I spent a sleepless night trying to decide how to respond to Ray's IG story posted yesterday. I am so sad that we reached this point. Even worse is learning that the bullying and attacks on Kat and Ray's relationship have been steadily ongoing for the past 4 years. 1/?

I knew there was some misplaced negativity toward them, but I had hoped that the much larger majority of voices supporting them would have drowned out these problematic individuals. 2/?

And yet, we knew that some of those voices were making it through as Kat has asked repeatedly over the years for people to respect Ray and her relationship. 3/?

We are at a crossroads as a fandom. Indeed, some suggest we may be past it and irreparably down the wrong direction.

I disagree. 4/?

It is impossible for me not to have faith in Earpers. I've seen too much good done and experienced too much love and support first hand to just throw up my hands and go... well, that's that. 5/?

We CAN turn this car around and head back to the right path. Because the vast majority of the fandom is good and are kind and subscribe to the foundation that Earping was built on. Kindess. Inclusivity. Generosity. 6/?

Going forward we must make an earnest effort to re-align ourselves with these values. We must wrap the cast, crew, writers, et al in a bubble of protection and aggressively decry (whilst avoiding witch hunts) those who would cause them harm. 7/?

We must learn that it is not enough to accept an allegation without also applying critical thinking. And we must always remember that actors are people and that just because they chose to enter the career they are in DOES NOT MEAN that they no longer have feelings. 8/?

And it absolutely DOES NOT MEAN that they signed some invisible contract with the public allowing us access to their personal lives. If anything, they are instead placing their trust in us to respect them. And what an incredible and delicate gift that is? 9/?

Today is Spirit Day, a day on which Earpers have always shined. Let's reclaim the day, our values and with them our fandom and the trust that we had built. Let's Earp This Up, the right way. 10/END https://www.glaad.org/spiritday