Caitgate Opinions (Mark)

A/N: This story is written in the style of a vlog transcript. 

All right! We're back and ready to discuss the hot, new scandal #Caitgate. Now, what is Caitgate? I'll tell you.

Caitgate technically started when the disability organization Respect Ability Minecraft harassed Caitlin Netherfield, a well-known figure in our public lives, to the point where she got severely depressed and committed suicide by jumping off a building. However, the precursors have been around long before then, so let's check some of those out.

Here are screenshots of some things she said.

"If you need to use your disability to get people to respect you, chances are ableism is not the problem you face. #disability #ableism #didactic"

"I don't support going witch hunts to deal with weapon violence at schools. This is an issue we should approach using compassion, not some vigilante justice system. #havencraft #schoolshooting"

"Seizures suck, am I right? 😛 #epilepsy #seizures"

I have responses to each of these three Tweets from the organization.

"They're not going to respect us either way, so why not make things easier on ourselves?"

"We believe that *URL censored* deserves the death sentence for his actions."

"You shouldn't be so glib about a serious issue. Go kill yourself."

After she got attacked similarly via live Twitter feed on this news channel, Caitlin began expressing feelings of worthlessness as evidence by this Tweet.

"I'm a burden. I'm not worth what I make teaching music and I'm certainly not worth all the medical bills. *URL censored* isn't that right?

So, like any good journalist (I use this term loosely), I interviewed Steve on the matter. He said that Caitlin, quote, "already had low self-esteem to begin with" and that "the online attacks made a problem that she already had even worse."

Now, I'm no psychologist, but, though personal experience, I know that a lot of people with disabilities tend to have low self-esteem. The fact that a disability organization had the nerve to attack one of the people it claims to support speaks to what their true narrative really is. Respect Ability Minecraft's narrative is one of control and censorship rather than one of "empowerment for all disabled", which is their motto.

In other words? Respect Ability Minecraft shot the albatross and I hope this case rots on their necks.