Black, queer, and a legend of fight gaming. This is the story of SonicFox.
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🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00I don't even think I'd be around here, to be honest, if I didn't play fighting games.
00:02Don't ever let anybody stop you for being you.
00:04Because despite everything, you're still you.
00:07That's an undealt quote.
00:09But despite everything, you're still you.
00:11And nothing's ever going to change you.
00:13No matter if you're trans, you're gay, straight, any of that sort.
00:18Whether you're religious or, you know, you're black, white, all that.
00:22It's just, you're still you.
00:30It's always joy and excitement.
00:32I can't imagine never enjoying a fighting game.
00:36Fighting games are very fun.
00:38Especially Dragon Ball FighterZ.
00:40So just playing fighting games in general, I can never not be happy playing them.
01:00Non-binary essentially means you do not identify with either gender.
01:13So I'm the male or female, essentially, spectrum.
01:18You kind of identify as, like, gender neutral.
01:22Ever since I came out as non-binary, I get to really explore myself
01:25and do all the things that I thought I hated.
01:27And that's because I felt trapped in being, like, I had to be a cis male.
01:33And I was like, that's not me.
01:42The very first time I touched a game was when I was three years old.
01:45It was Tekken 3.
01:46And I just knew I loved video games from that point on.
01:49I was kind of like that silly, goofy child growing up.
01:52I was just that kind of clown that wanted to make people laugh all the time.
01:55Sometimes be obnoxious, but it comes with the comedy.
02:05I started thinking about becoming a professional player
02:08when it became apparent that I was capable of doing so.
02:11So when I really applied myself and really kept showing people I was really strong,
02:15people started seeking me out.
02:16And I was like, wow, I get to get paid for doing something I love.
02:25This is it.
02:31Sonic Fist, baby!
02:55As a player, I am pretty calculated randomness is what I'm described as.
03:19On paper it looks like I'm a maniac, but those plays work all the time because they're calculated
03:24maniac points. I don't think I could ever hurt a fly, to be honest. Even internal violence,
03:30no. I just like video games and I love fighting games. They're just fun. There's no violence.
03:35Have you ever faced homophobia in esports?
03:49Oh, of course. Everybody faces some kind of discrimination if they're part of that minority group anyway, honestly.
03:56People that like to be homophobic and like to be transphobic and all those things like that,
04:02why do I care what they think about me if they are not even willing to understand?
04:18The entire speech was on the spot. I just thought about the words that came into my head and I just said them.
04:38But yeah, I loved that speech. I obviously got some people and conservatives really angry at me,
04:45but I don't care. No, I got an overwhelming amount of support from a lot of my friends.
04:51And a lot of people said that that was a huge moment for them in their life when I did that.
04:55And I'm very happy to have done something like that.
04:58What is your platform?
05:05I understand that my platform on Twitter is a huge platform for many, many people of different communities and cultures.
05:12And I realized the power I had. I could have easily come out in private of being non-binary,
05:17but it wouldn't have the same message and effect that I would want it to have if it was in public.
05:24So when I came out publicly, it was to tell everybody, hey, even somebody like me is also experiencing certain different lives,
05:34trials and tribulations in their life. And coming out as non-binary was something I thought about for a very, very long time.
05:41And when I finally discovered that I was, I figured this is a key moment to tell everybody, like, I'm non-binary.
05:51Despite everything that's happened in my life, I'm non-binary and nobody's going to stop me from being non-binary.
05:56People who are not really familiar of the universe of esports might think, oh, it's really a world for men, cis men, heterosexual men.
06:18Yeah, exactly.
06:19What can you answer to them?
06:21No, the esports world is for anybody who has the skills to be in the esports world.
06:26And even if you don't have the skills to be in the esports world, the esports world is for everyone because video games are fun.
06:31People that support me, they look up to me and I have to be that leader for them.
06:50I don't ever want to step on anybody. So I try to be a pillar for my community that I try to represent.
06:56I try to be myself so that other people can feel confident being themselves.
07:00And I try to use my platform or anything I can do to make sure that everybody has a safe space around me.