NOT ORIGINAL CONTENT. REUPLOADED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES. -SGR

Original Page (6/23/2025)

Durian got their homepage at Neopets.com

what we need to see from TNT

I would strongly encourage that the team reaches out to LGBTQIA+ and specifically trans-led coalitions to receive in-depth training on how to recognize anti-trans rhetoric/hate speech/dogwhistles, identify & dismantle transphobic and transmisogynistic biases both internally (as individuals) and externally (from other people and groups), and work to create a safe space for all players. Only after this can the harm that occurred be corrected and effectively addressed to restore the trust and good faith between players and the Neopets support & moderation teams.

These steps cannot be overlooked when creating a space that fosters so many trans community members, who are greatly at risk to receive harassment and experience violence. The online vitriol has ramped up since 2022, and it requires great effort to combat the transphobia that all people globally learn unconsciously. Making a public statement -- backed by specific actions to repair harm -- about Neopets' commitment to stop silencing trans players, take immediate action against players who share harmful rhetoric, and take any additional steps needed to create a safe place for players of all gender identities is necessary.

The Transgender Empowerment Project offers webinars and training that would be a strong step in the right direction. They offer private group sessions upon request.

necessary actions to restore trust

  1. Participation of ALL moderation, support, and leadership staff of Neopets in immediate training(s) to combat transphobia and transmisogyny both internally as a workplace (to address moderation practices and terms & conditions) and on-site within the Neopets community
  2. Removal of internal moderation practices and existing onsite guidance that treats simply identifying human rights abuses and hateful/violent ideology from other users as "cyberbullying" or "harassment"
  3. Clear, explicit rules against hate speech or expressing hateful rhetoric WITHOUT demonizing players for defending marginalized groups
  4. Timely zero-tolerance policy enacted against players who share violent rhetoric, dogwhistles, or any other form of hate speech
  5. Reverse decision to restore accounts of players that have shared hate speech (whether veiled as dogwhistles or otherwise) on Neopets.com
  6. Restoration of all accounts and account abilities (reversing silences) of players that were frozen/silenced for speaking out
  7. Clarification from TNT that they will not continue to 'both-sides' issues regarding harmful rhetoric, or grant hateful ideology any legitimacy
  8. A public statement condemning violent rhetoric alongside an apology for how this was and has been handled
  9. Commitment to genuine, lasting repair of harm backed by actions, not just lip-service

further actions for trans users and allies

an open letter to a transphobia-aligned TNT

It seems as though TNT -- leadership, support, and moderation teams alike -- is not overly familiar with its userbase. To explain why I'm cancelling my premium membership, halting NC purchases and trading, and unfollowing Neopets on all social media, I need to introduce myself a bit.

I grew up on Neopets. I learned to spell many new words, expanded my reading repertoire, began my interest in arts & crafts, learned HTML and CSS, and even dipped into writing all from a young age on this one website alone. Thus, when I finally reached adulthood, I subscribed to premium and started purchasing neocash to support this website and community that had a strong influence in raising me.

Neopets.com was one of the few places that I could explore online without my gender influencing how I was received and treated. As a young person struggling unknowingly with gender dysphoria, this made Neopets a haven. As I grew into an adult and learned more about myself, Neopets remained a welcoming community as I transitioned. The support team even granted me a username transfer when my oldest account, whose name contained my deadname, fed into my gender dysphoria. I am forever grateful to the support team for this.

From my 20s, my chronic illnesses increasingly disabled me. I retreated from an ableist, transphobic, and racist outside world into Neopets. Here, I was not a target. Here, I could enjoy myself and express myself through my accounts and pets. Here, I found love and support from one of my best friends -- also nonbinary -- who later became my partner and, eventually, fiance.

Now, I'm just days shy of being 32. My world consists almost entirely of my bedroom and my laptop, as I have become bedbound. My cognitive function has been on a slow-but-steady decline over the last decade. Sitting up for longer than 30 minutes at a time causes long-lasting pain. Staring at a screen can trigger migraine and light sensitivity. I am incapable of remaining awake and alert for more than a couple of hours at a time. I am no longer capable of working, part-time or otherwise, and have no income as I am more than 2 years into the process of applying for disability income. Reasonably, I've spent less time on Neopets; however, fractionally, the majority of my free time and energy (of which I have very little) is spent doing my dailies and dressing up my pets. Buying and trading neocash is still the most fun hobby I have on the site, and my excessively large tradelist and hundreds of monthly neomails can attest to that.

I am one, singular Neopian. But I am a disabled, Brown, transgender Neopian. These intrinsic identifiers are not erased on Neopets.com. Neither is the hate from folks who seek to harm and commit other acts of violence against me and people like me. Your moderation team has allowed transphobia and other hatred to continue unchecked on the website. Your support team's response was not to immediately silence or freeze such arbiters of violence, but to silence the trans folks and allies who *dared* speak out against it and seek justice.

Anti-trans & transphobic rhetoric (example outlines by GLAAD and TransActual on their sites) being spread online is KNOWN to lead to offline violence:

  • Anti-Trans Rhetoric Is Fueling a Pandemic of Violence," The Fund for Global Human Rights (2021)
  • How Anti-Trans Rhetoric Drives Violence," Advocate magazine (2022)
  • LGB without the T?: The dangerous rise of transphobia, TERFism, and anti-transgender rhetoric across the United Kingdom," written by Allison Newey on European Student Think Tank (2024)

I am beyond disappointed in and heavily disgusted by the decision by mods to allow transphobia to run rampant on the Neoboards, as well as the transphobia enacted by both the mods AND the support team in their censorship of trans positivity and silencing of players for calling out transphobia.

To place folks who identify and call out -phobias and -isms on the same level as the perpetrators of said -isms is to be complicit in the harm caused. This grants the hateful rhetoric the same ideological legitimacy as those who support and uplift the transgender community.

This reads to me as a willing hop, skip, and jump towards the fascism that has been steadily growing globally. As such, I am firmly standing my ground as an anti-imperialist anti-fascist by discontinuing ALL endeavors on Neopets that could positively impact their revenue. Fascists do not deserve support.

This is why I have cancelled premium, will no longer purchase neocash, and will no longer engage in trading NC items. Additionally, I am unfollowing Neopets on all forms of social media and vocally sharing my displeasure on all platforms. I am strongly and vocally encouraging others who do not wish to support ANY entity which engages in fascism-aligned behavior to follow suit, both onsite and offsite.