Gaymer

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For information on the beverage, see Gaymer's Olde English cider.

Gaymer or gay gamer are umbrella terms used to refer to the group of people who identify themselves as gay and have an active interest in the video game community, also known as gamers. Bisexual or transgender gamers are sometimes categorized under this term.

This demographic has been the subject of two large surveys: by Jason Rockwood in 2006,[1] who noted the level of prejudice that gaymers endure,[2] and by Paul Nowak in 2009, focusing in what contents gaymers expect in videogames.[3][4]

Chris Vizzini, owner of the gaming site Gaymer.org, has been involved with several online communities (in special with Reddit) in a controversy over the trademark of the term gaymer.

Contents

Surveys [edit]

2006 University of Illinois [edit]

In 2006, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sociological study looked at the gay gamer subgroup focusing 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.[1] 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."[2] With about 10,000 respondents the survey exhibited a reverse bell curve of gamer sexuality, with most people identifying as either completely heterosexual or homosexual.[5] Only a "very small minority" of the respondents to the first survey supported the use of the term gaymer.[6]

2009 Full Sail University [edit]

In late August 2009, Full Sail University student Paul S. Nowak began the second survey of gaymer play preferences at NewGaymerSurvey.com as research for his Master’s Thesis in Video Game Design. "Since Jason Rockwood's survey in 2006 was the first of its kind, it got stuck with the burden of proving to the academic community that the gay gaming community even existed. Now that he's been successful at that, we can make a more in-depth study of what exactly gaymers want from their games," said Nowak.[7] The survey focused on "things like plot, genre, customisation and other in-game experiences, rather than homophobic abuse".

Nowak also said, "The differences [between the two surveys] are apparent right from the beginning. Rockwood and I have very different backgrounds. My expertise is design and, unlike Rockwood, I have been a gamer for over 20 years. That difference is reflected in my study. Being the second survey in the field, I am able to shift my focus onto questions of content such as plot, genre, customization and other in-game experiences."

While the results of Nowak's survey are still pending, the survey team reports that over 7000 people have participated in the survey to date.[3][4][8][9] As of February 2011, Nowak is seeking publication for his findings from those first 7000 responses. Nowak's resume refers to the study as "Currently under review for publication in Games & Culture".[10]

Media coverage [edit]

Video game magazine The Escapist devoted Issue 222 to gay gamers and characters with the title "Queer Eye for the Gamer Guy" (similar to the TV show title).[11]

The MMORPG game The Lord of the Rings Online dropped a planned online marriage feature because of the controversy around restrictions on same-sex and inter-species marriage.[12] The online magazine for gaymers GayGamer.net commented that, while J. R. R. Tolkien was a devout Christian, his stance on gay rights isn't known as the topic wasn't a public issue at the time.[13]

GaymerX convention [edit]

Main article: GaymerX

On July 31, 2012, a Kickstarter project was started for GaymerCon, which was later renamed to GaymerX,[14] for a convention that billed itself as being "the first gaming convention focused on LGBTQ geek culture." Within five days, the Kickstarter project passed the funding goal of $25,000 USD, and after the full funding period of 30 days, the project reached the final total of $91,389.[15][16]

GaymerX will take place on August 3 and 4, 2013, in San Francisco. The event has received support from Electronic Arts and GLAAD.[17][18][19]

Trademark controversy [edit]

In April 2007 Chris Vizzini, owner of the gaming site Gaymer.org, sought to trademark the term gaymer with respect to online communities[20] and got it in March 2008.[21][22] In 2012, he sent a cease and desist letter to reddit's /r/gaymers subreddit forum, for alleged trademark infringement.[21][23][24] Vizzini has been criticized by the reddit and gaymer communities, who cite examples of use from as early as 1991,[25][26] and a Yahoo Groups online community with that name created in 2000.[27][28] Vizzini's website was taken out of service in September, 2012; he has claimed that this was due to a denial of service attack.[29] On two occasions Vizzini posted new threads to the /r/gaymers forum explaining his position[30][31] and apologizing for "hurting his own people", but not for filing the trademark.[32]

On January 24, 2013 members of r/gaymers, supported by pro bono lawyers from Perkins Coie and Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed a petition at the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel Vizzini's trademark on the term, on the basis that it was used with that meaning since the mid-1990s.[33][34][35][36] Vizzini reinstated his intent to defend the trademark on the site's name, that he started as an online community on 2003 as a way to build a positive brand from a term that had negative connotations.[37][38]

See also [edit]

Portal icon LGBT portal
Portal icon Video games portal
Look up gaymer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Sliwinski, Alexander (2006-06-10). "First-ever survey of gay videogamers". Washington Blade. 
  2. ^ a b Sliwinski, Alexander (2006-06-08). "Gay video game player survey". In Newsweekly. 
  3. ^ a b Fahey, Mike (2009-10-08). "What Do Gay Gamers Want From Their Games?". Kotaku.com. 
  4. ^ a b Hyman, Jamie (2009-09-03). "Orlando student conducts gay gamer survey". Orlando Watermark. 
  5. ^ Sliwinski, Alexander. "Gay gamer survey results with large hetero inclusion". Joystiq. 
  6. ^ Alexander Sliwinski (2007-02-26). "Joystiq interviews gay gamer survey's creator Jason Rockwood". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  7. ^ "Student creates new gay gaming survey". Pink News. 
  8. ^ Sliwinski, Alexander (2009-10-08). "New 'gaymer' survey explores sexual identity, interest in games". Joystiq.com. 
  9. ^ Lynsen, Joshua (2009-09-18). "A laudable quest". The Washington Blade. 
  10. ^ "Paul S. Nowak".  (Pdf archive)
  11. ^ Issue 222 "Queer Eye for the Gamer Guy". The Escapist. 
  12. ^ Katherine Glover. "Why can't gay dwarves get married in Middle-earth?". Salon.com. 
  13. ^ Ian Bogost. "No marriage, gay or otherwise, in Middle Earth". 
  14. ^ "GaymerCon Renamed ‘GaymerX’ in Response to Trademark Dispute". 
  15. ^ http://kotaku.com/5939944/gaymercon-is-fully-funded++and-then-some++for-a-2013-meeting
  16. ^ http://www.destructoid.com/gaymercon-beats-funding-goal-in-five-days-232630.phtml
  17. ^ http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/30083/ea-becomes-first-major-game-company-to-join-gaymercon
  18. ^ "GaymerCon: Everybody Games on Kickstarter". 
  19. ^ http://www.glaad.org/blog/gaymercon-and-glaad-team-spirit-day-video-contest
  20. ^ Alexander Sliwinski (2007-05-08). "Gaymer.org looks to trademark 'Gaymer'". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
  21. ^ a b "Apple, Samsung, Reddit, DirecTV: Intellectual Property". Bloomberg. 
  22. ^ "Trademark went through". gaymer.org. 
  23. ^ Lydia Sung. "Reddit issued cease and desist for r/gaymers subreddit due to trademark". neoseeker.com. 
  24. ^ "Gaymer.org's official response to r/gaymers". gaygamer.net. 
  25. ^ "Gaymer (a gay role-playing enthusiast)". Google Groups. 
  26. ^ "r/gaymers Sub-reddit's Future Uncertain Thanks To Gaymer.org's Cease And Desist Letter". iDigitalTimes. 
  27. ^ "Gaymer v. Reddit". [1]. 
  28. ^ Yahoo Groups - gaymers
  29. ^ "Gaymer Website Gets Taken Offline After Trademark Scuffle With Reddit". egmnow.com. 
  30. ^ "Regarding Reddit Cease and Desist from Gaymer.org".  reddit.com
  31. ^ "To clear up a few things".  reddit.com
  32. ^ "Comment by Chris Vizzini".  at reddit.com. "I guess I could have worded it better when I said I didnt owe an apology. I meant I owed none in terms of my trademarking gaymer. [...] What I do feel badly about is hurting my own people, meaning you guys. So for that I do apologize. It wasnt [sic] my own people I thought I was dealing with. I thought it was a company called reddit who was swiping traffic to my site."
  33. ^ "Reddit gay gamers to fight Gaymer trademark". [[Wired (magazine)|]]. 
  34. ^ "“Gaymer” trademark has to go, say reddit's gay gamers". Ars Technica. 
  35. ^ "Reddit 'Gaymers' Fight to Protect Online Forum from Bogus Trademark Claims". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 
  36. ^ "Update! /r/gaymers is fighting back; the Trademark Issue". 
  37. ^ "Owner of “gaymer” trademark says he's an underdog, not a bully". Ars Technica. 
  38. ^ "Help Save Gaymer - Erase the Hate". Gaymer.org. 
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