Pride Month Streamer Spotlight: ZombaeKillz on Twitch

Although June has officially been Pride Month since Bill Clinton term in 2000, celebrations have been going on unofficially since 1970. The Stonewall Riots began on June 28, 1969, and lasted until July 3 of the same year, following a police raid of the mafia-owned Stonewall Inn gay bar. LGBT people, particularly POC drag queens and trans individuals, fought back against the police, and their defiance really kickstarted the gay rights movement, leading to Pride Month becoming a time of festivities meant to celebrate queerness.

There are many ways to join Pride Month events online, and one of the most inclusive platforms at the moment is Twitch. Queer Twitch streamers and creators are often great beacons of the LGBTQIA+ community that everyone can follow to find a safe space, a refuge on the Internet for all minorities. ZombaeKillz is one such beacon, and they have created a great community where queerness is not only welcome in all its shapes and forms, but also celebrated. Game Rant spoke to ZombaeKillz about what it means to be an openly queer parent, why Fortnite is the perfect LGBTQIA+ game, and more.

Last year, Game Rant started a Pride Month Streamer Spotlight, which we’re happy to continue this year with several fresh streamers.

The Impact of ZombaeKillz's Queerness on Parenthood

Creating a safe space for others online is a small milestone compared to what ZombaeKillz, Natasha in real life, has achieved with their family and friends. One of Natasha's kids came out as trans, and they were quick to comfort the child by explaining that there is nothing wrong with being queer. Natasha themselves has known of their queer identity from a very young age. Zombae's parents were very straightforward when they were growing up, to the point that they provided their kid with condoms to use for safe sex.

Natasha tries to do the same for their children, showing constant support and talking about important matters like what it means to be black in the southern U.S., specifically in Mississippi. The reason why Zombae worries about their trans child's future is not tied to the kid's identity itself, but rather to the fact that being an individual of color who's also queer can be difficult. But Natasha finds relief in the fact that the child's siblings immediately started using the appropriate pronouns, and even correct others who don't.

"I have that fear that any parent has, but I'm just going to support my kid, whatever my kid needs, whatever affirmations that they need to know that I love them and that they're valid, I'll be able to give them. The same thing that my dad did for me. You shouldn't have to validate your existence."

What Pride Month Celebrations Can Improve

Zombae is also conscious about what needs to change when it comes to Pride Month celebrations, starting with the way consumerism became part of Pride products. Natasha wants to see more accountability from the companies that sell Pride-related stuff in terms of healthcare policies for their employees, more diverse new hires, and overall representation of minorities - especially when they are the targets of marketing campaigns. However, Zombae learned that even Pride consumerism can be a good thing when their trans kid got to have gender-affirming items, or even something as simple as a trans flag.

It's also important to Natasha that the queer community does more work to validate everyone and learn more about different identities. An example is how some southern states, have several ways of rendering people with daily speech, which is hard to let go when its influence is so widespread and deeply rooted. Still, Natasha tries their best to do that regardless and to be wary of others' cultures and identities.

"As a queer person there are new things I learn all the time. I have a close friend of mine who is ace. I had all kinds of questions because I didn't think ace would be considered under the umbrella because it seems more like withholding of sexual activity, but I was wrong. There are ace people who have sex. There are all kinds of things. It's such a wide color palette of a world that I don't even think I dipped my toe into, if I'm being honest."

The Joys and Hardships of Being a Queer Twitch Streamer

Life as a Twitch streamer is not always easy, although it can be very rewarding when other LGBTQIA+ individuals use Natasha's space to come out and to express themselves freely, which is what Zombae appreciates the most about their job. It's also a way to provide others that same space Natasha didn't have growing up because there was no such thing. However, being openly queer online has its challenges, and they can take a huge toll on anyone.

Natasha said they used to be better at dealing with trolls and haters while streaming, and that their streaming career didn't revolve around Twitch alone, but also around other apps like Twitter, which they used to get more opportunities. The cost of these things became too much when Zombae was hospitalized, and subsequently had to take a step back and find personal peace that their life wasn't offering.

"The Internet is so, so loud when you're an influencer. If you make a mistake, you'll never be able to get back up. That's what they tell you. You become like a pariah, a martyr. I'm not on Twitter like I used to be. I was obsessed with it because I had to know my analytics in order to get more gigs and more opportunities. Now I realized that there is not a gig or an opportunity in the world that's worth my space and my brain."

ZombaeKillz's Opinion on Fortnite

On a more lighthearted note, Natasha believes that one of the best LGBTQIA+ video games at the moment has to be the battle royale, Fortnite. This is because Fortnite offers a lot of customization options, and it is extremely inclusive when it comes to real-world events and people (such as Martin Luther King and black history), as well as fandoms. These fandoms are quite often places where queer communities find their foothold, and thus the Fortnite community is made of individuals from all backgrounds.

Natasha is neurodivergent, living with both autism and ADHD, but the fact that Fortnite has so much going on at all given times is an incredible relief for those like Zombae who need multiple stimuli. Yet, there is room for improvement for Fortnite too, and Natasha would like to see Pride skins and maybe the options of using skin tone shaders on existing skins so that one can feel truly represented by any given character.

"I think the gay games of the years have been any Pokemon game and any Animal Crossing game, but for the queers like me who like to shoot people in games, Fortnite is incredible. The only thing I wish Fortnite did was that when we buy our Battle Passes, we choose the skins in different skin tones. Sometimes I'll get a white girl who's awesome, she's cool as heck, but why can't I have her brown? I wish there was a skin shader. And I wish Fortnite would come up with a non-binary character."