Twenty-year-old Dominique “SonicFox” McLean won the title of Best eSports Player and gave a heartfelt speech affirming his identity as gay, Black and … a furry.
McLean is famous not just for being an expert gamer (in fact, he’s the 15th highest paid fighting game player in the country), but for also being candid about his sexuality and SonicFox persona. He even accepted his award in his iconic Sonic suit.
Nervous, the first words out of his mouth were “I really won this s**t.”
Amid the nerves, the full-time student made it clear that he doesn’t play for fame or money.
“I kind of just enjoy the rush of beating people up,” he said, which prompted laughter from the audience.
He also referenced his $10,000 donation to close friend and fellow gamer Curtis “Rewind” McCall, whose father is currently in treatment for stage three cancer.
McLean then shouted out his team and friends before making an emboldened statement about his identity.
“As you guys also may know—or may not know—I’m also super gay,” he began. “I wanna give a super shoutout to all my LGBTQ+ friends that have always helped me through life. Obviously, I’m a furry, so shout out to the furries…. Guess all I gotta really say is I’m gay, black, a furry—pretty much everything a Republican hates—and the best esports player of the whole year I guess. Thank you so much!”
His speech, while beautifully sincere, was longer than intended. Attendees at the show could see the teleprompter telling McLean to “wrap it up.”
After his speech, McLean took to Twitter to declare that he was quite shaken up by the honor.
“Im esports player of the year!!” he tweeted to his thousands of followers. “Forgive me! I’ve never been so nervous before!! Shit was scarier than evo GF”
Forgive me! Ive never been so nervous before!! Shit was scarier than evo GF ????
— FOX | SonicFox (@SonicFox5000) December 7, 2018
You can watch McLean’s full speech here:
Blavitize your inbox! Join our daily newsletter for fresh stories and breaking news.
Now, check this out:
5 Reasons To Give The Gamer In Your Life 5 More Minutes
This Black Woman Gamer Didn't See Black People In Her Favorite Game, So She Put Them In Herself
