June is the time of the year when queer people come together to celebrate Pride Month, and it is a great occasion to uplift the voices of LGBTQIA+Twitchstreamers. The Stonewall riots indirectly startedPride Month, honoring the time when the Stonewall Inn was raided by the police because of LGBT activity in 1969. After the uprising, which went on from June 28 to July 3, the next year a march was arranged to celebrate those involved in the riots, eventually leading to June becoming Pride Month in 2000.
The month has since become a multimedia effort paving the way for the future of the LGBTQIA+ community. To the same end, Game Rant is conductinga series of interviews with queer Twitch streamerssuch as Toph, a comfy-cozy streamer who recently took part in Twitch’s Pride Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. Toph is a variety Twitch streamer with a focus on Nintendo games, particularly theAnimal Crossingseries where he created and set his own podcast.
Last year, Game Rant started a Pride Month Streamer Spotlight, which we’re happy to continue this year with several fresh streamers.
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Toph on Positivity and Offering LGBTQIA+ Individuals a Safe Space
Toph has been on Twitch for five years, and previously was on YouTube too, with one goal being to create a safe space forLGBTQIA+ individuals- a place to feel welcome and accepted, no questions asked. Toph’s channel has been featured on the front page of Twitch, and a streaming career has offered him ways of creating a community of like-minded people. Positivity has been an important part of Toph’s platform over the years.
It has not always an easy task for queer streamers or content creators to keep a positive outlook when being open about one’s gender identity or sexuality also means potentially becoming a target. Bybeing openly gay, Toph managed to get to know more people and to talk more deeply about LGBTQIA+ themes, thus discovering he’s also demisexual. However, this openness caused Toph to deal with many haters and trolls over the years, but he managed to make something good out of these negative interactions via what he calls “teaching moments.”
“I know it’s going to help other people, whether they are allies or queer people, especially young, closeted queer people. I want them to see me standing up for myself and being a strong queer person so that they know if and when they’re ready to come out, or if they encounter a homophobe or troll, they don’t have to feel bad. You can stand up for yourself and know that who you are is perfect and normal.”
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Why it’s Important to Have Role Models in the LGBTQIA+ Community
People who look forLGBTQIA+ streamers and content creatorsonline often do so because they want a safe harbor, where they won’t be attacked or harassed. Yet, those content creators often end up having to defend themselves from haters or people with queer-related phobias, which means being a role model by standing up for oneself is crucial. For Toph, it is particularly important because it means providing queer people with something he says he didn’t really have growing up: a platform that doesn’t imply people who feel different from their peers should not put up a fight.
Toph’s streams are often cozy in terms of general vibes and content, withAnimal Crossingbeing a relaxing and warm game. Still, some viewers - often people who find the channel via Twitch’s activations - can attack one’s own right to express themselves. As such, with many young individuals following him, Toph feels like it’s his responsibility to become a role model, even though it can be draining to have to deal with the same stereotypes and conversations over and over.
“I’ve been on the front page on Twitch for Pride activation and Hispanic Heritage Month as well. […] The entire time I was on the front page, which should have been a joyous occasion, ended up with me having to defend myself and defend my queer identity and community. I was calmly trying to defend my right to exist, and it turned into them saying, ‘Why do you gay people have to always make everything gay?'”
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Toph’s Views on Pride Month Celebrations and LGBTQIA+ Products
The fact that manycompanies like Xbox use Pride Monthas a way to market their products is nothing new, and Toph knows this well. Pride Month is often levied to sell specific products or rebrand something to cater toward LGBTQIA+ individuals, without always acknowledging and celebrating these people year-round. That’s what Toph wishes for himself and his own community, including allies and those who haven’t come out yet.
The Twitch streamer believes some organizations end up treating LGBTQIA+ people as a commodity without raising awareness of what they believe in; often not donating anything to charities that do meaningful work.Queer peopleoften don’t see themselves in daily products throughout the year, and only during Pride Month do some of those brands come up with something specially crafted for them. Even then, some international brands hold off for business reasons overseas. As such, the content creator would rather see people be more cautious about what they’re buying before they give money to a company that pockets it all.
“Oreo has this package for Pride that’s covered in messages from allies. On the package, there’s not a single queer voice, and it’s for Pride Month, but there’s a space on it for allies to write their messages. There’s no special flavor, but Lady Gaga can get one. […] I’d rather see actions than words on a cookie wrapper.”
RELATED:Pride Month Streamer Spotlight: Interviewees Discuss Their LGBTQ Identities
Toph on Representation in Media and Video Games
When it comes to helping the LGBTQIA+ community, Toph’s first choice will always be representation - and not because he doesn’t care what governments can do to improve, but rather because representation is vital for queer people. Toph grew up with apassion for JRPGs, mainly because those games are often about marginalized characters with wild differences in background. While those games are not always specifically about human relations and being queer, there are common themes of racial diversity and inclusion.
One of Toph’s favorite games growing up wasTales of Symphonia, where a human and his half-elf friend often face discrimination. Another piece of media that Toph enjoys is the new Netflix showHeartstopper, which offers a great representation of men loving men in a context where bisexuality and exploring one’s sexuality is not painted in dark or painful hues.
There’s something good about this new generation of media and representation because it’s not all about the “bury your gays” trope, Toph said, and the result is that there are more positive characters to feel represented by.
“When we were kids, there was a lot of queer coding in cartoons. There was this idea of the hyper-feminine female or an effeminate male character, but they were always the bad guys. That’s why I think there’s this weird phenomenon where a lot of queer people tend to like horror movies, because we grew up being the bad guys and being the outcasts, the misunderstood. […] I’m glad that, nowadays, the representation we can latch onto is overwhelmingly positive.”
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