As a platform, Twitch can be a great way to interact with content creators and engage with their work. Prior to the “Tag” system on Twitch, the platform used to use something called “Communities” to help categorize streamers based on games played or content streamed. With the Communities system gone, Twitch now utilizes Tags to help streamers classify themselves and find an audience based on certain attributes. Different marginalized groups have been able to find people like them based on the Tag system — one group, in particular, being the LGBTQIA+ community.
While this tag has been helpful in a lot of cases where viewers were looking for members of that community, it hasn’t always been used correctly. People who are not part of that community were using it to show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community, though the “A” does not stand for “ally” but rather “asexual” or “aromantic.” Besides that, lumping together the entirety of the LGBTQIA+ community can remove the nuances and experiences each identity faces, making it hard for specific identities to find each other. Twitch is now rolling out over 350 new Tags, some of which will directly affect the LGBTQIA+ community and offer more Tag options. These new Tags have been highly requested, but Twitch shouldn’t stop its changes there.
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In a statement from Twitch’s Twitter page, the streaming platform said that it was waiting until next week to unveil the new Tags, but a recent social media campaign made the announcement come sooner. Transgender streamers are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, but the experience of being trans differs greatly from solely being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or any other identity encapsulated in the acronym. As such, there was a large campaign by many various trans streamers to get a Trans Tag added to Twitch.
Many streamers have been vocal about the issue for a while now, to the point that the campaign actually started about two years ago. It wasn’t until recently that Twitch even acknowledged that the push for a Trans Tag was happening, and it came on the heels of an announcement that many creators took issue with. To many, the tweet read as Twitch waiting until Pride Month (June) to give trans streamers the tag they’ve asked to have created for over two years. Twitch creating the Trans Tag after so long is something many creators are celebrating, but it’s understandable that there’s some lingering skepticism given the timing.
In addition to the Trans Tag, Twitch will also be changing its definition of the LGBTQIA+ Tag to no longer include allies of the LGBT community. Instead, allies will get their own separate tag so the LGBTQIA+ tag can go back to only being for members of the community. It’s a much-needed change that will hopefully provide clarity to viewers looking for LGBT content creators to watch.
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As it stands, many streamers rely heavily on moderators (mods) to help keep hateful activity out of their chat and keep the space safe for their community. There’s also lots of behind-the-scenes work that Twitch streamers must do to make sure different slurs and offensive language are not used in their chats. This includes having to manually enter slurs to be banned from the chat and coming up with every variation that someone may try to use. It can be a mentally taxing and incredibly disheartening process.
Besides adding the much-needed Trans Tag, Twitch should take time to create and implement a list of banned words across all channels composed of the slurs marginalized people are often called. This would take away the stress of being a marginalized person and having to manually input the harmful words, but also create a safer space in all streams and not just in those who have the terms banned. The Trans Tag will also make it easier for streamers to get “hate raided,” so Twitch should come up with a plan to keep those streamers safe from that kind of harassment.
The Trans Tag on Twitch is a great step forward for trans creators, but it also points out how much work is left to be done. From implementing a full list of slurs to be banned, to taking extra care to protect its trans streamers, Twitch should continue to make inclusive changes like this and help minimize the harassment faced by LGBTQIA+ content creators, especially those who will be using the new Trans Tag.
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