Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed her support for the trans community during a gaming session of Donkey Kong 64 meant to raise money for a charity.
A British YouTuber named Harry Brewis – a.k.a. "Hbomberguy" – told followers he would play the popular Nintendo 64 game from start to finish for an endurance challenge to raise money for Mermaids, a charity organization that has been targeted for a de-funding campaign by anti-trans parenting forum Mumsnet.
And when Occasio-Cortez was alerted to the demographic under attack, she was game to support a charity she strongly believes in.
She stunned viewers with her surprise participation during the live stream after whistleblower Chelsea Manning tipped the Congresswoman off about the online charity event.
The freshman Representative for New York's 14th congressional district tweeted about her participation in the live session with Brewis.
The 29-year-old Congresswoman joined Twitch – a live stream video platform run by Twitch interactive – during Brewis's 50th hour of playing time watched by 17,000 viewers, according to Broadly.
"Trans rights [are] a no brainer. Trans rights are civil rights are human rights." she said.
"We mean equal rights for all, no asterisks, no fine print, no nothing."
Brewis raised over $340,000 to help transgender children from the Twitch event and explained in a video why he chose to support Mermaids.
"I chose to support [Mermaids] because as a person living in Britain, I find the media discussion around this issue to be woefully misinformed, and I'd like to do my bit to help support the people who do the hard work of contributing to people's thinking on an issue."
Twitter user Gene Park shared the moment AOC talked about her love for Nintendo 64, despite never owning one.
But then she got into the heart of the matter and discussed the hardships faced by the trans community, including health care and housing issues.
"When you have the added layer of discrimination, it makes these issues much more acute in their crises than they usually are on average for other people. It's important that we do talk about these issues in an economic frame, but not let go of the fact that discrimination is a core reason for the economic hardship."
Park, who is an "audience editor" for The Washington Post, summed up AOC's involvement during the streaming session.
AOC mentioned her Twitch participation when LGBTQ advocate Charlotte Clymer pointed out that director Aaron Sorkin gets credited with having "gravitas."
During an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Sorkin said, "I really like the new crop of young people who were just elected to Congress," referring to the young Democratic Congresswoman, then added that young Democrats should "stop acting like young people."
Sorkin, who created the political drama, The West Wing, added:
"I think there's great opportunity here, now more than ever, for Democrats to be the non-stupid party."
On Sunday, AOC responded, tweeting, "News Flash: Medicare for All & equal rights aren't trends."
"When people complain about low turnout in some demos, it's not because communities are apathetic, it's bc they don't see you fighting for them."
"If we don't show up for people, why should you feel entitled to their vote?"
Her supporters expressed their gratitude.
In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, Cher and Chelsea Manning also helped support Mermaids.
When it comes to supporting her constituents as well as the oppressed, AOC always has her game face on.
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