Organizer reinstated a team consisting of a trans player who was disqualified from a women’s Apex Legends tournament. Later the team was reinstated following an investigation.
A North American-based organization named HER Galaxy is running the biggest Apex Legends women’s tournament—a huge step toward the growth of the women’s Esports scene in the Apex Legends community.
Nearly 100 teams participated in that tournament to win a total prize pool of $100k. Among the teams, only 40 teams remained to face off in playoffs against each other on May 19 and 20.
Of the 40 teams, one of the teams named VEXXX has a trans woman player, trying their best to compete against some of the best teams in the community. However, before the Upper Bracket took place, the team was disqualified due to an unresolved identification issue concerning one of VEXXX’s members.
The player in question is a transgender player named Gabs, who identifies as she/they. Despite passing the verification and participating in every scrim and Her Galaxy tournament, the team faced this unpredictable response.
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VEXXX was Disqualified and Then Reinstated
rkxine, one of VEXXX’s team members, expressed her opinion and the reason why they were eliminated from the tournament. According to her, “A known transphobic member of the Apex community reached out to the Admins to spread rumours and false statements about my teammate’s identity, post-verification. This person has always had a hateful nature towards everybody around them, and 95% of the Bracket participants can agree and attest to this.”
She further added that her team and her teammate (Gab) fell victim to a decision entirely based on transphobic/ hateful intent from a specific individual. Moreover, Gab’s eligibility was discussed and verified with Her Galaxy admins upon the initial verification process, which makes the elimination really unexpected and devastating.
The specific individual was later exposed by loserira, who shared two clips of a team member who raised the accusations against Gab.
After watching the clips, many players in the community came forward to show their support for Gab, who felt grateful for all the support from the community. The community was also surprised by the person’s behavior in the clip.
Following the escalated situation, HER Galaxy led an investigation and reinstated VEXXX in the $100k tourney. Not only that, but they also disqualified the team who displayed discriminatory behavior.
VEXXED later participated in the Upper Bracket in the $100k tournament. Currently, the team stands at the 9th position on the leaderboard and will play in the finals on June 25.
