A CSGO pro is under fire for using a homophobic knife name

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro JiaMing “DeStRoYeR” Gu received a lot of attention during the Perfect World Asia League Summer 2020 tournament, but it wasn’t for his performance in-game.

Invictus Gaming played out a great round against D13, but it was DeStRoYeR’s knife that got commentators talking. The knife had the homophobic phrase “LGBT Slayer” written across it.

Tournament commentator Jason Kaplan grabbed a screenshot of the knife and shared the moment on Twitter. He condemned DeStRoYeR, saying only a “fucked up” person would give their knife that name. 

“I’ve seen some disgusting names for people’s skins in CSGO but this one from DeStRoYeR takes the cake,” Kaplan said. 

Some CSGO fans noted that DeStRoYeR is a Chinese player, meaning he may have not known what the phrase actually meant when he purchased it from CSGO’s marketplace. It’s possible that this was indeed the case, as Kaplan tweeted an hour later that DeStRoYeR had only borrowed the skin and wouldn’t keep using it. 

“I just hope if people aren’t sure what a knife says or means, they will look it up. Being a professional player, you are held to a higher standard and shouldn’t allow something like this to happen,” Kaplan tweeted. 

Esports host Chris Puckett chimed in at this point, stating that borrowing the knife from a “homophobic friend” doesn’t make it any better. 

“Yea, can’t say I fully believe the reasoning behind that. Feigning ignorance is BS,” Kaplan said in response. 

CSGO community reacts to homophobic language

While prominent CSGO personalities were quick to call out the professional player for sporting such a phrase during a tournament, it didn’t seem like the majority of the CSGO community were as bothered by “LGBT Slayer” name.

Some fans stated that the weapon skin shouldn’t even be allowed in Valve’s market, and that Valve should penalize DeStRoYeR for using it. But most of the players and fans responding to Kaplan’s screenshot were quick to roll their eyes at his concern. 

The Counter-Strike community mocked Kaplan, warning him not to turn on voice chat in-game since there would be similar language. Others joked that he’s never played a FPS in his life if this was enough to offend him. Some even denied that anyone could take offense to the language because it’s just “pixels on a screen.” 

This response didn’t sit well with Kaplan, who tweeted that the community’s callous towards homophobia made his skin crawl. 

There’s no question that there are toxic elements within the CSGO community. It’s hard to forget the treatment of trans player Kaitlin “Katie” Boop and all of the threads created about Katie with the intention of mocking her voice and appearance, or discussing her genitalia. Even as some work to make CSGO a more inclusive and inviting space, there remain elements of bigotry.