Meet Minecraft YouTuber Mysticat – the non-binary gaming superstar you might not have heard of

Mysty McAllister is better known as Mysticat on YouTube, where they have amassed almost two million followers. Best known for making bizarre creations in Minecraft, she uses a cartoon cat as her profile picture so no one (so far) knows what she looks like.

Mysticat, who has played Minecraft since 2009 – with their first video garnering more than a million views in the first 24 hours – identifies as non-binary and uses she/they pronouns.

In a YouTube live stream with HealthyGamerGG, she explained that she is an “androsexual demi-girl,” which means she is “non-binary, somewhere in the middle between male and female, but slightly on the feminine side” and is sexually attracted to men.

When did Mysticat come out?

Mysticat came out online as an androsexual demi-girl last year, but told her family that she’s gay because “they won’t know what those terms mean”. She grew up in a religious household and says that she is religious herself.

“I had been afraid there would be issues because my family is religious and it doesn’t always go over well in those situations. It took me a long time to get the courage… but once I did, it was a big relief that I could start being myself.

“Coming out to my family did go well. It all went super nice, it was super happy, there were no issues,” they explained in their chat with HealthyGamerGG.

Mysticat also explained that she had known about about her sexuality for nine years but has only been figuring out her gender identity in the past few years. She had to date people in secret growing up and wouldn’t mention anything relating to the LGBTQ+ community for fear of her family finding out.

They felt they needed to come out to their family after coming out online and receiving invitations for brand deals and collaborations relating to the LGBTQ+ community and Pride Month.

“My family is into my YouTube stuff. They watch all my videos, so I went to them and told them that I got these amazing opportunities… I said I wanted them to hear it from me, not them,” she said.

How did Mysticat become popular?

Mysticat’s videos about Minecraft are extremely popular and have even been referred to by Minecraft itself.

Her most notable video is one in which she created a perfect circle in vanilla Minecraft without any kind of mods. It was celebrated in many gaming-related news websites, including PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, NME, Cracked and Nerdist.

Mysticat’s follower-count skyrocketed in 2021 after they were mentioned in a video by PewDiePie, one of the most popular YouTubers on the platform. Although YouTube is her main platform, she also has an account on Twitch, with more than 30,000 followers.

Has it been difficult for Mysticat to be a non-binary content creator?

Mysticat has received harassment online for their sexuality and gender identity. She has a list of words that are blocked on her channels – if you use them, your comment is automatically blocked.

“I just ignore [the harassment]. If you try to talk back to people who [are] harassing you, it’s just going to make it worse. Sometimes it can [hurt but] it’s not a big deal, I don’t let it ruin my day or anything,” they said.

“People just don’t know. There’s a natural human fear of the unknown – if you see something that is weird to you, you’re going to make fun of it. Maybe they have a fear of themselves. You never know someone’s story.”