EDUMACATE ME: What is the point/whats different about of Gay Video Game cons?

[Dragonbums]

Never been to one, but one would assume it's the same only that most of the people there are gay.

 

[Vigormortis]

Gaymer Con exists for the same reason just about any convention exists. It's a place for like-minded people to come together and celebrate the opinions/feelings/ideologies/experiences they all share.

The only real question is to what degree is any given convention inclusive. If it's all inclusive, there's no issue. If it actively discourages or blocks people from getting in, then there's an issue.

Gaymer Con sits firmly in the former camp. So there's really no reason to complain about it. And there's certainly no reason to be "confused" by it's existence.

Or, to put it another way....

Cause they just wanna hang out with other gay people...mabye even meet some, it's nice to have a place where you are the default

Same reason "geeks" like to have a place to talk about all their geek related stuff

I like to attend LGBT events at my university from time to time, not necessarily because I feel massively discriminated against elsewhere, but because it's just... well... nice to be in an environment where you're "normal" for once. Even as someone who's not immediately visually identifiable as LGBT, the feeling exists.

It's the same feeling I get when I go to a heavy metal fetival or a geeky event. It's refreshing.

So if people want to combine a couple of elements to get a double dose of that feeling by holding a con for gay gamers, or I don't know, putting on an all-black stage show or a women's yoga class, I don't see the problem. It's not like gay gamers aren't also going to be going to regular cons, so the "segregation" argument falls flat.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Gay characters like Commander Sheppard? Or Gay characters like the living sterotypes I see on the Bravo Network?

What makes Shepard acceptable to most people is that his sexuality is the player's choice, you're not forced to go gay. I don't even know what Bravo Network is.

Forcing "the gay" in a big budget/mass marketed game is going to get you some serious backlash.

Allowing the choice, not so much.

See Saints Row 3 for one of the most open and free ones.

I can't think of many super stereotypical/negative gay characters in recent gaming, I'm sure they exist, but I can't think of one off-hand. I think I'd have to go back to a 90s JRPG or something, maybe one of you can jog my memory, or maybe I just don't play the games/genres where it comes up, oh wait I think one of the bad guys in Guilty Gear X is gay, don't recall him being a stereotype though. I can however think of several casually gay side characters(I've already mentioned Kaidan and Arcade Gannon in this thread).

I really don't look at it like that dude. I think the fact that Sheppard has choices from both sides of the aisle pretty much defacto means the character itself is bisexual. I mean I can make pretend all I want my Renegade FemShep likes the pussy, but that doesn't change the fact the moment Jacob's around she gets moist like a pre-teen girl watching a twilight movie.

 

[Eamar]

It's close, at least it is to me. Maybe my brain is wired differently, but I've got the impression this is pretty common: my sense of empathy puts me in others peoples shoes, and I can't help that. It's automatic, so it becomes a mental violation. It's called Affective Empathy or Emotional Empathy, look it up. It grosses me out, because I don't want to participate, it feels instinctively wrong, and I feel violated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy

It's similar to men seeing another guy being hit in the balls and instantly wincing.

So... what, gay people (and women, I guess) should just suck it up? I'm sorry dude, but that's not a normal reaction. If it was, no one would be able to watch/play anything with a protagonist who didn't match their particular demographics.

 

[Eamar]

Oh and I've definitely encountered some of the creepy ones, in person, and way closer than I wanted to(the type that likes to violate personal space and touch you inappropriately *shudders*).

Also, this isn't a gay thing, it's a douchebag thing. Spend one day living as a woman in any major city and you'll see that.

 

[Vault101]

So... what, gay people (and women, I guess) should just suck it up? I'm sorry dude, but that's not a normal reaction. If it was, no one would be able to watch/play anything with a protagonist who didn't match their particular demographics.

I was wondering the same thing...if its normal because I just don't get it, but I figured since I'm not a straight guy...but yeah I do kind of feel like saying "get over yourself" even if that might be slightly unfair

 

[TheSYLOH]

I've always been slightly perplexed by separate gay anythings.
I feel it would be like black people in Alabama demanding their own drinking separate fountains.
Still if that's what they want good on them, as long as they don't exclude straight people.

 

[Cerebrawl]

As a straight guy, no it's not normal. It is unfortunately common though. A lot of people are still quite homophobic in regards to their own personal space. It's not too bad, it doesn't mean they hate gay people, just the thought of gay acts makes them uncomfortable.

Looks like some argument from bizarre definition there. Normal's a nebulous word anyway. It's a perfectly natural psychological reaction though. Partially innate reflex(revulsion, subcategory inappropriate sex acts), partially cultural(what is an inappropriate sex act).

To say it's not "normal" is somewhat missing the point, what you mean is that it's not universal, but neither is a revulsion for creepy crawlies.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yep...it's "PC gone mad" to stick minorities into a story set in a real place where there are lots of them.

Sadly, yes. Which really bugs me with legacy media. Like all these complaints about making X or Y black in the newest Z movie based on the Z comic book. A lot of comics have their origins in more racists times. That's not to say the current comics are racist, but the predominance of whites comes from a time when racism was an issue. Back when Superman said it was okay to "Slap a Jap" and you could pass for Asian in media by putting in fake buck teeth and squinting.

Reflecting a more modern time is not particularly a bad thing, since there are so many people who...Aren't white.

(As an aside, because of this, you won't see many minorities in stuff about, say, zombie apocalypses. So if all the black people suddenly disappear one day, stock up on ammo, the zombies are coming)

XD

I live in Vermont. I'm not sure I'd notice the black people disappearing because we have one of the smallest black populations in the US.