Gay Gamers Treated Badly by Kids in Gaming Universe
It's probably not news to anyone who's played an internet-enabled, multi-player video game in the last few years (or anyone who's ever met a teenage boy, for that matter) that LGBT gamers often face name-calling and harassment in the game-o-sphere when they advertise their sexual orientation. The Bay Area Reporter just published this investigative report in which they speak to several people in the industry -- including Flynn DeMarco of gaygamer.net and Caryl Shaw, a senior producer for the Sims and Spore -- who discuss things they've heard and seen. The takeaways: The Sims welcomes all kinds of sexual proclivities, gender identities and whathaveyou, but the multi-player environment of Xbox Live -- which is particularly rife with children and teens -- does not allow players to display their sexual orientation in their profile, gamertag or elsewhere.
Given the nature of the environment, both anonymous and full of immaturity, this seems like a dicey issue to solve. If you play with teenagers, shouldn't you expect to be treated like a teenager? We know the gaming market is full of adults, but in any environment where you mix underage people with adults with absolutely no accountability, there are going to be assholes (see diagram above, which also pertains to commenters), and there are going to be controversies surrounding sexuality. But should gay and lesbian people have to be closeted if they want to play these games?
The Sword (semi-NSFW) did this panel discussion among gay gamers in which they discuss forming gay World of Warcraft guilds other highlights of gay gaming.