Gaymer

Gaymer is an umbrella term used to refer to the group of people who identify themselves as gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgendered and have an active interest in the video game community (gamers).

Origin

While the exact origin of the word is unknown, the term "gaymer" has been used in casual conversation on gaming messageboards and chatrooms for some time as a way for homosexuals to distinguish themselves from straight persons within the community. The term emerged to become an accepted label used by those outside the gaming community to refer to LGBT game players.cite web |url=http://spong.com/article/10222/You%92re+a+Gaymer+-+Gay+Gamers+Surveyed?cb=993 |title=You’re a Gaymer - Gay Gamers Surveyed |accessdate= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2006-06-12 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=SPOnG |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=] The word became more prominent around the beginning of the 21st Century when the gaming community as a whole was becoming more widespread and inclusive. Because of the growing social acceptance of both gamers and homosexuals, there began to be more people who identified themselves as both, despite the common misconception that both lifestyles do not go together.Fact|date=August 2007

The term itself is a portmanteau of "gay" and "gamer", and while mostly used as a positive identifier by those within the group and their supporters, it can also be used in a derogatory fashion, similar to its root word.

Community

In 2006 a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sociological study looked at the gay gamer subgroup known as "gaymers". Amidst criticism of having "loaded questions", the study focused on the profile of a "gaymer" and concerns they have regarding the perception of them in the gaming community and visibility of gay characters in games. cite web |url=http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=7415 |title=First-ever survey of gay videogamers |accessdate= |last=Sliwinski |first=Alexander |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2006-06-10 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Washington Blade |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=] The study's author noted the level of prejudice that gaymers endure "Gay gamers experience a double edged sword of prejudice...The mainstream gay culture and media is not supportive of video games. Then you have the video game culture that is not supportive of gay culture. So you have these people stuck in the middle who have this double edged prejudice." [cite web |url=http://www.innewsweekly.com/innews/?class_code=Ga&article_code=2071 |title=Gay video game player survey |accessdate= |last=Sliwinski |first=Alexander |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2006-06-08 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=In Newsweekly |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=]

Websites

Though few actively maintained gay gaming-related websites exist, their presence on the internet has expanded in the small time they have been open to the public. The origins of such webpages can be attributed to need for gaymers to discuss their views and opinions on various topics in a gay-friendly environment, without fear of being chastised due to their sexuality. It is important to note that a "gaymer" website does not entail that it will contain homosexual material or images, rather, it almost exclusively contains information on the games themselves.

The first website oriented toward gay gamers was AllOutGames.com which started in [http://web.archive.org/web/20030217202447/www.alloutgames.com/2001_10_28_news-main.php late 2001] . It later evolved into a general game community and review site but still had many features for LGBT gamers. AllOutGames was later rolled into the broader-focused [http://homomojo.com/ HomoMojo.com] .

[http://www.iGaymer.com iGaymer] launched in June 2008 with a community-focused website featuring interviews and video profiles of self-professed gay geeks.

[http://gamers.experimentations.org/ Gamer's Experimentations] remains one of the longest-running gaymer-oriented websites. First opened in September 11, 2002 the page prides itself mostly on its expansive messageboards, while offering a good deal of game-related news information on the main page. Members of the page tend to be very active, often planning and organizing gatherings for various events in both the gaming community, such as Penny Arcade Expo and the retooled E³, and the gay community, such as Pride and the Folsom Street Fair. Some members have even organized personal parties, attracting members as far away as the UK. The site was initially meant as an umbrella of sites with a "gay twist to them", the first of which being a gaming site which to this day remains the only channel on the site. Though there was an "Anime Experimentations" site planned, it never saw the light of day. [cite web |url=http://gamers.experimentations.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8415# |title=Why is this place called Gamers Experimentations? |accessdate= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=gamers.experimentations.org |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=]

[http://www.gaymer.org Gaymer.org] , which opened in August 2003, offers video game-related news and information along with a community message board. According to the webmaster, the website came about as an alternative to the typical gaming community, which is known to contain a number of staunchly homophobic practitioners.cite web |url=http://www.gaymer.org |title=Gaymer.org main page |accessdate=2006-05-29 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=] In addition to a number of gaming reviews and articles, the website also contains information on vintage video games and consoles, particularly those made by Atari.

[http://gaygamer.net GayGamer.net] , one of the most recent addition to this field, opened on July 2, 2006 and has garnered a great deal of attention for its list of [http://gaygamer.net/index.php?s=gayest Top 20 Gayest Video Game Characters] . The blog formatted site posts daily not only on gay content within video games, but more broadly on content of interest to the gay gaming community. The site also does a weekly podcast.

ee also

* LGBT characters in video games

References

External links

* [http://www.gaymer.org Gaymer.org]
* [http://www.igaymer.com iGaymer.com]
* [http://www.gaymersurvey.org Gaymer Survey]
* [http://gaygamer.net GayGamer.net]