GaymerX

Last updated
GaymerX
GaymerXLogo.png
StatusActive
Location(s)San Francisco, CA
CountryUnited States
InauguratedGaymerX - August 2013
Website gaymerx.org

GaymerX is an American public-benefit nonprofit corporation based in California dedicated to celebrating and supporting LGBTQ+ people and culture in the world of gaming, with a focus on video games. [1] GaymerX puts on a fan-facing convention with LGBT-oriented gaming and geek culture, or gaymer, with panels primarily focused on LGBT issues and debates in the gaming industry.

Contents

History

GaymerX was founded in August 2013 by Matt Conn and Toni Rocca as part of MidBoss. [2]

The goal was to establish a space for those who felt larger gaming conventions like E3 were unwelcoming places for LGBT gamers. [3] The first instance of GaymerX was financed through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, [4] and occurred on August 3 and 4, 2013 in San Francisco, CA. [5] Organizers have said the event is about uniting gay gamers, not creating a division among gamers, [6] as they want to create a "safe place" for LGBT gamers. [7]

The planned convention began with significant news coverage of its initial Kickstarter launch, but the event achieved more widespread attention after the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, known widely as a hate group that pickets espousing homophobic statements, announced that they would protest the convention. [8] [9]

GaymerX began with a Kickstarter project launched on August 1, 2012, which was covered by sites such as Examiner and GamePolitics.com. [10] The convention raised over $14,000 in its first two days, [6] exceeded its goal of $25,000 as early as August 6, [11] [12] and ended with over $90,000. [12] Throughout the fundraising campaign, organizers added new support levels, in addition to existing support levels that include admission to the event and voice acting from Ellen McLain. [13] At a session during the convention, McLain took part as assistant to a marriage proposal to help an attendee propose to his boyfriend by voicing a version of the song Still Alive with reworked lyrics.

GaymerX2 Logo.png

GaymerX2 was held at the InterContinental Hotel between July 11–13, 2014 in downtown San Francisco. It featured Darren Young, the first openly gay wrestler in the WWE, [14] who revealed that he would be a playable character in the upcoming WWE 2K15. [15]

In July 2017 Gaymerx officially incorporated as a 501c3 nonprofit, separating it from MidBoss. [16] At this time a board of directors was formed consisting of Raymond Lancione, Tanya DePass, Brian Kunde, Soraya Een Hajji, Steven Harmon, and Eugenio Vargas. [17] Matt Conn was replaced by Toni Rocca as executive director.

In 2018 Matt Conn was accused of labor rights violations. While Matt had not been affiliated with GaymerX since the organization split from MidBoss the previous year, he was the head of MidBoss, which had been a major sponsor of past events. In response GaymerX announced they were cutting all ties with MidBoss, and would no longer allow them to sponsor future events. [18] Although shortly afterwards Matt resigned from MidBoss, [19] the two organizations have had not had any further relationship.

In April 2018 GaymerX named a new Executive Director, Katie Kaitchuck, [20] replacing Toni Rocca. Since her appointment, they have launched a new scholarship program to help LGBT developers get into the industry. [21]

In January GaymerX East 2019 was announced [22] and planned to take place on April 27 & 28 at the Microsoft Conference Center in Times Square. [22] On February 14, 2019, it was announced that GaymerX East 2019 had been cancelled. [23]

Events

NameDatesVenueLocationAtten.Guests of Honor
GaymerXAug 3 – Aug 4, 2013 [24] Hotel Kabuki & Hotel Tomo San Francisco, California 1,400 Ellen McLain, Zach Weiner, Matthew Michael Brown, Anna Anthropy, John Patrick Lowrie, Pandora Boxx
GaymerX2Jul 11 – Jul 13, 2014 InterContinental Hotel San Francisco, California 1,900 David Gaider, Mattie Brice, Alexis Ohanian, Gordon Bellamy, Darren Young, [25] Zach Weiner, 2 Mello, Colleen Macklin, Jaime Woo
GXDev: Everyone CreatesJan 9 - Jan 11, 2015 PubNub San Francisco, California 60Johnnemann Nordhagen, Anna Kipnis, Kortney Ziegler, Matt Conn
GX3: Everyone GamesDec 11 – Dec 13, 2015 San Jose Convention Center San Jose, California 2,429 Jennifer Hale, [26] Zach Weiner, Anita Sarkeesian, Rob Jagnow, Jamin Warren, Natasha Allegri, Trixie Mattel [27]
GaymerX • Year FourSep 30 - Oct 2, 2016 Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, California 2,100 Dave Fennoy, David Gaider, Tim Cain, Kitty Powers
GaymerX EastNov 12 - Nov 13, 2017Microsoft Technology Center New York City, New York ?Kitty Powers, Mattie Brice, Robert Yang, SAMMUS, Shawn Alexander Allen, Tanya DePass
GaymerX East 2019cancelled [23] (was Apr 27-28, 2019)Microsoft Conference Center in Times Square New York City, New York Brandon Stennis, Katherine Cross, D.J. Kirkland [28]

GXDev: Everyone Creates

GXDev: Everyone Creates, was a game jam and hackathon that happened over January 9 through 11th in 2015 and featured over 40 developers who produced over 10 games featuring queer content and themes, [29] including one about "dating butts", [30] and one about polyamory. [31]

AwardGame Name
Judge's ChoicePatchwork
Crowd ChoiceFatal[e]
Diplomacy AwardHere’s Your Fuckin’ Papers
#suchridiculousCheek 2 Cheek
The Whole Picture (Most Complete)Cactus Seeking Hug
Best FeminismFatal[e]
LSD AwardCosmic Endeerment
Tobii EyeX AwardCosmic Endeerment
Firebase AwardWe Are Here
Volume AwardConsensual Chaos
Strangest GamePatchwork
Prismatic Award for DiversityCheek 2 Cheek
Best MessageShiny Things

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamer</span> Hobbyist who plays video games

A gamer is a someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved into a profession for some, with some gamers routinely competing in games for money, prizes, or awards. In some countries, such as the US, UK, and Australia, the term "gaming" can refer to legalized gambling, which can take both traditional and digital forms, such as through online gambling. There are many different gamer communities around the world. Since the advent of the Internet, many communities take the form of Internet forums or YouTube or Twitch virtual communities, as well as in-person social clubs. In 2021, there were an estimated 3.24 billion gamers across the globe.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters have been depicted in video games since the 1980s. Throughout the history of video games, LGBT characters have been almost nonexistent for a long time, reflecting the overall heteronormativity of the medium. While there has been a trend towards greater representation of LGBT people in video games, they are frequently identified as LGBT in secondary material, such as comics, rather than in the games themselves. Often, LGBT characters and themes, when they are included, are underrepresented, minimized, or watered down. Queer games and characters have also often found themselves being the subjects of cultural crossfires or moral panics. In 2018, Sam Greer of GamesRadar+ found only 179 games commercially released games with any LGBT representation, only 83 of which have queer characters who are playable characters, and only 8 of those games feature a main character who is pre-written as queer as opposed to them being queer as an option.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaymer</span> LGBT gamer

Gaymer and gay gamer are umbrella terms used to refer to the group of people who are identified as homosexual and have an active interest in video games or tabletop games, also known as gamers. Lesbian, bisexual, and transgender gamers are often categorized under this term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Rosser</span> American professional wrestler

Frederick Douglas Rosser III is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former Strong Openweight Champion. He is best known for his time with WWE under the ring name Darren Young.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.

Matt Conn is the founder and former CEO of MidBoss. He is known for the creation of GaymerX, the cyberpunk story adventure game Read Only Memories, and producing the LGBTQ video game documentary Gaming In Color.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+(LGBTQ+)music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen McLain</span> American voice actress (born 1952 or 1953)

Ellen McLain is an American voice actress. She is best known for providing the voice of GLaDOS, the primary antagonist of the Portal video game series, the Combine Overwatch AI in Half-Life 2, and the Administrator, the announcer in Team Fortress 2. Her voice roles also include the Jaeger A.I. in Pacific Rim and The Witch in Left 4 Dead 2.

<i>WWE 2K15</i> 2014 video game

WWE 2K15 is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to WWE 2K14, and was succeeded by WWE 2K16. It was released on October 28, 2014, in North America and on October 31, 2014, in Europe for last generation consoles and released on November 18, 2014, in North America and on November 21, 2014, in Europe for current generation consoles. It was released for Microsoft Windows on April 28, 2015, and was the first WWE game to be released on the platform since WWE Raw, which was released in 2002. Online server play was shut down on May 31, 2016. It is the first game in the series to use the new WWE logo since it was introduced earlier in 2014, which was originally used as the logo of the WWE Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MidBoss</span> Game development company

MidBoss is an American video game and media production company that was founded by members of the GaymerX team as they expanded beyond GaymerX into other ventures, specifically Gaming in Color and 2064: Read Only Memories.

<i>2064: Read Only Memories</i> 2015 video game

2064: Read Only Memories is a cyberpunk adventure game developed by MidBoss. It was directed by John "JJSignal" James, written by Valerie Amelia Thompson and Philip Jones, and features an original soundtrack by 2 Mello.

Gaming In Color is a documentary film by MidBoss about queer people in gaming. Directed by Philip Jones, Gaming In Color focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) issues in video games, gaymer culture and events, and the rise of queer themes in gaming. The film is largely interview based, and features notable gay gaming personalities in the industry and communities.

<i>Hex Heroes</i> Video game

Hex Heroes is an unreleased-canceled party, real-time strategy game. Originally in development for Wii U since 2014, the console's eShop closed in March 2023. The game remains unfinished, with plans to release on Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux. It is ostensibly being developed by Prismatic Games, and designed by Mario Castañeda, who previously co-created The Bridge.

Jaime Woo is a Canadian writer and game developer. He is best known for his 2013 book Meet Grindr: How One App Changed the Way We Connect, an exploration of the impact of Grindr on social interaction in the gay male community which was a shortlisted nominee for the Lambda Literary Award for non-fiction at the 26th Lambda Literary Awards.

Geeks OUT is a New York City-based, non-profit organization, founded in 2010, whose mission is to rally, empower, and promote the queer geek community. The content on its website often focuses on gaming, video gaming culture, comics, superheroes, science fiction, television, film, and other "geek" media, through a queer lens. Geeks OUT has left a "solid impact on geek culture." Geeks OUT is host to the world's largest LGBTQ queer comic con, Flame Con.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ClexaCon</span>

ClexaCon is a former annual fan convention focused on female members of the LGBTQ community. The convention is named after the "ship" name for Clarke and Lexa, characters on the CW series The 100. The inaugural ClexaCon was held at Bally's Hotel and Casino from March 3–5, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flame Con</span>

Flame Con is an annual two-day multi-genre entertainment and comic convention, focused on fans and creators of pop culture who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). Launched in 2015, it is the first LGBTQ comic convention in New York City, and the largest LGBTQ comic convention in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT culture in Nashville</span>

LGBT culture in Nashville consists of the LGBT friendliness, resources, communities, activities for the LGBT community in Nashville and the surrounding areas.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us – GaymerX: Everyone Games" . Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  2. ↑ "GaymerX cuts all ties to MidBoss". GamesIndustry.biz. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  3. ↑ Malcolm Thorndike Nicholson (26 June 2015), WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER AND WE LOVE THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
  4. ↑ "GaymerX on Kickstarter". Kickstarter.
  5. ↑ "GaymerCon for LGBT gamers". BoingBoing. 16 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 "GaymerCon is about uniting gay gamers, not separation". VentureBeat. 6 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "GaymerCon wants to provide a "safe place" for LGBTQ gamers". ArsTechnica. 10 August 2012.
  8. ↑ Nate Cook. "Gay Gaming Con To Be Protested By Westboro". Upcoming Cons. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  9. ↑ Nicholas Tan (5 August 2013). "GaymerX: Best Weekend Evar". gamerevolution.com. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  10. ↑ "GaymerCon Raises over $14,000 in Two Days". GamePolitics.
  11. ↑ "LGBT convention GaymerCon secures Kickstarter funding". ShackNews.
  12. 1 2 "GaymerCon: Everybody Games". Kickstarter.
  13. ↑ Lana Polansky. "Ellen McLain Summons GLaDOS to Voice Support for GaymerCon". GameRanx.
  14. ↑ Travis Waldron. "WWE's Darren Young Comes Out As First Openly Gay Professional Wrestler". ThinkProgress.
  15. ↑ Hayner, Chris (July 11, 2014). "WWE's Darren Young reveals his 'WWE 2K15' character: Pic". Zap2It . Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  16. ↑ "GaymerX Foundation becomes a nonprofit to boost its diversity mission". VentureBeat. 2017-07-07. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  17. ↑ "Who We Are – GaymerX: Everyone Games" . Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  18. ↑ "GaymerX Cuts All Ties to MidBoss Amid Allegations Against Founder". pastemagazine.com. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  19. ↑ "MidBoss names Cade Peterson interim CEO". GamesIndustry.biz. 6 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  20. ↑ "GaymerX". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  21. ↑ "GaymerX GDC Scholarship – GaymerX: Everyone Games" . Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  22. 1 2 "GaymerX East 2019 – GaymerX: Everyone Games" . Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  23. 1 2 Kaitchuck, Katie (February 14, 2019). "GaymerX East '19 Has Been Cancelled". News. gaymerx.org. Archived from the original on 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
  24. ↑ "GaymerCon 2013". Upcoming Cons.
  25. ↑ "Openly Gay WWE Superstar Darren Young Joins GaymerX2". Upcoming Cons.
  26. ↑ "Gamer idol Jennifer Hale to prove Everyone Games at GX3". CNET.
  27. ↑ "Bosses of Honor|GX3: Everyone Games" . Retrieved 2014-12-23.
  28. ↑ "GaymerX East 2019 – GaymerX: Everyone Games" . Retrieved 2019-02-05.
  29. ↑ "GXdev" . Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  30. ↑ Riendeau, Danielle (January 16, 2015). "Inspired by the best character in Bob's Burgers, here's a game about butts". Polygon. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  31. ↑ "A game about gardening, cute deer and dating multiple people". Polygon . 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.