For those of you who've been around long enough in the online world of Otherkin, you may remember faintly a machine-kin of the soundboard variety that went by the screen name of mixer52. Well, folks... I'm back.
I'm not much of a blogger. The idea of writing my thoughts and feelings out for the entire world to see is a bit daunting, but something has lit a fire under my ass and I can no longer sit aside and watch it happen without at least putting my two-cents out there.
For those of you who do remember me, you might also remember just how many Otherkin forums I was banned from. I was not a troll, I never bickered with anybody, I didn't incessantly use vulgar language, I didn't so much as double-post. I was banned because I am machine-kin.
I myself am rooted firmly in my identity, and have come a long way in understanding myself since those years of awakening when I first sought out the Otherkin community. It's not me that I'm worried about anymore, it's others who are standing now where I stood seven years ago in the midst of an identity crisis. I needed a listening ear, support, companionship. I needed a friend, and all I got was discrimination and hate.
Last weekend, against the better of my judgment, I looked up the Otherkin community for the first time in four years. I had a tiny bit of hope that the community may have evolved. That thread of hope was sliced in half when the first Google result was of a post on a forum that said, "We do not support the idea of machine-kin here." My heart sank in my chest. Still? Really?
Feeling a little unwelcome in the world, I posted on the one Otherkin forum that accepts me. I quote the post:
"Of all things, it makes me feel bad for any other machine-kin out there that are looking for answers, acceptance, and guidance and all they find is discrimination and hate. Hate me, bash me, ban me from your forums... I don't care. I'm grounded in my identity, but there are people just awakening who are scared and unsure. We've all been there... the confusion, the soul-searching and not a single soul to say that they understand what you're going through. We find these internet forums and think, "Wow! Finally, some place I can be true to myself!" We, machine-kin, think that only to get bitch-slapped and banned for simply being what we are."
One of the other members replied to my post, mentioning similar discrimination against Na`vi otherkin, which spurred me to Google-search that. Again, the first thing that comes up on Google... hate. A person believing themselves to be Na`vi came to a forum and merely introduced themselves in a polite and kind way. Nine pages of hateful argument and harsh words later, the person was banned from that forum. In every single one of the person's posts, they were kindly, well-spoken, and very heartfelt no matter what the others said. The Na`vi in question asked multiple times just to be accepted, just to join in on simple conversation. They were met with nothing but a brick wall and gunfire. I shook my head in disdain. All I wanted to do was reach out to this Na`vi, and tell them, "You're alright in my book." Something as simple as being accepted can make the difference between life and death.
Needless to say, I am disappointed in the majority of the Otherkin community. Shame on you.
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