Gaymer: Information from Answers.com

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

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).

1 Origin
2 Community
3 Websites
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

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.^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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". 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.^[2] 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."^[3]

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. "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 Mr. Nowak’s survey are still pending, the survey team reports that over 5000 people have participated in the survey to date.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Many websites for GLBT video gamers have gone far to promote visibility in what is traditional preconceived to be a straight white male demographic. Recently, games such as Fable 2 have included things like gay marriage mechanic for players. While this originally wasn't going to be included in Fable 2, the creative director of the game, Peter Molyneux, after meeting with several members of they 'gaymer' community realized that there were players and fans of the series who wanted it in the game and thus make sure it was included in Fable 2. Fable 2 of course changed because the players were no longer gender neutral and had the Male - Female sex assigned to persons within the game.

While the acceptance of 'gaymers' within the greater gaming community has grown stronger, the recent controversy of Microsoft either forcing uses to change their gamer tags to not reflect on their sexuality or face being banned from Xbox Live has being stain on the progress of the gaming community as a whole. A user with the tag 'GayGamer' might be forced to change their name to something sexuality neutral. Many times, GBLT gamers will face harassment over Xbox Live from other users and will have their accounts reported. In some cases GBLT gamers have actually been temporarily banned from Xbox Live because of these false reporting of their accounts by homophobic members of Xbox Live. Recently, GLAAD, or the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has been working with Microsoft to rectify these issue and fine ways for gamers to express their sexuality in some way or another in there Xbox Live profiles and avoid harassment and threats from other Xbox Live members.

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 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 HomoMojo.com.

Fraggot Gaming, is one of the original Gay Gamer or 'Gaymer' web communities based around first person shooter's (FPS) and is generally more inclinded to PC gaming. While there are 'Fraggots' who play on consoles, the Fraggot community is heavily based around Valve's Steam service with a Groups for the community called Fraggots and another group for Fraggot Clan Members. They currently have 282 members and 44 members respectively. The Fraggot community welcomes clan applications from any active member in the fraggot communtiy and accepts challenges from other clans as well. The Fraggots currently runs three Team Fortress 2 servers along with a Left 4 Dead server and Insurgency server. It uses a voice-over-IP (VOIP) service known as Ventrilo for communication while in game without a heavy CPU load. Fraggot Gaming also partners with official community servers for Counter Strike: Source (CSS) and a fourth Team Fortress 2 server along with a server for 'Garry's Mod'. The Fraggot FPS community seeks to promote understand in the FPS community of GBLTS players and provide spaces for GBLTS persons to play and communicate while enjoying FPS's gameplay. The Fraggot website currently runs a forum on its website with 203 members.

iGaymer launched in June 2008 with a community-focused website featuring interviews and video profiles of self-professed gay geeks.

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.^[8]

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 members.^[9] 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.

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 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 previously produced a weekly podcast.