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[ArchedThunder]

So the truth is a bad thing now?

 

[plagiarize]

So he says..."Unfortunately, Chloe is lying. The money is not going to be used for life-saving surgery. It's going to be used for surgery that has very little; if anything at all to do with Chloe's physical health."


Because the people reading it are going to be satisfied with a vague reference to another kind of surgery right?

He didn't do anything wrong.

why does he even have to say that it's going to be used for any kind of surgery?

and yes, he didn't break the law. yes, what he did is not as bad as what she did... but it is still bad.

 

[Kurdel]

Was she/he convincing looking? I feel like this is very relevant.

No it isn't.

 

[Lambtron]

Anyone who is unaware of the situation or thinks he did nothing wrong, I implore you to read this post.

Let us address one significant moral matter before I dive into the rest of this: a woman has nearly died—she has been, and doubtless will continue to be, suffering from severe depression and dysphoria. In the throes of that depression she made an ill-advised choice: misrepresenting herself on IndieGogo to secure funding for SRS. In the grand scheme of things, this was a certain kind of fraud; but the crimes perpetrated against her were far greater and, without any doubt, validate her strenuous efforts to keep her true intentions secret. For many trans people, SRS is the definition of a lifesaving surgery; we have the misfortune of living in a society where this is not only poorly understood, but actively vilified, pathologised, and morally panicked about. Throughout Pinsof’s writing on the subject there is a very subtle underccurent of judgement and contempt—he writes on Twitter that “[the surgery] was non-vital, in the sense that her body would go on even if her mind couldn’t let it. But I understand you.” The last line was written to a woman criticising the fact that he diminished Sagal’s vital need; I’d gently posit that he does not actually understand.

Was she/he convincing looking? I feel like this is very relevant.

Holy fucking shit. Idontwanttoliveonthisplanetanymore.jpg.

 

[Polari]

And that justifies outing her?

You people are sick.

Not as transgender, but as a criminal, sure.

As for this guy, I don't know exactly what he did, so I'm going to withhold judgement.

 

[TentPole]

If you want the personal details of your life kept personal then you cannot involve yourself in public fraud. At that point you have opened the door to the details of that fraud and there it blows my mind that people want to level blame on the man who caught her.

 

[Delusibeta]

On the one hand, yeah she was scamming with the IGG, and people smelled bull and reached a conclusion (that ultimately turned out to be correct), and the small fact that the journo was effectively blackmailed over this. I can certainly see where the journo was coming from ("she failed to hold up her end of the deal, so I'll spill beans"), but I also have to say that he did it in pretty much the worst way, over Twitter, running over "she's trans" point several times and throwing in a mis-gender for extra foot-in-mouth points. A mitigating factor is apparently people close to her were spilling the beans before, it's just that this journalist is a far more public figure. The way he carried it out, though *vom*.

Ultimately, I'm of the opinion that the journalist did the correct thing in the worst possible way. If he'd said "Reddit was right" then we'd have another shitstorm aimed at Reddit instead of one guy (although he'd almost certainly be caught up in it). If he'd said "she's lying" and left it at that, then he'll probably be metaphorically lynched for lack of detail (instead of being metaphorically hung, drawn and quartered). I don't see a way for him to get away with this without being covered in shit (admittedly, less shit than he is currently covered in). Judgement on Destructoid will be reserved on what they decide to do, but I suspect they're not going to get away with it either way: they're either be seen as the site that sacked a journo for revealing a scam, or the site that didn't sack a journo for revealing that a person who just attempted suicide was trans.

This whole thing is a mess.

 

[Gartooth]

This whole situation is entirely screwed up. I don't think he should be fired though, he was put in an extremely difficult situation and chose to do the right thing, exposing the fraud of the donation and giving readers the true story.

 

[Sblargh]

Can someone link to the tweets?

Such a complex story, the guy sounds like was caught in a grey area.
If he was simply outing someone, then he would obviously be wrong, but the outing was, indeed, relevant part of the story. Maybe he could have ran the story without it ("Chloe using money for other stuff, can't tell what"), but there's hardly a clear rule on what to do in this exact situation.
Unless his tweets were indeed vicious in nature, it sounds like a mistake even someone who is in touch with the trans community would have done, in this particularly complex situation.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

And that justifies outing her?

You people are sick.

She already attempted suicide before she was outted. I doubt the journalist thought telling the full details was an issue at this point.

Also remember he was blackmailed with being responsible for SUICIDE before this whole mess was even public. I fail to see how the journalist was the jerk in this situation. Maybe he outted her in the process, but I doubt that he was intentionally calling out her sexuality, but rather attempting to get the entire story out there without recognizing the possible repercussions.

 

[kirblar]

why does he even have to say that it's going to be used for any kind of surgery?

Because it stops Chloe from spinning things and trying to solicit further donations under false pretenses.

 

[pot]

Anywhere to read the original article?

 

[Effect]

So he says..."Unfortunately, Chloe is lying. The money is not going to be used for life-saving surgery. It's going to be used for surgery that has very little; if anything at all to do with Chloe's physical health."


Because the people reading it are going to be satisfied with a vague reference to another kind of surgery right?

He didn't do anything wrong.

It doesn't matter if they were satisfied though. That's all he had to say and that should have been the end of the story. He should have moved on to something else regardless if some felt they wanted more. People got their money back. The fraud was stopped. Reputation was ruined.

 

[see5harp]

I think the point is that he could have said as much about the scam without outing the person as a trans. That really isn't an important part of the story. I still don't agree with firing him, but if he was advised to not publish, and went ahead and posted details on twitter, he has himself to blame.

 

[maquiladora]

Was she/he convincing looking? I feel like this is very relevant.

What...

 

[Satch]

nothing justifies outing her except when in a story like this and as a member of the LGBT community, no, I'm not sick.

She did something wrong and instead of doing the right thing and returning the money without harm done she decides to attempt suicide thus forcing his hand.

Either he doesn't tell someone the real reason and be called a monster for causing this or he does tell someone about the situation and is called a monster for outing her.

He was never going to win.

And not outing her was the lesser of the two evils.

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

why does he even have to say that it's going to be used for any kind of surgery?

So be even more vague? That's certainly one way to go.

"Chloe is not going to be using the money for the life-saving surgery she says she is using it for."


Shit...well...now that I think about it...maybe? I still don't feel like what he did was wrong, but I do suppose he could have been more vague...subtle even?

nothing justifies outing her except when in a story like this and as a member of the LGBT community, no, I'm not sick.

Nothing? Nothing justifies outing her...really? That's a bit extreme, particularly when the scam she is running is directly related to a surgery that is in turn related to her sexuality.

 

[LTWood12]

Best of luck to Allistair. This whole thing stinks.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Anyone who is unaware of the situation or thinks he did nothing wrong, I implore you to read this post.

She publicly stated that she had shrapnel in her leg from a car accident and was going to die from metal poisoning in months and solicited fraudulently for donations.

This has nothing to do with whether trans********************* people think that SRS is life saving and other people don't.

 

[wenis]

And not outing her was the lesser of the two evils.

I guess if being called the reason a woman attempts suicide is the lesser of two evils...

 

[Hrothgar]

It doesn't matter if they were satisfied though. That's all he had to say and that should have been the end of the story. He should have moved on to something else regardless if some felt they wanted more. People got their money back. The fraud was stopped. Reputation was ruined.

AFAIK the indie community still raised money towards her fake surgery after the IGG campaign was shut down.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

What? I don't understand what he did wrong

 

[terribletwo]

What? I don't understand what he did wrong

trans people generally like their privacy (crazy I know)

 

[Macho Madness]

Wasn't his place to say.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

I guess if being called the reason a woman attempts suicide is the lesser of two evils...

She tried to commit suicide before he outed her, she held the threat of suicide over him to keep him quiet and once she had tried there was nothing held over him to come clean.

trans people generally like their privacy (crazy I know)

Dont bring yourself into the public then with fraudulent claims.

 

[ArchedThunder]

She publicly stated that she had shrapnel in her leg from a car accident and was going to die from metal poisoning in months and solicited fraudulently for donations.

This has nothing to do with whether trans********************* people think that SRS is life saving and other people don't.

Exactly, all he did was report the whole truth.

 

[Jac_Solar]

And that justifies outing her?

You people are sick.

I missed this part. That shouldn't have been relevant. He could have explained it all well enough without any specific details. I guess he did so because he was very upset with this person for what she put him through.

 

[Con_Smith]

So from this I gather the right to be gay / trans now trumps the right of free speech and the expectation of honesty or integrity on the part of journalists. :/

He should be fired.

?

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

I guess if being called the reason a woman attempts suicide is the lesser of two evils...

She's the reason why she attempted suicide. Not the writer.

trans people generally like their privacy (crazy I know)

Nearly everyone likes their privacy. If you're going to run a scam...and get caught doing it, it's entirely possible that all aspects of your life will be dug into.

 

[kirblar]

What? I don't understand what he did wrong

There's a host of problems with his behavior in general, it looks like. Breaking the information publicly was the right thing to do, but it's how he did it and how he interacted with Chloe (letting himself get blackmailed) that's the larger issue.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

Games Journalism is journalism nonetheless, and he uncovered the story first and was punished for it?

Hopefully he gets hired on VICE- investigative journalism is where its at now anyways

 

[ambientmystic]

She publicly stated that she had shrapnel in her leg from a car accident and was going to die from metal poisoning in months and solicited fraudulently for donations.

This has nothing to do with whether trans********************* people think that SRS is life saving and other people don't.

He reported the truth and got punished for it. What has journalism come to?

 

[Enron]

He worked for a gaming site. It's not exactly the bastion of journalistic integrity. Hopefully he can find a real journalism gig somewhere. Dude did nothing wrong.

 

[Satch]

I guess if being called the reason a woman attempts suicide is the lesser of two evils...

She attempted suicide before he outed her.

 

[plagiarize]

It doesn't matter if they were satisfied though. That's all he had to say and that should have been the end of the story. He should have moved on to something else regardless if some felt they wanted more. People got their money back. The fraud was stopped. Reputation was ruined.

right. at least, that's how I feel anyway. If Chloe wanted to admit what she really wanted it for in an attempt to salvage her reputation, that would have been her right, or not. to claim that she had a condition that was going to kill her, in a completely non vague 'I have pieces of metal in my body killing me' way was terrible and not what she should have done.

no need to turn it into anything else. If someone commits fraud it doesn't mean we have a right to know all the details of their life and why they wanted that money. Be it for spending too much on a mistress, be it for a drug habit, be it for paying someone to keep quiet about something, whatever.

He reported the truth and got punished for it. What has journalism come to?

according to people like you, it's come down to tweets. that's sad however you look at it.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

trans people generally like their privacy (crazy I know)

CRIMINALS do too, but they should expect to lose it in some fashion when they commit fraud.

 

[Xenon]

Wouldn't she have forfeited her right to privacy once she appealed for public support and funds?

You can't it both ways.

 

[Kifimbo]

It's a tough one, but since the surgery was related to his/her sexual orientation, it makes sense to give that info. It's relevant to the story, albeit not crucial or important.

 

[CouldBeWorse]

If you want the personal details of your life kept personal then you cannot involve yourself in public fraud. At that point you have opened the door to the details of that fraud and there it blows my mind that people want to level blame on the man who caught her.

I came here to post this, but you beat me to it.

She opened the door by lying. Someone was going to expose her at some point. She only has herself to blame.

With that said, the writer could have definitely handled the situation better.

 

[Lowlander2]

There's no short amount of conflict in this story. In no conceivable universe could this have had a happy ending.

I seem to remember that, when GAF was analysing said IndieGogo fund, it was common knowledge that Chloe was trans*. If I'm not crazy, then he didn't out anyone. That much is objective. But he also seemingly confused her gender. Generally, when one seeks reassignment surgery, it's not because they want to maintain identification of their biological sex, especially not in real life as opposed to the internet. So, that's pretty cut and dry, too. You get beyond those points, things start getting murky.

The debate of Chloe misconstruing a heart condition in order to seek reassignment surgery is one where I back both sides. It's an impossibility to say that she didn't deceive anyone, and a heart condition, especially one that seemingly mimics that of, of all inspirations, Iron Man, is not something that won't hit close to home. However, considering the environment she was raised in and her state's view on trans* culture, it doesn't take a genius to figure out why she did it, and it's hard not to empathise either.

I'm unsure of what Alistair's societal crimes were. I don't think he outed Chloe as trans*, simply on the basis that the information was already out there. If that's not the case, however, then few mistakes could have been bigger. On the other hand, he did seemingly spill these beans simply out of some semi-petty bet. Because of an attempted suicide, he perceived her to be breaking a promise, which was reason enough to tell an anonymous webspace everything about her. Investigative or no, it's a breach of trust, especially when she's lying in the hospital, apparently unaware of her reputation as of now. It's not a professional error, not shouldn't have the fraud been reported on in some capacity, but the expectation of complete empathy in that situation was a fallacy.

Divisive's too kind a word to describe the situation. Unfortunately, there are very few respondants in this situation I'm proud of. Alistair's received too great an amount of hate for offences that seem wiffly waffly, and yet most defending him misunderstand not just what could be perceived as the wrong moves, but what honestly were.

All in all, all I can nail him to the cross for is misconstruing her gender and being a dick about it. Unlike Ryan, who expressed little desire or capacity to move on, Alistair's learning. I don't think he should lose his job and reputation.

And while I have some thoughts about Chloe's actions, I don't think I really care to share much of them. She nearly died. I'm glad she's safe. I'm glad she's not dead. I really, REALLY, wish everyone, Al included, thought that way. This issue honestly should not be bigger than her.

 

[TentPole]

Wouldn't she have forfeited her right to privacy once she appealed for public support and funds?

Yes.

 

[we.are.the.armada]

Damn, this is fascinating. Tragic, on many accounts, as well.

 

[jett]

I really don't understand this fucking world sometimes.

 

[Waylon Drums]

Agree with all your points, my post wasn't my views its how I see things are going. I didnt mean the LGBT community had power, I meant Destructoid doesn't want someone writing a negative article about them so they take action on the person that could cause that article.

I don't understand the marriage thing, that's so unbelievable that in this day and age people are still so ignorant.

I'm Canadian and I don't see these issues come up a lot in my day to day life.

Haha, I get a little defensive sometimes


Thanks for being one of the good ones :-D

 

[Wario64]

For the sake of clarity: Do you agree or disagree with the actions taken against him?

About Destructoid firing/suspension? I'm not sure, the situation is just too complex. I just knew there was gonna be an inevitable fall out when he was saying how the surgery isn't life saving, calling Chloe a 'he' and seeing countless tweets made against him because of those trans-gender tweets.

 

[OpinionatedCyborg]

Wasn't it common knowledge that she is trans? I am barely following this and I knew that already. Did I just assume she was?

 

[Jawmuncher]

I came here to post this, but you beat me to it.

She opened the door by lying. Someone was going to expose her at some point. She only has herself to blame.

With that said, the writer could have definitely handled the situation better.

This is definitely how I feel about the whole situation.

 

[Domstercool]

trans people generally like their privacy (crazy I know)

A person's sex is irrelevant here. I think any person likes their privacy. As soon as you commit to doing something wrong, such as knowingly lying and thieving in front of the public, then you're going to get investigated and bad shit is going to be uncovered.

You could say it is debatable if a person needed to know this information. But, I feel a person who is donating to something in the public eye that ended being a lie, deserves to have the truth told of what these people were potentially donating to.

 

[Keavy_Rain]

The guy did something his superiors told him not to do and disciplinary action was taken.

Also, I expect silence from Jim Sterling because anything he says can be used in court.

We're a very litigious society and this whole story is here because of said litigious nature.

Also, for those of you crying "Free speech" I give you the First Amendment with the important part bolded.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Source

 

[chubigans]

About Destructoid firing/suspension? I'm not sure, the situation is just too complex. I just knew there was gonna be an inevitable fall out when he was saying how the surgery isn't life saving, calling Chloe a 'he' and seeing countless tweets made against him because of those trans-gender tweets.

Hmmm, didn't see the original article.

Yeah, this whole thing is a complete mess.