Pokémon card tournament player disqualified for laughing when asked his preferred pronouns

A young Pokémon Trading Card Game player was disqualified from the Pokémon Regional Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina after apparently letting out a “nervous laugh” when asked for his preferred pronouns.

As Dexerto reports, Makani Tran was facing off against his opponent, Alex Schemanske, when he was reportedly pulled to one side and disqualified due to “violating [the event’s] inclusive policy”. Tran has reiterated that he “had no intention whatsoever to offend or hurt anyone”.

In a Twitlonger post, Tran explained that as he walked over to the stream area for his sixth round, he was nervous due to the fact that he was going up against a well-known and skilled TCG player. It was at this point that the judge asked the two players for their preferred pronouns.

“I said ‘Um he or him or uh’ and I paused trying to think of the third pronoun (the third pronoun being his),” Tran wrote in the post. “As I just stood there looking stupid trying to think of the third pronoun I felt embarrassed because I was failing to think of a simple word. Due to the nerves and me being embarrassed I let out a little laugh[,] just a normal nervous laugh. My response together ended up being ‘Um he or him or uhhhh haha his’. That’s it. That’s all I said.”

After this, the competitors were asked for their pronouns a second time, and Tran laughed again. He stated: “The little laugh at the end was because I was trying not to be awkward and because I was just stating the exact thing Alex had just stated and it was kind of silly to me in that scenario.”

According to Tran: “The judge looked at me and said ‘Okay just wanted to check to be safe. I go by they/them so don’t be a jerk about it.’”

Schemanske and Tran played one game, but before the second could start, Tran was asked by another judge to clarify what he’d said when asked for his pronouns. He then explained the situation to the head judge off-stage, but was allegedly told that “due to me violating their inclusive policy and due to me making someone feel unsafe and uncomfortable, I was disqualified from the event”.

“I again stated how I was really sorry if I upset someone and that I had zero malicious intent whatsoever and that I had nothing against peoples’ pronouns,” the player wrote. “At this point my message was very clear. I had no intention whatsoever to offend or hurt anyone and I was truly sorry if someone interpreted me wrong.”

Later on Twitter, Tran added: "Do not use what happened at Charlotte as an excuse to bully and harass the trans community. That s**t is not okay and I do not condone this behaviour at all."