Where Communy Meets Indtry Jo Disrd GGP is a leadg anizatn of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr game dtry profsnals and enthiasts om around the world. Where Communy Meets IndtrySce 2006, our missn has been simple: to promote, cultivate, and une the profsnal LGBTQ+ muny wh rults-based ntent and programs foced on 4 key areas:
Contents:
- MEET THE GAYMERS: WHY QUEER REPRENTATN IS EXPLODG VIO GAM
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
- GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
- CHARL BARKLEY FENDS LGBTQIA+ MUNY, BUD LIGHT EXPLETIVE-FILLED RANT: ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, GOD BLS YOU’
MEET THE GAYMERS: WHY QUEER REPRENTATN IS EXPLODG VIO GAM
* gay gaming community *
But this is the first -person Gaymg awards, an event that celebrat queer reprentatn vio gam, and the huge and ever-growg queer muny that plays might not be what some people would thk of as the gamg dience, but the fact is that jt about everybody plays gam now – two-thirds of all Amerins, to pluck jt one stat – and of urse, queer people have always been part of that muny.
A seri like Mae Mart’s Feel Good, about a formerly straight-prentg bi woman her first relatnship wh a non-bary queer person, did not exist 1999; neher did a game like Life is Strange: Te Colors, a small-town mystery about a bisexual psychic, which picked up three aclas at the Gaymg awards. The cisn was ma durg the origal Sims’ velopment the late 90s to remove same-sex romantic teractns between characters, but they were restated by a programmer named Patrick J Barrett III – himself a gay man – who was workg om an old sign document that ma no mentn of that cisn. After two female Sims went off-script at a weddg durg a live mo of the game 1999 and started passnately makg out ont of a roomful of journalists, velopers at Maxis were wag for the sus at publisher EA to mand a change – but never happened, and so The Sims beme one of the first gam to portray homosexualy and days, the velopers workg on The Sims 4 at Maxis are much more liberately queer- and trans-clive, terg to one of the most diverse player muni vio gam.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
“I’m an openly gay man workg the gam dtry, so for me I have a vted tert greater cln not jt the gam we play, but those who make gam, ” says John Faciane, associate producer at Maxis, the Sims’ veloper.
“It is an art form that speaks to a lot of different people and backgrounds, and the more we clu all those people, the better is … A big reason that I felt fortable to e out when I did, even though I have a wonrful, supportive, lovg fay, was seeg reprentatn of gay men wh gam – knowg that there were other people out there like me. ”Asi om reprentatn wh gam themselv, the way that muni gather around gam has also been a drivg factor changg the state of play: queer gamers – or gaymers, as many playfully intify – are more visible too.
“Weirdly, when I started streamg, I never advertised that I was gay, nor mentned on stream … I quickly realised this was foolish. ”As Ben pots out, though, gamg’s general reputatn for toxicy is not entirely unjtified, and outsi explicly LGBTQ+-iendly spac there is still a lot of homophobia around. “I don’t believe ’s an overstatement to say that the gamg sector has a huge problem wh homophobia, transphobia and other forms of bigotry, but is beg tackled at all stag by publishers and velopers who don’t want their gam tated by , which is hearteng to see.
ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
Lookg around the room at the Gaymg awards, I’m surround by people whose queerns and love for vio gam are both important parts of who they are – and nowadays, they are no longer at odds.
GGP is a leadg anizatn of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr game dtry profsnals and enthiasts om around the world. This ronat wh what game signer Anna Anthropy lls “the gay button”, which is the ia that such reprentatns n be turned on or off at the whim of the player. If the player selects the rrect seri of qutns, is revealed that the hunter is gay.
Vcent and the Grenad, where gay sex is still homelsns to ongog physil and verbal abe, the gay muny the small natn of some 100, 000 people says is unr nstant threat.
GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
Vcent, anal sex is punishable by up to 10 years prison, while “gross cency” wh another person of the same sex is punishable by up to five years, acrdg to lonial-era laws that are mon the socially nservative Caribbean rarely voked, the rights group and a lol activist said the laws help legimize hostily and abe agast gay people. ”In July 2019, two gay men om St.
Vcent who are livg abroad filed a se to challenge lol laws crimalizg gay sex that activists say should be stck down. ”Human Rights Watch terviewed more than 20 members of the island’s LGBTQ muny who shared their stori but were not intified to protect them, notg that lol police are often openly discrimatory toward gay people who seek help.
One gay man relled how his classmat beat him and broke his arm. Several reported that their fai are homophobic and physilly and verbally abed them, g them to bee homels and promptg some to nsir also stggle to fd jobs amid a high unemployment rate and said they face discrimatn, cludg a 19-year-old gay man who said he has rorted to beggg: “Sometim I am so hungry.
CHARL BARKLEY FENDS LGBTQIA+ MUNY, BUD LIGHT EXPLETIVE-FILLED RANT: ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, GOD BLS YOU’
It is hard for me as a gay this untry. ”Six English-speakg natns the Caribbean still crimalize gay sex, cludg Domi, Jamai, Guyana, Grenada and St. Gonsalv prevly noted there’s been a history of discrimatn agast gay people.