Pokemon Judge Banned For Life After Harassing Transgender Players

thegamer.com:

A Pokemon judge has been struck with a lifetime ban following harassment of transgender players at a tournament in Canada, it's been reported, with The Pokemon Company International handing out a permanent sanction on the certified judge following alleged transphobic behaviour.

The incident is said to have taken place last weekend at the Vancouver Regionals, one of Pokemon TCG's main series tournaments. The event gathers hundreds of players from around the globe as they compete for $65,000 in prizes as well as the opportunity to qualify for the 2023 Pokemon World Championships in Japan. It was at this event when a "Texan Pokemon judge" who has not been named is said to have been transphobic (via PokeBeach).

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PokeBeach cites player Elizabeth Barbera who says the Pokemon judge asked if he could take a selfie with her along with a group of transgender players who form the Pokemon TCG team known as Girl Power TCG. The judge asked if they could go outside the event hall so that he could ask the group questions about the transgender community. Barbera said the judge initially began the conversation positively with questions about how judges could be more inclusive. "I do think the original discussion was coming from a place of sincerity", Barbera told PokeBeach. However, the conversation soon took a far more negative turn.

Barbera says the judge then "told each of the trans women in our group how he could tell they were 'born a boy', for reasons such as 'you have a boyish build' or 'you have a manly face'". She continued: "He didn't listen to our [views] and instead chose to talk over us".

The group excused themselves from the conversation but the judge then