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Here's how it works: a subculture lets bigotry slide because it takes forms that seem inocuous to the majority: racism in white subcultures, for instance. Misogyny in subcultures dominated by men's voices. And so on.
People marginalized by this bigotry & by the majority's unconscious biases point out that bigotry exists in the subculture. There's pushback, minimalizing, brush-offs from the majority. There might even be isolated instances of harassment & blacklisting of the ppl speaking out.
More people notice the bigotry, find each other, support each other. There's more open discussion of the issues. Pushback increases in response, and not always proportionally. Those people are branded as Troublemakers, No True Scotsmen, etc.
When discussion of the bigotry reaches a point where it can't be ignored anymore (not that it should've been ignored in the first place), the pushback also reaches critical mass.
At this point, the harassment response has been going on for ages, but it reaches a flashpoint and follows the lead of a few charismatic firebrands, who develop a cult of personality specifically around *pushing back against critique.*
These firebrands are the inciters, the ones actively benefitting from a brand built around upholding bigotry as the status quo. They may parlay this influence into a form of financial or wider cultural prominence (writing gigs at outlets sympathetic to the status quo).
By this time, there's a schism in the subculture: those sympathetic to marginalized voices, and those actively or passively supporting the pushback against the former, usually under an innocuous banner like "Free speech." Harassment is rampant, traumatizing the marginalized.
All transformative works fandom needs is a sufficiently charismatic firebrand who wears their bigotry proudly while upholding the subculture's golden calves & a flashpoint, & we're exactly where G*merg*te, Comicsg*te, & The Sad P*ppies started.
I don't think transformative works fandom is uniquely able to weather this kind of flashpoint, ESPECIALLY because we think we ARE, and putting ourselves on that pedestal means we have further to fall.
I've been tangentially related to GG & CG, am friends with folks who be been targeted by the worst of the worst at the height of those movements. I worked WorldCon during TSP. I have seen all of this happen up close.
All of this has happened before, & all of this will happen again, UNLESS we learn the lessons from the past. No quarter to bigotry. Deplatform the firebrands & the ppl harassing those marginalized by the subculture. Defend those who call out bigotry, especially Black women.
Never think "it can't happen here," or "we're different, we're SPECIAL," because bigotry is an infection that runs throughout our culture, including our "escapist" subcultures. Pretending otherwise gives cover to those actively doing harm in the name of the bigoted status quo.
There never was a "simpler, better" time when we weren't touched by the issues plaguing wider culture. There was just a time when it was easier to ignore those calling it out. Look forward to a better, more inclusive subculture, don't look back & try to Make Fandom Great Again.
And for those who object to the parallel with The Orange Fascist, remember that the architects of his rise *specifically learned and recruited from* GG. Subcultures feed back into wider culture. As above, so below - and the reverse is true, as well.
TTRPGs & R*mancelandia are facing similar reckonings, btw. In case you think I'm being too myopic. They're both hitting flash points & have their own firebrands, but overall they seem to be doing a good job of keeping it from hitting a Peak Boiling Point. They're percolating tho.
