Destiny

        

For other uses, see Destiny (disambiguation).

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Steven Kenneth Bonnell II (born: December 12, 1988 (1988-12-12)), better known online as Destiny, is a YouTuber and streamer known for his debates on politics, philosophy, religion, and morality. He was named by large media sites such as the New York Times for deradicalizing people from the alt-right, through his debates with large right-wing figures, such as Lauren Southern and YouTuber JonTron . He is also among the first people to stream video games online full-time.

Background

Steven Keith Bonnell II was born on December 12, 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska. He is of half Cuban-American descent (mother's side).

Content

On March 23rd 2022, Destiny was indefinitely banned from Twitch.tv for violating the site's Community Guidelines on Hateful Conduct. No specific incident was given by Twitch to justify the ban, but Destiny believes it had to do with his claim "that transwomen shouldn't compete with ciswomen in women's athletics".

Destiny played a role in the rise of Vaush and HasanAbi. Hasan lived with him for a while after he was kicked from his apartment, and Vaush was originally a fan of his and popular stream guest before starting his own streaming career. Both streamers have since distanced themselves from Destiny.

Political views

A comprehensive list of Destiny's political positions on his website. Destiny is a harsh critic of President-elect Donald J. Trump. During the 2020 election, he voiced his support for then presidential-candidate Joseph R. Biden.

COVID-19

Destiny was highly critical of Donald Trump's presidency's actions (or inaction) during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. He was also critical of Trump's use of the term "China-Virus", arguing that the term and that type of rhetoric had led to an increase of anti-Asian hate crimes within the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Voting

As a social democrat, Destiny believes that it's important for people to vote, since it is currently one of the best ways to obtain positive change. He believes it is important to "work within the current system, build coalitions with like-minded people, and vote for the best candidates (at both a local and a national level)". He supports the idea of compulsory voting.^{[citation needed]}

Transidentity

Destiny is a supporter of transgender rights/acceptance and has defended the use of puberty blockers and medical transition. However, he does want to segregate women's sports along the line of "fairness" when poverty is the biggest cause of chronic issues in the Western world, and chronic issues are the biggest killers in that same location and causes the biggest difference in performance.

The "Online Left"

Destiny is a self-described capitalist. When asked about his positions on socialism, he has stated that he isn't "married" to capitalism, but rather hasn't seen any sound arguments for whether socialism is a more effective economic system. His rejection of socialism has gotten him into several clashes with the "Online Left".

Responsible platforming

Destiny believes that most content creators have a responsibility to be informed on the topics they expose to their audience. He believes many content creators "don't read any of the material they are covering" and accuses them of being "more concerned with monetary gains, optics, and advancing their careers...".

Activism

During the 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia, Destiny organized canvassing operations with members of his community to support Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock against Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

Destiny decided to become more involved with local politics. He organized another canvassing event during the 2021 Omaha mayoral election to support candidate Mark Gudgel. However, Gudgel later removed himself from Destiny after an article was released which brought up Destiny's critiques of rioters within BLM. Destiny has addressed the controversy in a video. He called the article a "political hit-piece", accused the author of malicious reporting and being politically aligned with another mayoral candidate.

Controversies

Comments about BLM and Kyle Rittenhouse

Although he is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, comments he made during a debate with Vaush defending Kyle Rittenhouse generated controversy and criticism from the left, and claiming that the acts of violence from rioters towards private businesses were unjustified and counterproductive to the cause.

Feud with Keffals/Twitch ban

On March 22, 2022, Bonnell hosted a stream where he reacted to the Lia Thomas controversy. He criticized the notion of transgender women being in sports. Keffals would accuse him of bullying and reported him until he was banned from Twitch indefinitely, later gloating about how she "took away his primary source of income". Keffals also encouraged her fanbase to harass him and even tried to get his Twitter account banned by alerting the staff that he was using an alt account to evade his old ban. Many YouTubers such as Nicholas DeOrio, Lauren Southern and LonerBox critisized this decision because they believed that Destiny still had a right to free speech despite his opinions, as well as the fact that Destiny had been pro-LGBT in the past and there were other streamers like Hasan who did worse things and not get banned.

The harassment campaign would go as far as to blackmail his wife, telling her that if she didn't leave him, she would also be deplatformed.

Keffals later criticized Bonell for going onto cozy.tv, a website founded by Nicholas J. Fuentes. This was seen as hypocritical since he would not have streamed there if Keffals hadn't gone to extreme lengths to get him banned in the first place. Later other BreadTubers would discuss this on stream.

Trivia

• Destiny is bisexual.
• Destiny was in a polyamorous/open relationship with his ex-wife Melina.

References

Attribution

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