nothing else, Brewis’ livestream has made millions of transgender people feel welcome in the world.

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