since brent dill is a topic of conversation again.... my firsthand experience of brent came through playing his rpg, mostly online, though we've hung out a few times irl when he was in town. the games were a good time and i feel he's always been open and honest with me, if also sometimes emotionally intense. this doesn't erase other people's experiences, but their experiences aren't mine. i don't pressure anyone else to befriend him nor to invite him to events; i wish people didn't pressure me to hate and ostracize him. in part because my impression, drawn from conversations with many rats who were there at the time, is that brent is the scapegoat for widespread bad behavior in the bay area rat scene before his ouster, and i think the ongoing campaign against him is in part to prevent him from being taken seriously when he talks about other people's misdeeds.
if anyone has questions or wants to chat about brent, i'm very willing to DM at more length
to step back from describing my experience of brent to my broader opinion- i think the more detailed firsthand accounts of people's grievances with brent are generally in good faith and i'm glad they are easily googled if someone is considering putting brent in a position of trust or getting into a relationship with him. i also think it's fine and maybe wise for any individual to choose not to associate with him and for event organizers to exclude him from their events- especially those involving kink or vulnerability or teens. what i object to is the mob mentality actively pursuing him and anyone who associates with him when there have been no new accusations for many years. imo he should be allowed to accrue reports of better behavior from those willing to interact with him so his reputation can slowly update towards the new record alongside his older history, creating an incentive for brent to avoid causing new harm.