GLaDOS and TF2's Sniper Support GaymerCon

[The Wooster]

...mildly terrifying support to an upcoming convention for LGBT geeks.

And for my dick-move of the day, I'll point out that you forgot a letter in the homosexual alliance acronym, Grey. Evidently they've gone ahead and added a "Q" onto the end which wikipedia defines as being "Queer" or "Questioning". Personally I'd have to hope it's the latter as the former seems like a derogatory name for homosexuals in general.

Queer isn't a derogatory term, at least not any more. It's actually more inclusive, since it refers to pretty much every orientation you can imagine. As for LGBT, yeah, some people add the Q and some people insist on the full LGBTQA. Given my propensity for typos, you're lucky I didn't spell it BLT.

 

[Bigsmith]

Why is an entire con needed for this, surly something done at a larger con where everyone goes will reach out to more people then those who already support the LGBT people within the gaming community.

And what exactly is wrong with doing a con aimed at a specific community, but not exclusive to it?

There isn't anything wrong with it, I'm not condoning it from happening, I just don't see the point where there are other options available that don't make it look like we're applying labels to people, just like what's happen with Girl Gamers, a label has been applied to a group of people who are, at the end of the day, ordinary games.

The article mentions the fact that it's about creating a place for people, regardless of gender, sexuality or race, that is safe, open and tolerant. In gaming culture, the audience seems to be primarily straight men, so having a convention highlighting the other members of the community seems reasonable to me. I don't understand the negative reaction.

But the Cons that already exist aren't aimed at Strait males, they are aimed at the gaming community as a whole. And when it comes to safety and tolerant people then all I can assume is that it must be really bad at other cons to require a separate con.

Why? You expect people to just throw in gay characters just to please an audience that last time I heard... oh wait I haven't, and that's the point.

No. I don't expect that at all. But it would be nice for game developers to create real characters with depth rather than the stereotypes and the 'pandering to teenage boys' characters when it comes to dealing with with these issues. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Look, although I'll struggle to find a character that's been well padded out that's a member of the LGBT community all I can say is keep an eye out on the indie market. There is a higher chance you'll find one where stock holders don't exist then you will where they do.

Aside from that all I can say is to give it time, if we rush them they'll do it wrong in the eyes of many people and will just cause more problems. We need them to develop it at their own speeds other wise all you'll get is an overly stereotypical Gay man that has about as much depth as a puddle.

As I said in my previous response, if they are looking at a way to increase awareness towards how people in the LGBT community are treated within the gaming community then this con will not do anything as the only people who will turn up will be people with the LGBT community or those within the LGBT community.

 

[RatRace123]

I'm just gonna throw what Jim Sterling said in here.

http://www.destructoid.com/the-importance-of-a-gay-gamer-convention-232467.phtml

Pretty much my view on the thing.

This guy, or well, these guys (both Jim and Irridium) know where it's at.

This type of event is very much a good thing, and saying "well what about all the other cons", they are for straight white men. OK "for" isn't a good term but they represent what is and has always been gaming's biggest market, other people are certainly welcome, but it's not directed towards them.

So we have a con that skews towards a different audience, it doesn't deny entrance to anyone else, but it focuses on targeting a different group. A group that can still get a lot of hatred and bile thrown at them to this very day; and hell, a large group of dickshits across the country celebrated Chik-fil-a day, which they did by essentially celebrating homophobia. If we still live in a world where that can happen and not be met with the utter scorn that it deserves, then I see no harm in Gaymercon happening.

It's not even about segregation; if it were, then only gay gamers would be allowed. I see it as being more about unity than anything else, it's helping to widen marketing demographics and making the gaming landscape more hospitable to everyone, which I am all about.

Were it not coming up so soon and were I not all the way on the other side of the country, I would gladly attend myself.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I can understand folks of the "Rainbow Armada" as I affectionately like to call them (LBGTQ.... Acronym is way to long, you see)wanting to have a con to discuss games and hook up. That makes sense, who doesn't want to get together to nerd out and fuck? But doing it for the purpose of Pride means only doing it with the intention of pissing off the bigots.

I bolded the portion that threw me. What in the world gave you the idea that Pride is only about pissing bigots off?

A lot of gay people still need to either hide who they are, or at least avoid bringing it up in professional situations. I'm a teacher - but I don't feel comfortable saying "I'm a bisexual" in a classroom because I don't want a parent complaining and getting me fired.

When I go to a Pride event, I don't need to worry about that. I can just be me. Pride events are about not having to hide who you are and just relaxing.

And no, you can't do that everywhere. Gay Pride may seem "outdated" on the internet, but that's because anyone can say anything on the internet and be safe. One of the reasons I post on the internet is because I can be myself here - which is nice. I go to Pride events for the same reason.

In the real world, it's still pretty hard to be gay. It's getting easier, for sure, and the internet is a great help, but that doesn't mean that we don't like having somewhere to let down our hair and just be ourselves.

And yeah, having the chance to, as you put it, "nerd out and fuck" is awesome! That's still the best reason for GaymerCon right there - to party and have a good time!

 

[dnazeri]

Always good to give the LGBT community support, in anyway possible. They have enough social factors working against them, so I'm glad to see stuff like this happening.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I'm just gonna throw what Jim Sterling said in here.

http://www.destructoid.com/the-importance-of-a-gay-gamer-convention-232467.phtml

Pretty much my view on the thing.

Short version: This is a good thing. There isn't really a reason to oppose it. You may as "but what about straight people?" Well, assuming you actually ask that with a straight face, my reply is "E3, PAX, Comic-con, and all other game conventions ever." This is a convention that's aimed at LGBT people. E3, PAX, and everything else is aimed at straight white male people. And before you ask, yes, a convention for every other minority would also be a good thing. Who would it hurt? Nobody's forcing you to go, or to support it, or anything. And it's still open to straight white males, it's just a convention that's not specifically aimed at you. If you really can't deal with that... then you've got problems.

The fact that many people seem against this is... disheartening.

Quoted for truth.

**high fives Irridium**

Great article. I should have known Jim would be putting in his support.

Also, well stated 'short version'.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I can understand folks of the "Rainbow Armada" as I affectionately like to call them (LBGTQ.... Acronym is way to long, you see)wanting to have a con to discuss games and hook up. That makes sense, who doesn't want to get together to nerd out and fuck? But doing it for the purpose of Pride means only doing it with the intention of pissing off the bigots.

I bolded the portion that threw me. What in the world gave you the idea that Pride is only about pissing bigots off?

A lot of gay people still need to either hide who they are, or at least avoid bringing it up in professional situations. I'm a teacher - but I don't feel comfortable saying "I'm a bisexual" in a classroom because I don't want a parent complaining and getting me fired.

When I go to a Pride event, I don't need to worry about that. I can just be me. Pride events are about not having to hide who you are and just relaxing.

And no, you can't do that everywhere. Gay Pride may seem "outdated" on the internet, but that's because anyone can say anything on the internet and be safe. One of the reasons I post on the internet is because I can be myself here - which is nice. I go to Pride events for the same reason.

In the real world, it's still pretty hard to be gay. It's getting easier, for sure, and the internet is a great help, but that doesn't mean that we don't like having somewhere to let down our hair and just be ourselves.

And yeah, having the chance to, as you put it, "nerd out and fuck" is awesome! That's still the best reason for GaymerCon right there - to party and have a good time!

Okay, your right in the sense that yeah actually being who you are will really fuck up your life in terms of employment and shit because not jobs out there, ya know?

And this is really nit picky, but in America at least you CAN go out there and be yourself. One has to be prepared for the unintended consequences of it, sure, but part of living free is knowing accepting those risks and doing it anyway. Can't sacrifice safety and security in the name of freedom.

I'm not being dense. I imagine it must be horrifying to be gay in the south or along the bible belt. Each day living in a version of Kevin Smith's film "RED STATE". I'm just point out you could do it if you chose to.

Almost (not nearly, at all, really... actually the following is a stupid argument and you should ignore it.) the same thing... Started a internet review show, and I agonized over the decision to do it because of the consequences, the idea of possibly being attacked by anonymous people on the internet, exposure of the skeletons in my closet from my youth, possibly getting fired from my day job... Did it anyway. Gotta live free or the terrorists win.

That's why I don't understand the con as a political statement. I think it's great for it to exist for people of the same subculture to get together chit-chat, make friends and what not, to let everyone "put their hair down" as it were.... But doing it under the guise that it's some sort of political or social movement seems counter productive to me.

but it's just this one man's opinion, and I really don't have anything emotionally invested in who or what other people fuck so long as it's legally consensual.

 

[piinyouri]

As a gay person, I think this is stupid.


"Treat us as equals while we do things that separate us into 'us and them'.

Parades in my mind are bad for this same reason.

I thought I'd re-iterate this point because it's very relevant IMO. Could I ask you to go into more detail about your thoughts on this, and your thoughts on online harassment.

I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure what you mean.
Could you be more specific?
'Thoughts on this' meaning the gay game convention, or pride parades?
And what do you mean by online harassment? Here, on the internet, or in games?

 

[RJ 17]

...mildly terrifying support to an upcoming convention for LGBT geeks.

And for my dick-move of the day, I'll point out that you forgot a letter in the homosexual alliance acronym, Grey. Evidently they've gone ahead and added a "Q" onto the end which wikipedia defines as being "Queer" or "Questioning". Personally I'd have to hope it's the latter as the former seems like a derogatory name for homosexuals in general.

Queer isn't a derogatory term, at least not any more. It's actually more inclusive, since it refers to pretty much every orientation you can imagine. As for LGBT, yeah, some people add the Q and some people insist on the full LGBTQA. Given my propensity for typos, you're lucky I didn't spell it BLT.

Heh heh, like I said, I was just being a bit of a dick, didn't mean anything serious about it. Keep doin' what you're doin', I really enjoy your work.

 

[DEAD34345]

While I've not exactly got anything against the idea, it seems more than a little bit pointless to me. Other than games which specifically use sex appeal in order to promote themselves, sexuality has nothing at all to do with gaming, or gaming conventions. As far as I can tell, a gay person who went to a convention would have pretty much the same experience as a straight person who went to the same convention, so what's the need in spending a ton of money an a wholly separate one?

What I mean is, gay/bisexual/etc people are not fundamentally different from straight people in areas other than sexuality, so other than in that one area they should not be treated differently. Implying that gay people need their own special separate conventions is only going to promote discrimination due to sexuality, which I highly doubt is the intention of the people who are setting this up.

 

[DugMachine]

Aw I wish he had stayed true to the sniper voice a bit better. Still a cool idea nonetheless. This isn't segregation it's just a safe haven for the gay gaming community. I see no problem in that.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Hey this is a great idea separating gamers like it's the 1950's all over again. Why not have a White GamerCon as well, a Black GamerCon.

This is retarded and stupid in all honestly because one your separating yourselves while at the same time demanding respect (Ask my parents how well that worked when blacks where separated from the whites), and it more or less gives people who hates gay a place to go protest putting a damn target on your backs.

 

[ResonanceSD]

The con "welcomes people of all genders, races and sexual identities."
Did nobody read this?

I think the majority of the complaints are due to the name, which precludes even this quote. Instead of calling it something else, they've specifically gone for the "GAY" angle. Which is fine, just comes across as exclusionary.

 

[MrBenSampson]

I think Captain Hero said it best.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

Do gay folk really need it to be called Gaymercon to feel welcome?

Have you ever played COD with voice chat on?
It makes sense! Its a gathering for people who have similarities. Like most cons.

 

[wrightguy0]

I can understand this, because there are a lot of racist/intolerant/homophobic/misogynist man children (and children) in the gaming community and any one who's played online will know, and have wished for a place in the community where assholes like that are personae non grata

 

[JSoup]

Oh, goody, another "hook up" type convention. World could always use more of those.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

Welp! This is probably one of the stupidest Kickstarter projects I've seen since BronyCon The Documentary.

I mean, why is this necessary? Why would you deliberate segregate yourself when at other gaming conventions gay people are nothing resembling shunned or mocked. This con is absolutely pointless in every sense of the word. Having pride in your sexual orientation is all well and good but I fail to see how it relates to games in any significant capacity, it's just a really really pointless thing to do.

I hate the fact that someone put this forward, I hate the fact that big name people like Ellen McLain voiced their support of this rampant stupidity and I hate the fact that enough people funded this so that it's actually to come to fruition rather than just being a stupid idea that gets passed on like a whisper in the night. Well done, you collective bunch of idiots, you've effectively wasted upwards of twenty five thousand dollars on something with basically no point or impact on anything as a whole.

What a colossal waste of time, effort, talent and money.

captcha: Three short words. I shall oblige then captcha: This is stupid.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Do gay folk really need it to be called Gaymercon to feel welcome?

Have you ever played COD with voice chat on?
It makes sense! Its a gathering for people who have similarities. Like most cons.

And if I made one called hetrogamercon people would be fine with it because all the people would have something in common? That's fair right?

 

[Redryhno]

While I don't have a problem with the thought of "Gaymers" having a place where they aren't attacked for their strange preferences(I'm a straight white male, I have the right to say that and nothing you say can stop me!*cue angry rebuttals*) this just seems like a big "FUCK YOU, I'M GAY AND I'M SPECIAL! YOU GUYS WERE MEAN TO ME AND NOW I'M GOING OFF TO MAKE MY OWN CON WHERE I'M JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, WHERE THERE'S EQUALITY!MEANIE-HEADS!"

That being said, making a Con specifically tailored to a specific sexual demographic is segregation, not equality. The few of you ranting about it being all about being completely accepted and nothing else need to get off the computer and go spend some time with people. People are dicks, assholes, cunts,(am I missing any specific derogatory slur?) and they'll do whatever it takes to get what they want, for the most part. We've all been that guy, don't lie to yourself. And this all just seems like any parade for any event in the history of people. It gives basically the same message too, the all-caps thing up there kinda does what I'd do here if I hadn't already typed it.

And again, the day I can make a con specifically tailored for blonde haired, green eyed, conservative, lighter skinned christians with a penchant for sadism and hate, accept donations from gays(it's a catchall term, get over it, I'm lazy and don't particularly care about specifics because that's all there is around where I live) but bar them from entering, and not be demonized for it, is the day we'll actually be equal. Sure it keeps some people out, but that just means the guys inside aren't harassed for their views. And that's a good thing, right? Basically the same situation here imo. Minus the barring people out, but that'll probably happen anyways. Maybe not physically, but socially I wouldn't be surprised. The gay community is just as prejudiced as the rest of the world, they're gay people, not black furred polar bears from Dimension X with baby corpses as anklets.

Captcha: People like me....quite a few less after they read this I'll bet.