I was active in the original gamergate, having a contrary opinion doesn't make me an apologist.
If you were and actually paid attention to what was going on, then you should be familiar with how kafkatrapping and gaslighting work, let alone in the bigger picture of struggle sessions and the social justice inquisitorial mindset. These people comprise a cult, and the act of 'cancellation' is a social media struggle session. It's brute force programming by way of psychologically breaking someone through intense, relentless, crowdsourced emotional duress.
Quinn decided to initiate a struggle session against Holowka quite clearly to buffer faltering social media reach and crowdfunding income, on an obviously targeted date to ensure the news would dominate PAX West. Whether or not the allegations are true, or factually accurate to whatever may or may not have happened between Quinn and Holowka, is immaterial to any part of this process. Because that's how kafkatrapping works: any act of defiance, avoidance, or resistance to the struggle session is interpreted as tacit admission of guilt, up to and including immediate admission of guilt and resolution to improve oneself.
Because a key part of struggle sessions isn't simply extracting admission of guilt and forcing the target to submit to groupthink. It's seeing the target suffer until breakdown, because A) admission absent intense suffering isn't seen as genuine or good-faith, B) struggle sessions are theatrical and hinge upon the sadistic pleasure of the crowd, and C) the crowd needs to see what happens to them if they step out of line in turn.
Holowka, I'd be willing to bet, being in this crowd knew how it would turn out for him. And, not being in a mental state to stand up to his accusers or take the L, became an hero.
This is where Gamergate fucked up. Once the GGR idiots and alt-right entered the equation, any presumption the movement might observe its opposition, learn from it, and change tact to combat it effectively ended.
