SFGN's Gaymer Issue 2017

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april 19, 2017 vol. 8 / issue 16

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video games feature

Homophobia Is No Game

x

Timothy Becker PHoto credit: bioWare.

T

he gaming world is often considered a man’s realm. A place dominated by misogyny and gay jokes. This leads to the general lack of representation in games — whether it be racial, sexual or LGBT. Except for a few key games and companies, LGBT content is barren and many times even the butt of a joke in gaming media.

There has, however been a cultural resurgence in gaming as many companies that previously had little to no LGBT content — like that of Blizzard, the company that developed games like “Hearthstone,” “World of Warcraft” — are now making moves to be more inclusive.

Blizzard’s new cultural phenomenon “Overwatch” has received praise for its diversity and the cover character Tracer is openly lesbian.

One of the main characters in the “Last of Us” — a game that surpassed $7 million on PlayStation 3 and earned an additional million on PS4, according to gaming news site IGN — is a teenage girl named Ellie who is shown to be in love with her best friend Riley, a female, in the game’s expansion “Left Behind.”

Naughty Dog, the studio behind “The Last of Us,” is one of Sony’s biggest game development studios.

This is a new pattern for big game studios, however.

Previously, the only games where there was gay

representation were Bioware-developed games like the “Dragon Age” series of games and “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.” The “Sims” which is developed by EA, has also had a history of inclusivity.

Gaming companies gave gay men very effeminate mannerisms and made them less “manly” because of it — a walking caricature of the stereotypical gay man.

The lack of representation in most video games was caused by the industry belief that the driving force behind video game success was the approval and endorsement of straight white males. The 2001 release of “The Sims,” which offered same sex marriages, broke that mold. The game soared in sales and was the precursor to a whole genre of character management games.

Up until recently, LGBT friendly games were few and far between with the main serving of inclusive games coming from the developer Bioware. Games developed by Bethesda like “Skyrim” and “Fallout” have always had the option for same-sex relations but have had a feeling of novelty whereas Bioware displays natural feeling relationships and representation with thorough writing in their RPGs. One of the most popularized LGBT Bioware characters was a mage named Dorian in “Dragon Age: Inquisition.”

The non-player character was given an entire arc of

Up until recently, LgBT friendly games were few and far between with the main serving of inclusive games coming from the developer Bioware.

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quests designed around his coming out as a gay man to his noble family. Not only was it a well thought out and meaningful interaction, it also felt like a true part of the game world and made for a realistically complex character.

That is just one example of Bioware’s representation of LGBT content in their games. Until recently there were only handful of critically-acclaimed games that had any diversity on the LGBT spectrum whatsoever and that may be because of the corporate belief that straight white men, the largest player base, fear the “gay” content as if playing said games was a question to their sexuality.

In many games we see the opposite of progress: antigay sentiments and satirized LGBT content continue to leave their mark on LGBT perceptions.

Multiplayer games like “League of Legends” and “Dota 2” are notorious for their toxic fanbase which many times pokes, prods and torments those who they deem lesser or different. A perfect example is the outcry over the “Overwatch” character who was announced to be gay. Many of the comments read along the lines of “... pandering to the SJWs,” (Social Justice Warriors for short).

One of the biggest issues with the industry as a whole is that the game developers come from a relatively narrow frame of origin. Most developers are American born white men and as a whole dominate the industry.

Without the diversity representing the world as a whole many topics are left uncovered like LGBT, race and gender. Until there is a more diverse creative workplace gaming world building will likely remain the same.

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video games representation

Coming Out Swinging Fans and developers are Pushing to make Blockbuster games more inclusive Tucker Berardi PHoto: Los santos Pride.

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hen people think about social progression and equal rights, the video game industry is certainly not the first place considered to be a forefront of change — if it is even considered at all. Look to the fringes, however, and it becomes apparent that smaller gaming studios and a progressive fan base are pushing the envelope to make game narratives more inclusive.

“Art normalizes a part of society that people are currently afraid or unsure of,” YouTube Gaming personality Andrew Eisen told SFGN, “Video games and media helps to normalize things that should already be normal.”

According to Eisen, the evolution of gay characters on Television — from the inclusion of ‘token,’ almost satirical characters to narratives completely centered around LGBT individuals — has served as a precedent for social change.

Eisen pointed out that while TV is a bit ahead of video games in terms of queer representation, there is still an increasing push for LGBT media representation in games as well as the establishment of an LGBT presence in gaming conventions.

In early September, PAX West — a large game and media convention — held a panel discussion titled “Queering up Misconceptions: LGBT Game Industry Life,” and answered questions facing the industry such as the state of queer

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content in games, and the struggle of balancing identity charge of the world’s largest and constantly expanding and fitting in. archive of LGBT content in games. Shaw has seen the Another gaming convention, GaymerX, held in progression of LGBT inclusion in video games and has November, is geared fully toward LGBT inclusion and pointed out the obvious disparity between the diversity advocates for a more accurate representation of diversity of the gaming community and the heteronormative in video games. tendency of the gaming industry.

“We focus on creating a fun and “Most games are focused on safe space for gamers and gaymers mainstream heterosexual audiences,” of all identities to have fun and hang Shaw said. “There is a lack of queer out with like-minded folks. GaymerX world-building in games, usually is a ‘queer space,’ but is made for there are only rare LGBT characters everyone,” reads the description on in a primarily heterosexual world the GaymerX website. We stand side… there seems to be more queer by-side with any communities who representations in video games have been left out of or discriminated offered as side content. Same-sex in mainstream gaming culture, and relationships options and LGBT we are dedicated to providing a content has been pushed as optional unique, safe, harassment-free space content.”

- andrew eisen, for all marginalized people.”

Most consider the gaming audience YouTuber The push for more representation to be largely heterosexual, and thus in video games has gained releasing games that don’t primarily momentum, but much of the LGBT community and its cater to a straight audience can be seen as financially allies remain disappointed in how diversity — or lack dangerous. However, contrary to popular belief, gaymers thereof — is presented in mainstream games. make up a significant portion of the gaming community.

Professor Adrienne Shaw of Temple University is in A 2006 “Gaymer Survey” from the University of

“video games and media helps to normalize things that should already be normal.”

video games representation The push for more representation in video games has gained momentum, but much of the LGBT community and its allies remain disappointed in how diversity — or lack thereof — is presented in mainstream games.

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with over 10,000 respondents, measured the sexual orientation of gamers based on the Kinsey Scale — a measurement of sexual orientation as a spectrum. The results showed that only 28 percent of respondents were completely heterosexual, 23.4 percent completely homosexual — the remaining 48.6 percent fell somewhere in between.

As the survey shows, LGBT players are very common — and they are pining for more representation and mainstream queer content in games and storylines.

However, it is ultimately the job of game developers to incorporate more gay, bi and transgender representation in their projects.

The majority of big-studio game developers are straight white males, according to Eisen. And while it may not be on purpose, they tend to design games with character representation skewed heavily toward their own heteronormative demographic.

“Straight white males don’t deal with issues of ‘erasure’ or ‘othering;’ we’ve always been there,” Eisen said. “[They] are so used to things revolving around them [and] are not used to, or scared of, something new being introduced.”

Game developers may also have some reservation in creating inclusive context because of marketing, according to Luke Karmali, writer for video game news source IGN. Openly gay game writer Lucien Soulban told Karmali in a 2014 IGN article that, “fears of damaging sales would be the main stumbling point block in securing

support for a homosexual protagonist, asserting that unless publishers were convinced otherwise, a gay lead is likely to remain a pipe dream.”

Developers want to play it safe and avoid financial pitfalls that “controversial” LGBT content may lead to. But small-scale studios and community “modders” have created content that has been widely appreciated, meeting with much more encouragement than dissent.

The PrideParade mod for Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 was a collaboration between Stockholm Pride and some of the game’s community members and was very well received by fans of the game.

“The Grand Theft Auto games have the largest amount of LGBTQ content in video games, and it isn’t all offensive,” Shaw said. This content includes vanilla content as well as mods from a thriving community of LGBT modders.

If player-created LGBT content has been so widely received and accepted, then why is it such a long shot for larger publishers to start doling out more inclusive plots and content? TV and movies have already begun exploring queer stories much to the appreciation of their diverse audiences — it is time for video games to do the same.

“Gaming is one of the youngest entertainment mediums but it threatens to stunt its growth without acknowledging that there are many people who play games,” Karmali wrote. “Our world and other entertainment forms are more inclusive than ever, and it’s time games caught up.”

GaymerX convention attendees. Credit: GaymerX, Facebook.

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video games bisexuality

PHotos: betHesda stUdios, bioWare. sUbmitted PHotos.

Bi Default video games boost bisexual visibility like no other media Brittany Ferrendi

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hen it comes to LGBT, the B is often forgotten about. But when it comes to video games, bisexuality is a mainstay.

The industry topples television media, where bisexuality is sometimes treated as a joke (very recently was it compared to webbed feet in ABC’s The Real O’Neals).

But video games not only include them, but give them statue. And when it comes to inclusion of bisexual main characters, role-playing games are most likely to get it right.

The wide array of customization in open world action role-playing video games like Bioware’s “Dragon Age” and “Mass Effect,” as well as Bethesda’s “Fallout” and “Skyrim,” allows players to be whoever you want to be. You can change their gender, skin, hair, name and personality to your liking.

You even have freedom to romance other characters, which is where sexuality comes in.

Let’s hone in on to the “Dragon Age” series for examples.

Across all three games in the series, there are 16 serious fleshed-out romance options. Among them, fifty percent of the romanceable characters identify as bisexual. Only the third game had two specifically gay and lesbian romance options.

Now compare that to television. In GLAAD’s 2016 “Where We Are on TV Report,” the organization analyzes diversity in cable networks and streaming services. The report showed that thirty percent of the 278 LGBT characters were openly bisexual — the majority of which are women.

Among these bisexuals, GLAAD came to an unfortunate conclusion about the representation of bisexuals in

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television media: bisexuals are too often depicted as “The 100,” protagonist Clarke was identified as bisexual. “untrustworthy, lacking a sense of morality, and/or as Clarke became the network’s first bisexual lead, according duplicitous manipulators.” to the Advocate. Show creator Jason Rothenberg stated her “Creators overwhelmingly choose to portray bisexuality bisexuality was not inspired by a need to appeal to LGBT as a villainous trait rather than a lived identity,” said fans, but out of a necessity to create a complete world.

Alexander Bolles, senior strategist at GLAAD. “This trend of “Sexual orientation fits in the same place that gender inaccurate portrayals undermines how people understand identity and racial identity fits within the world of our bisexuality, which has real life consequences for bi people show,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “The characters in and their wellbeing.” the show are not concerned with those things. They are So, despite the prevalence of bisexual characters in only concerned with whether they are going to live and die television media rising up by 30 … Nobody ever classifies anybody, as percent compared to last year, they are in, ‘She’s a woman leader,’ or, ‘He’s a repeatedly being pushed into harmful gay soldier.’ It’s just not in our show’s stereotypes more often as they are just vocabulary.” portrayed as regular, everyday people.

But not all was won in terms of Compare that to games like “Fallout” bisexual representation. Cue the longand “Elder Scrolls,” two long-running running “bury your gays” trope, which game series made by the company dictates LGBT characters can not have Bethesda. The player is free to begin happy endings — usually leading to a relationship with any romanceable them being killed off in media. Just character regardless of gender. In this moments after Clarke is intimate with way no single character can necessarily her first same-sex love interest, her be isolated as a harmful bisexual partner is immediately murdered" stereotype, because the romances When it comes to killing off - Tim Cain, Fallout developer are about the characters, not their bisexuals, television media follows the orientation. “bury your gays” trope often. Shows “We kind of liked pushing like “Empire,” “The Catch” and more boundaries a bit,” openly gay developer Tim Cain told The feature bisexuals dying in violent ways. This trope is more Daily Dot. Cain is one of the original creators of the Fallout easily avoided in video games, as romance options are most series. often entwined with characters that are essential to the “Not always with violence. We wanted a game story — and likely unkillable. The trope is even less likely which is full of social commentary. So [same-sex when the bisexual character is a protagonist. marriage] was just another thing we were doing.

Look at Borderlands, a first-person shooter developed I don’t even think anybody in the team really by Gearbox Software. Anthony Burch, lead writer for argued over it. We didn’t think ‘Oh my god, this Borderlands 2, confirmed that Axton — one of the game’s an amazing thing.’ It was just ‘We’re going to main protagonists — is bisexual. The game also has other cover every possible base here.’ And then we bisexual characters, including Mister Torgue. moved on.”

“We wanted to make our cast more diverse and inclusive, Fallout 4’s protagonist can be played as and it cost us effectively nothing to do so,” he wrote. “In either straight or bisexual, depending on player the future, I’d like to be even more overt in discussing the decisions. You always have an opposite-sex sexuality of gay or bisexual characters … but these first tiny partner when you begin. After that, who you steps are still worthwhile, in my opinion.” romance is up to you — be it male, female or Television media is representing bisexuals more than robot. ever. It is (slowly) beginning to shed common tropes as well.

Comparatively, you don’t often see bisexual Here’s hoping they’ll follow the video game industry’s lead main characters in television media — but it does in portraying bisexual characters just as they should be happen. In CW’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi series portrayed — as people, no different than anyone else.

“We didn’t think ‘oh my god, this an amazing thing.’ it was just ‘We’re going to cover every possible base here.’ and then we moved on.”

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video games feature

BeiNg LgBT iN THe

Fighting Game Community

How south Florida’s LgBT players began in the FgC scene Lynnette Cantos

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outh Florida’s prominent LGBT players in the “There have been random people, like at restaurants if we go fighting game community scene are focused on out to eat, they would give me stares. You just gotta ignore maintaining their high ranks and perfecting their them and try to ignore people who give you hate and all of skills, while the community embraces their acceptance. that.”

Xaltis, a transgender woman from Lake Worth, is a Currently, Xaltis has an active Twitch channel — an professional “Super Smash Bros. 4” player notorious for her online streaming service for gaming platforms — where she strategic yet aggressive gameplays of Rosalina — a princess plays “Smash” and other video games, that is sponsored by who first appeared in “Super Mario Galaxy” in 2007.

Aether eSports, and attends numerous tournaments such “Rosalina is meant to be played very defensively, but she as Evolution Championship Series and Community Effort can be aggressive,” Xaltis said after finishing a round match. Orlando, commonly known as EVO and CEO respectively.

“I’m one of the more aggro Rosalina players in the ranks.”

Kendall resident Tayson Defas, much like Xaltis, started Xaltis’s gameplay paid off as she won first place during playing video games during his childhood while living in the “Super Smash Bros. 4” weekly tournament match held Ecuador, but it wasn’t until his first CEO invite in June 2010 on March 30 at Versus Gaming Center in Pompano Beach that he got hooked. against 67 contenders. Last year, she “My mind was blown away by the ranked 10th on the South Florida fact that there were so many people just Smash 4 Power Rankings and moved as strong as I, even stronger, that liked up to fifth as of January. the same games as me,” Defas said. “I While Xaltis started playing video got super jealous there were so many games since childhood, in 2007 she personalities, that I felt I deserved to be began to practice her abilities with recognized too.”

“Smash” and gaining interest in the During a stage run of newcomers local fighting game scene once another versus top-ranked players for “Marvel player — dubbed “Afro Thundah” — vs. Capcom 3,” a popular fighting game recognized her talent. featuring crossover characters of its “I didn't get into the competitive titular franchises, Defas signed up, scene until early [Super Smash Bros.] played and won against EVO World - Tayson defas Brawl,” Xaltis said. “I always entered Champion Ryan “Filipino Champ” the Brawl tournaments and usually Ramirez. got top three, and from there I kept “I didn’t know Filipino Champ was growing and growing with the rest of the South Florida the one supposed to be featured, hell I didn’t even know he Smash players.” was a top player,” Defas said. “So after I beat him, he looks Even though the local Smash community scene within at me mad ‘cause I don't get up, and I reply ‘Why would I Versus and beyond recognize and accept Xaltis, she mainly get up? I beat you, let him play’ as I point to the dude next deals with rude comments and looks from strangers both in line.”

Defas rarely disclosed his sexuality during his early years online and offline.

“In the [local] community, nobody’s ever really done in the local fighting game scene. But he wasn’t hiding it out of anything in person to harass me or anything,” Xaltis said. fear or shame — he just didn’t want to shock his colleagues.

“He loves me so he practices hard to be on equal footing with me or anyone in the scene.”

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XaLtis PLayinG “sUPer smasH bros. 4.”

PHoto credit: Lynnette cantos.

“As my friends describe me, I'm pretty manly, have a martial arts background, reliable, friendly and always up for beer,” Defas said. “So when people discover I'm actually gay they have such an expression on their face.”

However, it was one experience that made Defas realized how he could educate other players by openly embracing his identity instead of playing it up as a prank revelation.

“There was this friend who had a pretty narrow view of gay people. And he had known me for a while now, but at a tournament he was told I was actually gay,” Defas recalls.

“His mind had trouble grasping the fact, but after that we talked and since then, he’s been more open to LGBT [people],” Defas said. “I was letting him know LGBT people come in all shapes or forms, and maybe [you] could get past narrow views if you get to know people.”

Nowadays, Defas is practicing and playing both “Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3” and “Street Fighter V” in local and state tournaments alongside his boyfriend, Bastian Oliva, who is both a supporter and new player since being introduced into the community by Defas.

“He loves me so he practices hard to be on equal footing with me or anyone in the scene,” Defas said with admiration.

“Proudest moment was seeing him getting this complicated punish and winning his own tournament match at our [local] weekly.” tayson deFas takes tHe matcH. PHoto credit: Lynnette cantos.

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video games somos gaymers

SOMOS Gaymers aT LaTiNos saLUd

Jillian melero Latinos saLUd. PHoto credit: J.r. davis.

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hen I walked into the Wilton Manors that we even exist as a group, but they’re always very office for Gaymer Night, I settled in at a impressed, or very happy that a place like that exists,” folding table behind one of the couches Caballero said. “It’s liberating for them to come to a safe with a view of projection screens. An ongoing battle of space like that and geek out.”

Super Smash Bros played out on one, and an abandoned The March 17 meet-up had over 20 men and several Persona 4 Arena select screen looped on the other. An women in attendance. Everyone was welcome, like the eight- or 10-person round of Cards Against Humanity guy who invited me to play King of Tokyo — Thomas, was already in progress. who was neither Latin, nor identified as gay or bisexual, Latinos Salud provides a safe space and resource but was there to game. center for gay, bisexual and transgender Latinos. They Caballero is the Navigation Services and Social Media host a game night every third Coordinator for Latinos Salud now, Thursday in Wilton Manors, and but he started off in SOMOS — every third Friday in Kendall. the ages 18 to 30 empowerment The event was started by Obed group that makes up the bulk of Caballero, as a meet up for the game night group. He said there center’s SOMOS – Spanish for “we are a couple of staffers now, who are” – social group. A gamer himself were introduced to the center (his all-time favorites are Kingdom through Gaymer Night, and he’d Hearts and Xenogears) Caballero like to see the organization build said he started Gaymer Night as a on their community outreach and way for LGBT gamers to have fun in involvement from there. a setting where they can open and “The people who come are very be themselves. committed to the group, Latinos “It’s hard sometimes for LGBT Salud, they feel very comfortable - obed Caballero people in general, especially in coming here, they’re appreciative the game or even geek culture, of the Gaymer Night existing, and to intersect those different aspects of their identity,” having a place where they feel comfortable, so they Caballero said. “I’ve talked to people who come and a lot always want to give back.” of time they feel that their gaming friends don’t really Besides the game nights hosted at the resource center, get their sexuality. And when they come out to the gay the group also spends time meeting at locations around community, a lot of time they don’t understand their town like Wilton Creamery. To keep up with game nights, interests in the gaming community or in geek culture.” meetups and events check out the Facebook Group at Caballero said a typical game night may have 20 to https://www.facebook.com/LatinosSalud/.

30 people, sometimes upwards of 40 to 50. About twothirds of the group are usually regulars, and a handful of The next Latinos salud gaymer Nights are happening Thursday, april 20 in Wilton manors and Friday april new faces each month.

21, in Kendall, both run from 7 to 10 p.m.

“Every time there’s a new face they’re surprised

“i’ve talked to people who come and a lot of time they feel that their gaming friends don’t really get their sexuality.”

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BoNUs PoiNTs somos is just one of Latinos salud empowerment groups, outreach services, and Hiv support services. Here are some others:

JUNTos is an all ages peer leadership group that meets on

alternating Fridays at 8 p.m.in Wilton manors.

Positive social is open to everyone living with or affected

by Hiv, to promote positive thinking, quality of life and wellbeing, meets tuesday nights in Wilton manors from 7 to 9:30. email mtorrealba@latinossalud.org.

Free, safe & Proud blitzes venues throughout broward

county to stock nightclubs, guesthouses and bathhouses with condoms and lube. email cswanson@latinossalud.org

miamigo for Latino guys of all ages meets alternating Fridays in kendall at 7 p.m. miami mpower meets on the FiU campus for movies, snacks, and discussions, tuesday nights at 7 p.m. at the Graham center. non-students are welcome. email nferrera@latinossalud.org.

Broward and miami locations offer additional Hiv and safe sex services and resources, and even certified Life Coaching services.

To learn more about Latinos salud, groups, events, programs and services, visit www.Latinossalud.org/.

video games somos gaymers Photos by J.R. davis

RoUNd TWo

for the somos t h ig n l a ic p ty a ard Take a look at rything from bo e v e to in e lv e d e gaymer Night. iv gaymers, who s lu c in lla ir e les in th on Facebook. games to conso N g F s it is v , s to o re ph To see many mo

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video games indie games

Gay and Proud

Four unapologetically LgBT-themed games Brittany Ferrendi PHoto: “cominG oUt on toP.” sUbmitted PHoto.

P

layers rarely see LGBT content in mainstream titles. Slowly but steadily, inclusivity trickles in. But the small-scale gaming scene is already there — filled to the brim with queer content.

One such game is “Coming Out On Top” (or COOT for short), a gay dating sim about a college senior who has just come out of the closet. There are about 18 different characters that the player can date.

“I created COOT due to not seeing anything like it at the time,” said Abby Lee, game creator. “The project was started back in 2012, before the recent explosion of indie games on the scene. Games where you could play a man dating another man were few and far between.”

Lee launched a Kickstarter for COOT in 2012, and received an overwhelming response. Over 1,100 supporters donated $38,601 dollars to bring the game to life.

- Luke “The whole thing is a lighthearted romp that will hopefully make you chuckle.”

Luke Miller, creator of “My Ex-Boyfriend the Space Tyrant,” was also motivated to blossom an LGBT game in a market less touched.

“I made Space Tyrant because I wanted to see a game with an unapologetically gay lead character, something that is still all too rare,” he said. “A lot of the time

when games include gay people it is very mainstream representation with 'normal' people who happen to be same-sex attracted. That's fine and it's always great to see! I just sometimes want to see queer culture represented as well.”

And Miller took the sequel to a whole new level.

“I made the sequel ‘Escape from Pleasure Planet’ because there was a lot more I felt I could do with in a gay game - a gay villain, dealing with conversion therapy, the plight of LGBT people in Russia, and the queer politics of same sex marriage and respectability,” he said. “Playing my games, I hope people enjoy the surprises and twists as a queer sensibility allows us to go places that other games fear to tread.”

But not all LGBT-themed indie titles keep sexuality at the forefront.

There are also games like “2064: Read Only,” a cyberpunk narrativemiller based adventure game produced by Midboss.

The game inclusively presents a future in which LGBT characters are on equal ground as heterosexuals without facing as much discrimination.

The player can also select their own pronouns, including “he,” “she”, “they,” “xe,” “ze” or custom.

“Instead of waiting for Sony and other big companies to include gay characters in their games as more than

“i made space Tyrant because i wanted to see a game with an unapologetically gay lead character.”

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just tokens, we should just do it ourselves,” creator Matt Conn told Gamasutra. “There’s no reason to wait.”

Conn originally had hesitation for the future of his game because of the LGBT themes.

“If the campaign ends up failing or the product isn’t very good, I just worry that’s going to send a really bad message. That there’s no market for this, or that the market for ‘gay games’ is pretty much limited to sexually explicit stuff. And not that there’s anything wrong with porn games, but there needs to be more. We need to just exist.”

Fortunately for Conn, the Kickstarter was a success.

The project raised $64,378 on Kickstarter in just a month — proving that there is a market for “gay games.”

“my eX-boyFriend tHe sPace tyrant.” sUbmitted PHoto.

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video games j stryker

J Stryker Strikes Back

He’s a cosplayer. a businessman. a strip dancer. a musician. He’s J stryker.

Brittany Ferrendi

J

Stryker may not be a household name, but to the geeky LGBT community, the person behind the name is a symbol for empowerment.

Jonathan Stryker began his career as a cosplayer, but soon felt a desire to start up the very first LGBT geek conventions in Florida. He opened up to more risqué cosplays and branched out into strip dancing during his own time slots at conventions across Florida. SFGN reached out to Stryker to discuss his life from cosplays to coming out as gay to strip dancing.

“it’s worth it. it’s so worth it just to be yourself.”

- J stryker

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“When I went to my first convention, Supercon 2006, I saw all the people dressed up and how close the community was to each other,” he said. “That made me feel really good and want to stay there, making costumes and meeting people.”

That feeling of acceptance inspired him to launch OUT Con and Okama Con, the only two LGBT-focused anime and geek conventions in Florida.

“There are people who need to feel safe who might not feel comfortable going to other places,” he said. “I wanted to create one to let people know there are places where you can be completely yourself and never need to second-guess that you won’t be comfortable there and that you’ll be accepted.”

With no other LGBT-specific cons in the entire state, Stryker took the initiative. “It had to be done.”

The cosplayer-turned-convention-owner hears a lot of success stories from con-goers who attended Okama Con in January. “So many. All the time I get it,” he said, noting how many people walk up to him to tell him how accepted and safe they felt. “Just because of the name and what we promoted, and because we state it is LGBT.” Stryker hopes his safe space encourages people to come out, similar to how he gradually came out over

above: stryker as GUts. middLe: striP-tease. riGHt toP FeatUres tHe cHaracter aeros, Far riGHt is His darinG take on PriaPUs.

the course of his high school years. He was inspired by his older brother, who came out as a drag queen after growing up gay, shy and insecure.

“He’ll light up on stage and be more himself and completely express himself. Seeing that was inspirational to me, even if I had been doing costumes before he came out as a drag queen. It inspired me to do more performing.”

It wasn’t until last year that Stryker came out to his parents.

“My brother’s gay so I guess that made it easier,” the cosplayer reflects. “My mom said, ‘You know, if your dad doesn’t like it, he’s out of the house and you’re staying.’

For others struggling to come out, Stryker has a message: “It’s worth it. It’s so worth it just to be yourself.”

“I think it’s a liberating experience,” he continued.

“There are going to be people that are OK with it and there’s going to be people that aren’t going to be OK with it, but at the end of the day you get to be yourself and you get to open up and just show a completely different side of you that is just so freeing and so liberating.”

Stryker applies that logic to his online persona, J Stryker.

“He is kind of my alter-ego. My regular Jonathan is a

video games j stryker Photos by Chasis and J stryker

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very quiet, shy guy. He sat in the back of the class, he didn’t talk to a lot of people.

J Stryker was the showman who put on costumes and put himself out there in very different ways.”

In doing so, Stryker gets a lot of flak from haters that bash his sensual photos, push their religion on him and harass him for being gay. How does he handle it?

“I don’t,” he put simply. “I rarely respond to negative comments if ever. I have so many good ones that I don’t want to put attention to the negative ones.”

Stryker puts that self-confidence into his love of strip dancing, which he performs at local conventions across Florida and even uploads to his Facebook page.

A few years ago, Stryker considered himself a chubby, insecure kid. That changed when he vowed to make a change these past three years, beginning to work out and feel more confident in himself.

“When I started becoming more confident in myself, which was just in the past three years, I wanted to feel better about myself so I started working out,” he said. Once his confidence grew, he “released everything at once.”

“I started doing sexier stuff in cosplay

and I noticed that people really liked it and people were inspired by the fact that I was the chubby kid and now I’m the naked one on the internet. I like inspiring people to be confident.”

“I like the feeling you get when you’re stripping and being seductive. It’s a cool feeling, not only for the sexual aspect but it’s also very empowering to me when everybody’s looking at you.”

Some people approach him to ask if he’s worried about future employers seeing his sexual pictures. “Who cares if you’re shirtless on the internet, do whatever the fuck makes you happy,” he stated. “I want to live my life the way I want to with my rules and I can’t think of the consequences like that. I can only be myself.”

What does J Stryker have in store for the future? “I want to get more into music and branch out. I want to do more cosplay and do more, sexier modeling.”

Stryker is releasing his first single this year, an “electronic sexy” song titled ‘Fucboi.’ It’s set to be released once the video is finished.

“I’m not just a sexy cosplay. I’m not just one thing. I’m a lot more than that.”

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video games international

game deveLoPeRs LooK To CHiNa as a

New Market For Gay Games Tucker Berardi

Z

hu Qiming is a gay video game designer based out of Beijing, China. His current project, “Rainbow Town,” is a life simulation game for smartphones in which users dress up their hunky avatars in stylish clothes and interact with other online users.

“LGBT people are gradually being accepted by the public — a few years ago the market would not be ready for a gay game,” Qiming told Motherboard.

In China, homosexuality was illegal until 1997, and even today only a small percentage of LGBT people in China ever come out — UNDP China reports in a survey on sexuality and gender expression that only five percent of homosexuals ever choose to go public with their sexuality.

According to the same report, however, Chinese societies are becoming increasingly accepting of LGBT individuals.

“The survey paints a country in transition, where the majority of people do not hold negative nor stereotypical views of LGBTI people, with young people being more open towards and accepting of sexual and gender diversity,” UNDP reports. “This … represents an important opportunity for LGBTI people and depicts a society that could achieve rapid and profound change, especially if guided in the right direction by civil society, policymakers, academia, the media as well as LGBTI people themselves.”

Qiming is one of many developers working toward creating a “pink economy,” a business model that caters to the LGBT community. The market for LGBT content is growing according to UNDP China, and businesses are scrambling to secure their place in the new territory.

“LGBTI people represent some of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations in Asia and the Pacific, including China,” Agi Veres, Country Director of UNDP China said. “Attention to their needs is therefore essential if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, a key feature of which is the underlying principle and commitment to ‘leave no one behind.’”

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Star-G technologies, Qiming’s game development and Alibaba-owned retail company Taobao organized a trip company, is just one of many businesses and entertainment for ten gay Chinese couples to get married in Los Angeles, companies that are shifting their attention toward China’s as gay marriage still isn’t legal in China. gay community.

“There have been arguments about whether companies “Every bar wants a gay night right now,” Marlon Ma told use LGBT marketing as a gimmick,” Geng Le told The Fortune in January 2017. Ma has organized GLAM, an award Guardian. “But whatever their purposes are, they’re making winning LGBT nightclub show, and has also organized the LGBT people more visible. It’s a good thing, and the impact city’s first drag show. of the economy as the force of social progress is beyond our “I move venues every six months,” Ma continued. imagination.”

“Before [clubgoers were] probably Qiming hopes to be responsible for half foreigners but I’m seeing more some of that social progress by giving Chinese now than ever before.”

LGBT people in China an opportunity The “pink economy” in China to express themselves and meet other has been estimated to value members of their community through his roughly $300 billion per year, games. making China the third largest “With rising social tolerance, people LGBT market following Europe in the LGBT community have begun to and the United States demonstrate their identity and meet other “The consumer power of the gay members of the community through community is robust, but it has a range of social activities, including always been neglected,” BlueD CEO games,” Qiming told China Daily. “I see and founder Geng Le told Fortune. strong demand going unfulfilled, and that - Zhu Qiming, “We want to tell people that the provides us with ‘pink’ opportunities.” video game designer pink economy is very strong. The Qiming hopes that his game “Rainbow whole society is moving forward, Town” will serve a dual purpose to its it’s becoming more accepting, players. The app will allow you to meet more diverse, and individual value is more emphasized.” up with other players in real life, almost like a dating app.

BlueD, which is based out of China, surpasses Grindr as Qiming also wants the game to be an outlet for gay people the world’s leading LGBT socializing app with a user base who choose to remain in the closet. of 27 million.

“Rainbow Town’ is just one of the three games Qiming’s Global firms are also pushing the limit by marketing company is working on, all of which are being designed for themselves as LGBT-friendly in China’s marketplace, mobile platforms and contain LGBT themes. according to The Guardian. Businesses like Starbucks, “I’ve always wanted to do something for gay people,” Alibaba, Nike, Adidas and others have used messages of Qiming said. “A purpose of this game is to let people do inclusion in China to cater to the LGBT market. things they might not be able to do in real life, such as dress The businesses have offered LGBT-specific advertising, however they want to and just be themselves.”

“i see strong demand going unfulfilled, and that provides us with ‘pink’ opportunities.”

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video games feature

Need A Little Empathy empathy games give players an opportunity to see a marginalized perspective Tucker Berardi

M

any small game development studios have begun to popularize a new genre game known as “empathy games.” The goal of this new genre is to present the players with new perspectives and situations that help them to understand the struggles of other people.

“A Normal Lost Phone” is one such empathy game. The entire game is played through interaction with a lost smartphone. The player progresses through the story by peering into information found within the phone and chatting with the phone owner’s (Sam’s) tinder-esque profile matches, one male and one female.

Through interactions with the phone, the player discovers that Sam is transgender, and struggling with coming out to friends and family.

“There is something to take away from the game, but it’s not about the interface or the mechanics — those felt wrong from the beginning. It’s about the experience,” co-founder of Accidental Queens Diane Landais said in a press release.

“Because the bonds that are created, the chance to understand, the space for introspection — those, hopefully, felt right.”

Accidental Queens, the studio behind “A Normal Lost Phone,” is an indie studio based in France that pursues more inclusive narratives. “A Normal Lost Phone” has received “Best Indie Game” from the 2016 Game Connection Awards in Europe.

“All of this was done with a specific goal in mind: creating empathy, showing Sam’s story through a new perspective,” Landais said. “The player isn’t a spectator, nor an actor; they see the story unfold as a witness.”

Landais continued to say that this game exposes players to the minute details in the character's life — explaining that a simple, even trivial text message can have a deep impact on the character, and player interaction with the phone drives that point home.

“A Normal Lost Phone” is not the only game to encourage players to adopt a new perspective on people and situations.

Many games such as “We Are Chicago,” “That Dragon, Cancer,” “Papa & Yo” put players in situations dealing with alcoholism, cancer, poverty and more. “‘We Are Chicago’ is our first adventure in making compelling

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“We are cHicaGo” by cULtUre sHock Games.

narratives about real stories through videogames,” reads the game’s about page. “We are presenting the stories of people living in financial poverty and who live amidst escalating violence on Chicago’s west and South Side. These stories are the experiences of normal people trying to live normal lives while dealing with gangs, drugs, and socioeconomic problems that are prevalent on the South Side and West Side of Chicago.”

“We Are Chicago” was created by Culture Shock Games, a small-scale game studio based out of Chicago, Illinois. Founder of the studio Michael Block decided to pursue the game after volunteering at a soup kitchen in an all-black neighborhood.

To tell a story that was truthful and compelling, Block hired writer Tony Thornton who was a longtime resident of Englewood, a neighborhood that inspired much of “We Are Chicago’s” setting, to ensure that the game was as authentic as possible.

“We were brainstorming a story with agency and player choice,” Block told Venturebeat. “We were also volunteering on the South Side of Chicago. We heard people dealing with getting mugged on the way to the train and having a gun pointed at them. These were crazy things they had to deal with on a regular basis.”

“We had to think about the violence they experience in their lives,” Block continued. “It was an important story, a true story. That was the start.”

Alongside Thorton’s input, “We Are Chicago’s” narrative was fueled by multiple first-person interviews. Material from the interviews, as well as Thorton’s own life experiences, made it directly into the game, according to Venturebeat.

Empathy games are being created with a myriad of themes that explore all corners of the human experience.

Many games with LGBT themes help straight, cisgender players step into the shoes of an LGBT character and see the world through their eyes — their struggles become your own. These mechanics are true of bringing attention to any

marginalized group or situations.

“I find the Title ‘Empathy Games’ to be very descriptive and appropriate for what we are doing,” Ryan Green, director of “That Dragon, Cancer” said. “I believe we can benefit as humans by taking time to ‘sit in the ashes’ with someone. Often people just need love. They need you to sit, be quiet, to give them a hug and to listen to them and cry with them. I think empathy games can offer the opportunity to practice this kind of care.”

Green’s game comes from his own experience with his son Joel’s battle with brain cancer. According to gaming news site Wired, Joel used the game to deal with his son’s illness — his son was too young to voice his reactions to treatment and his feelings, and Joel translated these frustrations into “That Dragon, Cancer.”

Game developer Vander Caballero created “Papa & Yo,” a game and metaphor for Caballero’s youth spent with an alcoholic father. He recognized that the world is filled with vulnerability that people don’t want to talk about or acknowledge. By making a game that focuses on what it is like to be vulnerable, to feel helpless, he aims to encourage players to recognize that there is always an opportunity to empathize with those who need it the most.

“By creating vulnerable, relatable characters, instead of superhuman ones, we set a different kind of expectation,” Caballero said in a press release. “When you are vulnerable, the first step to a problem’s solution is to emphasize. I want games to become tools that can help us cope with human tragedy, like good books and films can, because younger people spend more time playing video games than reading books.”

“Our games inspire other developers to take risks by exploring topics that we unthinkable to cover in games five years ago,” Caballero continued. “Today, many other games like ‘Papers, Please’ and ‘Gone Home’ are part of a growing movement towards empathy games.”

Through interactions with the phone, the player discovers that sam is transgender, and struggling with coming out to friends and family.

video games feature

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n the year 1977, geeks around the nation were created with a wave of technology and media. Atari released the first popular gaming console, the Atari 2600, and the gaming revolution began. Sick of playing silly “Pong,” the system promised eye-popping graphics and insane fun.

Forty years later, “Pac-Man” and “Space Invaders” could be played on cell phones.

And the gaming industry has expanded to nearly $3 billion a year — with an increasing amount of LGBT players.

For some in our community, not only have the games become more gay-friendly, such as “Mass Effect,” “Dragon Age,” and “The Sims,” they’ve also become more socializing, giving players another option bsides bars and clubs.

With the latest systems, developers took a different twist and are marketing the social aspects of gaming. PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo all have LGBT online groups to chat right through the systems themselves. You can add friends and join a game together. With added video cameras, you can see each other play and talk through headsets.

This is an excellent start for those seeking friendships, or perhaps even relationships.

But there are even more avenues to meeting others.

Popular media sites are popping up online for LGBT gamers. Facebook Group

PHoto credit: brittany Ferrendi.

“Gay Geeks” has over 47,000 members and counting. There, you can read other memes and videos. Also you’re free to chat and add friends.

On Reddit, visit r/gayming for the latest in news and overall fun posts. And don’t forget to visit #gaymer on Twitter for like-minded users. You can even use Craigslist to make gaymer friends, but we HIGHLY recommend using the “Strictly Platonic” category.

But what about meeting locals into some serious gaming in person? Instead a night out drinking and clubbing, there are alternatives for meeting and socializing.

Latinos Salud, located in Wilton Manors, hosts a monthly party for all LGBTQ with video systems and also board games. Even Gym Sports Bar sets up game systems on Monday nights for fun and drinks.

But not only gay establishments are coming on-board the gaming revolution.

Gay-Friendly places like Versus Gaming Center in Pompano Beach offer all day access to PCs, Xbox, and PS4 and even hold tournaments.

Tenth Level Tavern, right across from Funky Buddha, is a fantastic bar with some of your old favorite arcade games and great drink specials. And for the more intense action-packed gaymer in you, try Xtreme Action Park on Powerline Rd. They not only have an incredible amount of games, but also rock climbing, go karts, and bowling.

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Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo all have LgBT online groups to chat right through the systems themselves.

4.19.2017 •

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video games feature tracer From “overWatcH”. credit: bLiZZard.

Cheers Luv, The Cavalry's Queer! overwatch’s LgBT elements influence both the game’s storylines and its fandom Lynnette Cantos

S

ince its release on May 24, 2016, Blizzard’s latest award-winning video game “Overwatch” has galvanized a stream of LGBT elements within the fandom and the creators themselves.

Like any pop culture franchise beforehand, such as the “Harry Potter” series or Marvel superhero properties, “Overwatch” has spanned numerous samesex “shipping” — the short-term form of relationship pairing — with its roster of 24 diverse characters to choose from.

Alison Nadassy is an avid “Overwatch” player from Coconut Creek who found a deep connection with the game’s message and character’s history.

“As a pansexual, the diversity [in Overwatch] is such an important game because it explores diversity in this world through differences in race and identification in who they are as humans or omnics,” Nadassy said.

The fan content attributed for these same-sex ships range from artwork threads on Tumblr and Reddit forums, fan fiction and even creating pair hashtags on Twitter or dedicated fan zines.

Nadassy herself has a favorite same-sex couple pairing of Jesse McCree and Hanzo Shimada — two of its characters — that’s overwhelmingly popular within the fandom.

“It was the aesthetic that got me into McHanzo,” Nadassy said, using the pair hashtag name. “[The] rugged cowboy with Japanese bowman, one’s super masculine but goofy while the other one’s stiff and serious.”

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As of publication time, the fan fiction website Archive of Our Own has McCree and Hanzo stories as the most popular under its “relationship” tab with 2,440 published fanfictions, with a high-ranked one titled "Hang the Fool" being cited in a Kotaku article on October 2016.

While Nadassy noted other favorite and popular pairings such as PharMercy — security chief Fareeha “Pharah” Amari and Overwatch field medic Dr. Angela Ziegler — and Reaper76, based on the former Overwatch and Blackwatch commanders Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, she still considers McHanzo her favorite.

“Currently it is one of my favorite couples that I ship out of everything I’m into,” Nadassy said. “It even has some support from the creators and voice actors like Matt Mercer.”

Nadassy is referring to the BlizzCon 2016 voice actors panel - alison where Matthew Mercer, who voices Jesse McCree, ad-libbed a Starbucks order for "McCree and Hanzo" in character form.

This is another phenomenon based on the huge amount of support from the fandom where “Overwatch” voice actors and game developers get involved in pleasing their fans by inserting hints with each update

and participating in the shipping elements.

Contributions range from Carolina Ravassa and Anjali Bhimani — who voice the characters Sombra and Symmetra respectively — uploading quirky YouTube videos of each other, to in-dialogue interactions between McCree and Hanzo during the Overwatch Halloween event read as borderline flirty amongst the fandom.

Finally, the build-up of Overwatch’s first LGBT character resulted in the storyline reveal of Lena “Tracer” Oxton’s sexuality on December 2016, when Blizzard released a holiday-themed online comic titled “Reflections” revealing Tracer as a lesbian and having a girlfriend named Emily.

“Since I learned Tracer was a lesbian, I was overjoyed because she’s not oversexualized by the creators,” Nadassy said. “She’s the poster child, not the main character, that everyone knows.

Nadassy It was such an amazing addition to her background in [Overwatch] canon.”

Five months since Tracer’s reveal, no word from Blizzard regarding who the next LGBT character would be, considering how lead writer Michael Chu specified there’s “multiple [LGBT] heroes” within Overwatch, according to Mic.

“since i learned Tracer was a lesbian, i was overjoyed because she’s not oversexualized by the creators.”