Thank you to everyone who has signed and shared this petition. We are encouraged by the continued discussion and the demonstration that the pinball community is committed to fighting for its members. My heart is gladdened to see how many people consider this community worth protecting and fighting for. Your voices are making a difference, but we must keep the pressure up. The response from the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA) since the controversy at the OBX Fall Flippers event has been profoundly disappointing and has inflicted further harm on the community members directly impacted.

IFPA Leadership Uses Deflection to Silence Dissent
Instead of offering accountability or a dignified response to the community members seeking justice, IFPA leadership has responded with tactics of silence and emotional manipulation.

1. Delays and Tone Policing
After releasing the initial statement on November 13, 2025 at 1:30, IFPA could reasonably expect that affected members would flock to the discord seeking clarification and engagement.  Despite knowledge of their own Women’s Board unanimously opposing this decision, no effort was made to monitor and respond to the available channels for discussion. The IFPA left the impacted players at OBX in isolation and failed to acknowledge their stated distress until November 15 at 8:24 a.m. In his statement, The IFPA President attempted to deflect from the issue of organizational accountability by introducing his adolescent child into the public discourse and then asked for further commentary to be done "respectfully," knowing his teen would continue to read the channel.

The request for "respect" is the first example of the attempts to silence the victims and allies by using a child as an emotional shield. Secondly, individuals who were targeted with threats of police violence have every right to be upset and angry. Implying that the conversation must be "respectful" relies on the old trope that those who are harmed must be perfectly calm and rational for their points to be relevant. This is tone policing, plain and simple. That said, the community conversation on Discord was overwhelmingly respectful and kind, even when navigating significant differences in opinion and interpretation of IFPA policies. Mr. President passed up the opportunity for his teen to witness their father demonstrate integrity by standing up for trans women or following IFPA’s own gender inclusion policy from February of this year.

Everyone deserves empathy and respect; the people who most need to have their voices heard and counted are the trans and gender diverse members who experienced this first hand. IFPA’s narrative refocuses attention and sympathy onto their leadership, minimizing the harm done to the trans community. It also completely undermines their own policies and has destroyed any trust or credibility within the pinball community at large. By refusing to remove the WPPRs awarded for the OBX event, IFPA demonstrates that they will not follow their own explicitly written policies.

2. The Discord Shutdown
Despite Mr. President's statement, "I do not mind the continued online discourse about this topic. Keeping the light shining on this topic reflects the importance it deserves," the opportunity to discuss this matter within the IFPA Discord was revoked by  Mr. IFPA Director on 6:28 PM the same day. This action, in direct contradiction with Mr. President's earlier statement  destroyed the chance for individuals physically present at OBX to share their experience and engage with players globally about the situation. This has robbed people of the dignity of a direct response.

 
The discord channel closure was enforced through an immediate ban on all discussion of the event, citing "safety concerns" related to reports of alleged ‘swatting’ and ‘doxxing’. The alleged "doxxing" incident involved posting the publicly available social media information of an individual in an attempt to seek clarification. Upon being alerted that this action potentially violated the server's rule, the poster immediately offered to remove the post. It does not appear the IFPA conducted an investigation on this matter before electing to first unilaterally ban the user seeking clarification and then capitalizing on the situation by silencing all community dissent on this matter under the guise of a ‘safety’ concern. The banned user did not receive communication from IFPA nor any information about their recourse. The swiftness of the ban (within one hour of the alleged ‘doxxing’ incident) and lack of transparency appear to be little more than an attempt by IFPA leadership to utilize a technical violation to silence a community. The ban further represents a willingness to apply the rules to the fullest extent when it protects the emotional comfort of those in power while refusing to do the same to intervene against violent transphobia to protect the safety and inclusion of our more marginalized and disenfranchised members within our collective hobby.

Our pinball community is reeling from collective trauma and our shared online community has effectively been silenced by the threat of a permanent ban. Shame on the IFPA leaders. The decision to immediately shut down the conversation and their ongoing refusal to meaningfully engage with the community’s legitimate demands sends a clear message about whose comfort and safety are valued most within IFPA leadership.

Why Your Voice Matters Now
This is not just about a single tournament; it is about the collective culture and heart of our pinball community. The IFPA's choice to shift blame and silence our trans and gender diverse members sends a clear message that they are unwilling to meaningfully insist on trans inclusion or follow and enforce their own written rules and policies. While I want to acknowledge that our IFPA leaders can choose to continue to ignore our voices, our actions now matter regardless as we’re signalling to the collective pinball community that we’re willing to insist on an inclusive culture.

We require your voice and continued support to demand:

1. Accountability from the IFPA for the mishandling of the event;
   The IFPA immediately reverse its 'final' decision to sanction the OBX 2025 results;
2. Commitment to ongoing dialogue with the community regarding player safety and meaningful participation;  
3. The IFPA leadership amiably accept different opinions and perspectives from the community through encouraging and promoting conversations in the Discord server, social media, or other forums without fear of retribution or censorship; and,
4. The Women’s Advisory Board be given the authority  to make independent decisions in relation to IFPA directives and events (Open and Women’s) that most affect players who identify under the broad IFPA definition of womanhood.

The time to demonstrate that you are willing to stand up for your trans members is now. We are asking every ally to talk about this in their local leagues, their Discord servers, and their tournaments. Please share this petition as much as possible and keep talking about this issue. What happens next is crucial in terms of how we show our trans, non-binary, and gender diverse pinball members that they are truly welcome and valued in our scene. Keep the pressure up!  We may not be able to do much about the IFPA directors but we can show meaningful solidarity and I believe in us.