In honor of Gay Pri month, we highlight a number of LGBTQI+ puter science pneers who played important rol the velopment of morn puter and software technology.
Contents:
- QUEER & NERDY: WHY YOUR STARTUP SHOULD HIRE A GAY VELOPER
- MEET THE GAYMERS: WHY QUEER REPRENTATN IS EXPLODG VIO GAM
- GAYMERX FOUNR MATT CONN SAYS VIO GAM BELONG TO EVERYONE
- GAY GEEKS - THE LGBT TECH & SOFTWARE DEVELOPER MEETUP
- BWARE LEAD WRER ON BEG GAY AND A VELOPER
- THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV
QUEER & NERDY: WHY YOUR STARTUP SHOULD HIRE A GAY VELOPER
Gay and transgenr engeers nverged on a technology nference aimed at LGBT folks hosted on the Facebook mp last weekend. Here’s why many Silin Valley pani are takg this group serly. * gay developers *
In 2014, Gair published a post on his now-removed Tumblr blog about his experience as an openly gay veloper wh the vio game dtry. The post, which outled his reer as a game veloper who happened to be gay (opposed to llg himself a “gay veloper”) brought some much-need sight to issu surroundg sexualy, genr inty, and cln wh the dtry. Bellamy posssed an tert playg sports such as soccer and football om an early age, but the self-realizatn of his homosexualy led him to feel alienated om his athletilly-cled peers, and so he sought solace sports-based vio gam stead.
In 1992, Ryan Bt beme a near-overnight (albe unrground) sensatn when he released his role-playg actn vio game, GayBla.
The game took players on a journey to feat hors of enemi which, though virtual, rembled the very real homophobic enemi of the LGBTQIA+ muny such as rednecks, skheads, and neo-nazis. The game’s fal boss was even signed, moled, and named after nservative polil mentator Pat Buchanan, who at the time was perhaps the strongt voice opposg gay rights.
MEET THE GAYMERS: WHY QUEER REPRENTATN IS EXPLODG VIO GAM
The slogan for GaymerX is “everyone gam.” That’s the msage that the “queer si of gamg” wants to nvey to everybody else who wonrs why the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ) gather each year at their own event. This muny gathers to celebrate s own culture and to… * gay developers *
Altogether, GayBla was accreded wh givg a voice, platform, and outlet to LGBTQIA+ voic a time when the fight for gay rights was still stgglg to be brought to the light of legislature. Undoubtedly, GayBla set new precents sofar as the extent that game velopers were willg to go orr to make unabashed statements regardg polics, sexualy, or genr. Eventually, after enlistg the help of the LGBTQ Vio Game Archive, the team was ntacted by Berl’s Schwul Mm who still had a py of GayBla and returned to Bt.
Together wh the Inter Archive, the LGBTQ Vio Game Archive, and the Strong Natnal Mm of Play, Bt has been able to prerve GayBla the form of both emulatn and downloadable versn of the game, makg available to players once more. Gay and transgenr engeers nverged on a technology nference aimed at LGBT folks hosted on the Facebook mp last weekend. Gay and transgenr engeers and velopers om Box, Yahoo, Square, and Facebook held a panel ssn early the first day of programmg to talk generally about Silin Valley’s attu toward LGBT folks and specifilly about their own g-out-at-work experienc.
GAYMERX FOUNR MATT CONN SAYS VIO GAM BELONG TO EVERYONE
* gay developers *
I am the only openly gay guy on my team. Why a gay v is different. And as a llege sophomore, Esposa is still high on that first taste of how the Inter n change liv and nnect people.
He’s not the stereotypil theatre gay. In other words, entreprenrs, you should hire a gay veloper bee he or she is exactly as talented, as enthiastic, and as eager to take your pany to big plac as any of his or her straight peers. But at the end of the day, you should hire a gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer, cur, or other veloper bee all the ways that matter, they’re jt like the rt of .
How to hire a gay engeer. That will always attract the bt talent, gay, straight, or otherwise. Dpe the dtry laggg behd equaly, there are a number of anizatns mted to brgg equaly to the tech dtry by creatg muni and offerg support for unrreprented trans, queer, lbian, gay, bisexual, and genr nonnformg IT workers.
GAY GEEKS - THE LGBT TECH & SOFTWARE DEVELOPER MEETUP
LGBT Rights Papua New Guea: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more. * gay developers *
This morated Slack channel is open to people who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and qutng, as well as “any of the many other subgenr of people who are not generally nsired both ‘straight’ and cis.
BWARE LEAD WRER ON BEG GAY AND A VELOPER
Out to Innovate, formerly known as the Natnal Organizatn of Gay and Lbian Scientists and Technil Profsnals (NOGLSTP), is an clive nonprof anizatn for LGBTQ+ people STEM. 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.
THE NEW ANTI-GAY BILL PROPOSED GHANA WILL DTROY LIV
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.
“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.