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If you're a cisgender and heterosexual person who wants to be an ally to LGBTQIA+ streamers please don't use the LGBTQIA+ tag.
I understand wanting to show that your channel is a safe place for us, but the impact of using the tag is that you drown out LGBTQIA+ content creators.
I understand wanting to show that your channel is a safe place for us, but the impact of using the tag is that you drown out LGBTQIA+ content creators.
There are better ways that show that your channel is safe for us that don't include drowning out LGBTQIA+ content creators. Show it by moderating your community and actually making it safe. Show it by raising money for LGBTQIA+ causes and by volunteering where you can.
The best way to be an ally is to take action and offer tangible support. Saying that you're an ally without showing how you are being an ally is performative and hollow. Simply using a tag on Twitch does nothing to show me why I should trust you.
And unfortunately using the tag actually ends up hurting us, and if you were a real ally then you would care about the impact you have on the LGBTQIA+ community. At the end of the day being an ally is a low bar and should be expected of every channel on Twitch.
Using the LGBTQIA+ tag should not be treated as an opportunity to advertise or promote that you're safe. That should be expected under the Twitch terms of service. People use the LGBTQIA+ tag to find their community on Twitch, not allies promoting that they are safe.
To me, an ally using the tag is like a business putting a rainbow on their product as a show of symbolic support without offering anything tangible to the community. It also shows that they care more about *showing* their support than they do about taking supportive actions.
Be an ally by listening to our needs and concerns; it means thinking critically about how your actions impact us; and it means doing what you can to show tangible support for our community through action.
