On the evening of May 26th, Europeia announced the latest iteration of “EuroPride”, an annual celebration of LGBTQ+ pride, coinciding with the month of June being Pride Month in the real world. This event has games, radio broadcasts, and camaraderie not only between Europeian citizens, but all of those across NationStates who would join us in celebration of this endeavor. Shortly after it was announced, two separate Personae Non Gratae (or PNGs) asked if they would be allowed to attend the event, as they are members of the LGTBQ+ community. PNGs are simply any “foreign national” that the president has declared not welcome in the community. These reasons can be really anything that the president wishes, but are generally understood to be reasons related to community welfare and/or security.
Therefore, this should be a no-brainer for why these foreign nationals should not be allowed into EuroPride. The Diplomatic Immunity Act even goes so far as to say that “Foreign nationals who have been declared personae non gratae shall be removed from all areas of Europeia, have their diplomatic masking revoked, and not be permitted to re-enter Europeia, excepting those areas needed to redress their status.” Legally, they may not even be allowed into EuroPride without the President rescinding their PNG status.
However, President Kazaman later issued this statement in the Europeian embassy in Gameplay: “We realise that the lines between in-character and out-of-character actions are blurry during events like this. Even though EuroPride is an initiative of the Europeian government, Pride is something we've borrowed from Real Life, which reflects the real lives of players in the game. We hope that players from across the NationStates world will feel welcome to participate with us. Any person designated Persona Non Grata by Europeia who wishes to attend EuroPride 2021 may contact myself or Peeps by telegram”
Based on the discourse since then, it seems like a real possibility that the two PNGs who wish to attend EuroPride may actually be allowed to attend. Legality aside, it seemed fairly obvious to me that if you are not welcome in our community, you don’t get to attend our parties, regardless of what we are celebrating. And sure, there is the “IC vs. OOC” argument to be had here, but there is often a debate about how much of a gap between those two things there truly is when it comes to Europeia. If you consistently treat someone poorly in-game, that doesn’t mean you have no history if you two meet elsewhere. It can be hard to get over that sort of thing.
Obviously, it has been done, but forcing a community to co-mingle with those who do not wish us well is not an easy sell, and for such an event like EuroPride, where we care so much about providing a safe space for players to feel welcome in our community, why are we inviting in people whose primary interactions with Europeia and our friends are to hurt us?
And I know some will say “are we going to let ideological differences keep us from reaching across the aisle on issues we both agree on, such as LGBTQ+ acceptance?” But honestly, we do not PNG people over “ideological differences”. We PNG you if you cross a line in either our community or our allies’ communities in a way that makes it impossible for you to ever be a part of that community without some intense character development. And beyond that, I think you could make the case that these two PNGs don’t even want to attend EuroPride for OOC reasons, but are coming purely to disrupt our event and cause us further harm.
To illustrate the disdain that these bad actors feel towards our community, here are some quotes from Cormac, one of the two PNGs in question, that have been said in the NSGP Discord server after requesting acceptance into EuroPride:
“Europeia has a soul-sucking effect I wouldn't recommend”
“Coupable Europeia does have a certain appeal, I'm for it”
And Bowzin, the other PNG in question, basically mocked the idea that we would even ask for an apology for his previous conduct before being allowed into our community event.
That, of course, doesn’t get into the conduct and comments that got these two PNG’d in the first place, but please feel free to peruse those as well:
“Europeia, for example, sells itself as a democratic republic that values peace, freedom, and democracy. Its government differs little from the governments of its imperialist monarchist allies and the Europeian Republican Navy primarily engages in indiscriminate invasion of other communities" - Cormac (this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Cormac has long railed against the Europeian community and its values)
And I wrote a whole article on Bowzin that you can read here.
At the time of Cormac’s PNG back in 2015, President Mousebumples said “we need not - and should not - welcome back any individual who persists in spreading lies and misinformation through attacks on our region and our community over the past few months.” Why would we have a different attitude now, after six more years of lies and misinformation?
The risk of letting in those who do not wish us well is clear and incredibly present. The benefits are minimal beyond platitudes of togetherness that these players have shown us they do not truly believe in. Don’t play their game, Europeia. Let’s have a saboteur-free event, and let these bad actors continue to have some real consequences for their actions against our community. Until next time this is Calvin Coolidge, minding the border.
Therefore, this should be a no-brainer for why these foreign nationals should not be allowed into EuroPride. The Diplomatic Immunity Act even goes so far as to say that “Foreign nationals who have been declared personae non gratae shall be removed from all areas of Europeia, have their diplomatic masking revoked, and not be permitted to re-enter Europeia, excepting those areas needed to redress their status.” Legally, they may not even be allowed into EuroPride without the President rescinding their PNG status.
However, President Kazaman later issued this statement in the Europeian embassy in Gameplay: “We realise that the lines between in-character and out-of-character actions are blurry during events like this. Even though EuroPride is an initiative of the Europeian government, Pride is something we've borrowed from Real Life, which reflects the real lives of players in the game. We hope that players from across the NationStates world will feel welcome to participate with us. Any person designated Persona Non Grata by Europeia who wishes to attend EuroPride 2021 may contact myself or Peeps by telegram”
Based on the discourse since then, it seems like a real possibility that the two PNGs who wish to attend EuroPride may actually be allowed to attend. Legality aside, it seemed fairly obvious to me that if you are not welcome in our community, you don’t get to attend our parties, regardless of what we are celebrating. And sure, there is the “IC vs. OOC” argument to be had here, but there is often a debate about how much of a gap between those two things there truly is when it comes to Europeia. If you consistently treat someone poorly in-game, that doesn’t mean you have no history if you two meet elsewhere. It can be hard to get over that sort of thing.
Obviously, it has been done, but forcing a community to co-mingle with those who do not wish us well is not an easy sell, and for such an event like EuroPride, where we care so much about providing a safe space for players to feel welcome in our community, why are we inviting in people whose primary interactions with Europeia and our friends are to hurt us?
And I know some will say “are we going to let ideological differences keep us from reaching across the aisle on issues we both agree on, such as LGBTQ+ acceptance?” But honestly, we do not PNG people over “ideological differences”. We PNG you if you cross a line in either our community or our allies’ communities in a way that makes it impossible for you to ever be a part of that community without some intense character development. And beyond that, I think you could make the case that these two PNGs don’t even want to attend EuroPride for OOC reasons, but are coming purely to disrupt our event and cause us further harm.
To illustrate the disdain that these bad actors feel towards our community, here are some quotes from Cormac, one of the two PNGs in question, that have been said in the NSGP Discord server after requesting acceptance into EuroPride:
“Europeia has a soul-sucking effect I wouldn't recommend”
“Coupable Europeia does have a certain appeal, I'm for it”
And Bowzin, the other PNG in question, basically mocked the idea that we would even ask for an apology for his previous conduct before being allowed into our community event.
That, of course, doesn’t get into the conduct and comments that got these two PNG’d in the first place, but please feel free to peruse those as well:
“Europeia, for example, sells itself as a democratic republic that values peace, freedom, and democracy. Its government differs little from the governments of its imperialist monarchist allies and the Europeian Republican Navy primarily engages in indiscriminate invasion of other communities" - Cormac (this was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Cormac has long railed against the Europeian community and its values)
And I wrote a whole article on Bowzin that you can read here.
At the time of Cormac’s PNG back in 2015, President Mousebumples said “we need not - and should not - welcome back any individual who persists in spreading lies and misinformation through attacks on our region and our community over the past few months.” Why would we have a different attitude now, after six more years of lies and misinformation?
The risk of letting in those who do not wish us well is clear and incredibly present. The benefits are minimal beyond platitudes of togetherness that these players have shown us they do not truly believe in. Don’t play their game, Europeia. Let’s have a saboteur-free event, and let these bad actors continue to have some real consequences for their actions against our community. Until next time this is Calvin Coolidge, minding the border.
