GaymerX2

[Lien]

Just wanted to point out that the kickstarter for GaymerX2, the LGBT friendly gaming convention, is about to end and you can still donate to it and get the discounted badge pledge (the 20$ and 10$ discounted one are sold out, you can still get the 5$ one for 65 bucks).

If ya plan to be in SF this summer, ya got 4 hours left to get the cheaper badge before it'll go back to its regular 75 bucks price. And if ya do get it in anyway, let's met up!

Edit: forgot the link! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaymercon/gaymerx2-everyonegames.
Also, 3 hours left.

 

[Sourdeez]

Sometimes I think I want to create a parody . StraightmerX
I wouldn't really want to focus on the basis of gender or sexual orientation for a gaming convention.

I understand some gamers face discrimination and thankfully "Straight allies are absolutely welcome!"
I think you should donate if you support it. I just find the concept a little bit silly.

 

[Lien]

"Why isn't there a white history month?" "Why isn't there an international day for MEN?" "Why isn't there a straight parade?" "We are all human beings, there's no need to add a ledge here with your personal issues!" :roll: We hear this every time in SF by outsiders, there is no need to add it here too.

What's sillier then a gay and trans friendly convention, soudeez, are big conventions that claims to be "open for all" but just don't treat LGBT people the same respect as straight cis people or flat out ignore when they are mistreated or harassed. Or speakers that claim they "respects the gays" but then will say the LGBT community isn't that significant for the video game industry and they need to shut up as the audience cheer before them like some sort of Televangelist rally. Meanwhile, that one nerdy gay kid in the sitting row among the clapping hands will feel as foreign there as he is walking down the street of his bible belt hometown. Quite frankly, I got enough of witnessing second class nerds being asked to shut up so the real nerds can disrespect them properly.

All we backers want is a convention where people just don't throw the word "Fag" around like it's a used condom. A place where people just don't laugh at transgenders behind their back or get outraged or roll their eyes when they see their gay fan art. A place where when you tell people to use your prefer pronoun, they will actually respect that right away instead of asking "Why" and laugh at your face. A place where game makers can show off their LGBT games without making it a "political issue". We just want a place where Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Pansexuals just come together and share their passions about video game without hiding their identity in fear of reprisal and public shame or without being stated their sexual orientation is something "exceptional". We are fed up of hearing "Why?", we want people to just answer "Yes!". Apparently, asking for all that is too much for any regular convention. If to achieve that place we gotta make our own convention, GaymerX, then by the vogue queens of Paris is burning we will make this happen!

For me, it doesn't sound silly. It sounds like a dream finally coming true! Last year it happen without a hitch with lots of support from big game developers and celebrities speakers. Quite frankly, i want it to happen every year!

 

[Sourdeez]

I still hold that it seems silly, including that things have gotten so bad that it is necessary. Which can be agreed on that it is necessary. Thinking something is silly doesn't always mean you think it is wrong.

This is the U.S. Freedom of speech and expression means everyone can have a convention so long as you don't hurt anyone. If people want to see the convention yearly, I hope they donate, continue to attend, and contribute.



I don't find anything wrong with the idea for a international day for men.
I will leave this thread now. Best of luck.

 

[Lien]

It's silly it has to happen, I agree with you here. But it's not just cause things are bad, it's mostly cause people just don't want to see the issues. They actually think everything is fine and the LGBT community are just "full of it" and want to cause drama.

And trust me on this, this got nothing to do with Freedom of speech. We've been calling out the bulls*** in conventions and talk panels for 2 decades now and we still are shrugged off to the side by the gaming community. This is our response to people protecting their "freedom to remain ignorant". The same ignorance that's been hurting all of us as much if not more then actual homophobes and transphobia. Last year, there was a panel at GaymerX trying to figure out why the gaming media just ignores the LGBT gamer issues. What was said there was pretty insightful. I hope we'll tackle more on this this year cause talks like these could be our way to make a safe and respected environment everywhere else.

 

[madster111]

Is everything not fine in the US or something?

Because if all i had to go on was what i've seen at gaming shit locally, the general consensus for LGBT is a resounding 'whatever' and then people continue to pretend to be polite while waiting to try out the latest console/games. There's no 'HAHAHA! LOOK AT THE GAY' or any of that bullshit. I was under the impression that the US was like that these days too.

 

[Green_Lantern]

No, that's exactly the way it is here.

 

[used44]

I'll say again that I think "gaymer" is a super unfortunate moniker. I have a pet peeve for forced portmanteau words in general, and that is an especially ugly one. I'm surprised that's what they named the convention.

I think the con is cool though. I hope if it gets funded that GR covers it and participates in it as much as last year.

 

[used44]

Lien, what reality do you live in dude?

Or speakers that claim they "respects the gays" but then will say the LGBT community isn't that significant for the video game industry and they need to shut up as the audience cheer before them like some sort of Televangelist rally.

I'd love to see video or transcription of this.

 

[Lien]

Seriously guys? Welp, before i head to sleep, here is a small list of (some still touchy today) subjects regarding LGBT issues within the gaming community and industry from 2009 to 2014:

Jamie Durran's lawsuit against Microsoft's staff homophobic behavior, The PA guys and their numerous transphobic remarks online and on their talk panel still defended by their fans (and no, not talking about the dickwolves, they got a bigger rep sheet then that), The Pax's "Diversity lounge", the 2011's Blizzcon controversy, The Old republic "gay world" controversy, Dragon crown's art director calling his critics who pointed out his women designs as "men lover" (and even gave to a kotaku writer some art of naked dwarves as a "gift"), Various Indie dev's sexuality and transgender identity put to question and humiliation when a controversy is set around them like for some of the people behind gone home and depression quest, same goes for reviewers like Carolyn Petit, the oh-so-many online gamer behavior when someone gets outed as LGBT during matches and the lack of punishment afterward that still continues to this day despite the effort to prevent this, the banning of players if their name has "homosexual influence" (People can say F** and C***sucker online and just get muted but they can't have "homo" or "gay" in their name because children), and so much more... All that is just in the gaming community and industry. Yes i am aware most of these got addressed at the previous GaymerX and got resolved with a sincere apology, still doesn't change that it still happened and gets repeated under different names again and again to this day.

And i am being nice here too cause i could also add in popular anti-LGBT flash games, Blog sites that is linking Bioware's LGBT subject as the reason for their downfall while calling for people to sign a petition to fire the gay writers and the various LGBT convention goers' testimony of how they got humiliated and harassed at PAX, E3 and comicon. But apparently, that last part doesn't count cause Blog-sites are too personal to be counted as news. Just like how i am not saying my own personal experience i witnessed in conventions and gaming stores over here in the U.S and in Europe(My god Europe has A LOT OF CRAP in the same regard too, don't you dare dismiss it) cause i got dismissed as a guy who bring controversies when i bring that up online or in public. No, not talking here at GR, you guys are honestly really nice <3 . But fellas, really, just because you saw some gay guys being shy about their gaming purchase and quickly leave the store without saying a word, doesn't mean everything is ok in the gaming world for him. I am not living in my own reality, people just live in a bubble and can't take the issue seriously for being ignorant it existed in the first place. Not blaming the victim for being quiet, just the people spectating the horrors in silence.

All that and i am not even touching on how LGBT are presented in video games (You know, S*** like this or this blast from the past)

Look seriously here, i mean didn't you guys really not know about any of this or are you just too lazy to look it up yourself? Did you even just google "Homophobia/Transphobia in gaming community" or just went to Gamepolitics.com and just look up the subject tab for "LGBT issues"? Or heck, went to any big gaming site and search that subject there? Kotaku? IGN? Gamasutra? Joystick?
Or how about gay friendly sites like Gaygamer.net or The Border House? Or even just freaking GLAAD? (i recommend this link but it's pretty long and from 2009)
Like do you all think LGBT gamer are ok with the situation right now? From what i personally saw, it seriously needs more work even with all the progress made recently. Heck, even workers from big companies like EA, Microsoft and Ubisoft agrees on that too. Some of these guys even received awards for their LGBT contribution in both their games and workplace and they still continue to say everyone needs to do more! Sorry gang, things are not ok. GaymerX needs to happened with or without your approval of its name and quite frankly, i am fed up for apologizing on behalf of other people's bigot behavior.

And used, there is too many for me to list and make a brief recount where a crowed laughs and applauded at homophobic/transphobic remarks made from the host both online and in public in regards to LGBT issues, but some events i saw developed as it happened on top of my head: The spike awards' "Wario has not undergone sex reassignment surgery" joke, Comic-con's onstage sexual and homophobic harassment of MariNaomi (though that last one was at a comic talk panel but i was there when it happened in San Diego, didn't know it was an issue till it was brought up)... Oh and this gem from PAX about a panel that got taken down just in time but then Mike Krahulik had to open his mouth and well... just read the article.

 

[used44]

I did know of a few of the examples you linked, especially the Mike Krahulik stuff as I've kept a pretty close eye on the controversies surrounding PA.

But you can't just make stuff up.

The stuff I didn't know about, I'm glad you're sharing (well, not you, I think you're an unreadable blowhard), but I'm glad GaymerX can be at the forefront of bringing these issues to the spotlight. If it becomes an annual event, then it gets more coverage by the larger news outlets.

 

[C_nate]

Gaming and society in general has been a lot better towards the LGBT crowd than it has been in the past. That is not to say that there isn't more progress to be made. There is always going to be a segment of people that are never going to be ok with it. Just like there is always going to be a segment of people that are racist or homophobic or misogynistic or xenophobic or in some cases, all of the above.

So these types of things are like safe havens for the people attending where they can just be themselves and not have to worry about what other people are going to think or say.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

But you can't just make stuff up.

Why not?

 

[madster111]

I'd love to go along with some of your points, lien, but for your side of the case you posted a link to 'badtransjokes.tumblr.com'
I can find offensive shit for any demographic i want, too. Doesn't mean there's a massive issue surrounding it that's so bad it needs a big-ass convention.

Why not have specific zones around other places like E3 and pax and shit to talk about this issue? Wouldn't that sorta thing, making regular con goers stop and think about it, be a better tactic to take?

Look seriously here, i mean didn't you guys really not know about any of this or are you just too lazy to look it up yourself? Did you even just google "Homophobia/Transphobia in gaming community" or just went to Gamepolitics.com and just look up the subject tab for "LGBT issues"?

Why would i bother to do any of that? Why go out of my way to search around to see if there's an issue present? If there was one, you'd think people wouldn't need to go to gay-specific gamer sites or fucking tumblrs to find out about it.
I don't go out of my way to check out all the disabled-based gamer sites out there. I'm sure there's tons of people fuming about the portrayal of people in wheel chairs or with mental disabilities in video games, does that make us lazy for not wanting to out of our way to check out their concerns? Does that make their concerns any less relevant?


The biggest problem with all this is bunching LGBT people all into 1 group, because then suddenly we have way too many issues to try and deal with at the same time. Are we talking about gay people getting shit at conventions, which i know for a fucking fact isn't a thing, or are we talking about transsexuals getting shit which is quite possibly an issue and needs to be addressed?