Old Game, New Buzz, Gay Community Outraged
Pink News reports on gay groups becoming re-outraged over a game which requires players to shoot gay men. The game is called “Watch Out Behind You, Hunter”, and was originally launched in 2002 by frenchie Stéphane Aguie. The game is banned in France, but that hasn’t stopped it from making the rounds and finding a new host.
The gay group Gay Armenia said it was “completely disgusted” by the game, adding that it was created by “those religious-minded people in Tbilisi, Georgia… who constantly cite Bible to ‘justify’ their homophobia and hatred. A post on the gay group’s blog added: “Is this their ‘orthodox’ way of bringing up children by creating an image of an enemy and teaching them how to deal with it?”
The website’s owner, Jean Christophe Calvet, has rebuked claims of prejudice, saying that he “really didn’t understand why the association was attacking us” . He told news site France24.com: “The guy who came up with the game, Stéphane Aguie, wanted to mock hunters and rednecks, not gay men”.
He continued: “Our games are not politically correct. They’re aimed at teenagers and it’s true that they’re of a juvenile humour”. Mr Calvet said that while the game was removed from French websites after legal action from gay rights groups, it is “impossible to wipe it from all foreign sites too”.
He added: “Incidentally, not everyone in the gay community was supportive of banning the game. “I realise now that this one in particular could be found shocking, but I believe that you should be able to make this kind of joke in the name of freedom of speech.” The site has faced backlash for its games before. In 2001 it was criticised by American groups for a game entitled ‘New York Defender’ where the object was to protect the Twin Towers from plane attacks.
Mr Calvet also commented that the site was attacked over its depiction of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front. He took the creators to court after the game involved users throwing axes at his face. He was not the only celebrity depicted in the game, but for him, the axes were changed to swastikas. He added: “In the end, its all a bit of fun.”
See Old Game, New Buzz, Gay Community Outraged
Ve3d.com
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/old-game-new-…
2009 Gay Soccer World Championship Opens in Washington D.C. on Sunday June 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC — The International Gay & Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) will open the 2009 Gay Soccer World Championship (www.iglfa2009.org) in the Washington D.C. area on Sunday morning June 14, 2009. The 2009 Gay Soccer World Championship is being hosted by the Federal Triangles Soccer Club (FTSC) of Washington, D.C. This marks the first time the tournament has been held in the United States since 2004 when it was held in San Francisco. This also marks the second time that this tournament is being hosted in the Washington D.C. area by FTSC.
This year the IGLFA 2009 Official Gay Soccer World Championship tournament coincides with the end of Capital Gay Pride. The Capital Pride organization is a partner with IGLFA 2009. The 2009 IGLFA Tournament is also being supported by both the D.C. United of Major League Soccer and the Washington Freedom of the Women’s Professional Soccer League. Both the D.C. United and Washington Freedom will have players signing autographs this Sunday, June 14th at the Capital Pride Festival.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/2009-gay-socc…
MoxieQ Launches First Mobile “Gay Sensibility” Destination for Consumers Who Want the Gay POV
MoxieQ, the first mobile-centric gay entertainment publisher, today announced its official launch as a mobile and online entertainment destination with a gay sensibility. MoxieQ was founded by two pioneers in the mobile advertising industry — Heidi Lehmann, co-founder of Third Screen Media (which was acquired by AOL in May 2007) and Kim Olson, a founding member of the Sprint Mobile Media Network. The service appeals to the more than 16 million, $712 billion-spending members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community as well as other consumers who want the gay perspective.
The Premier Gay Mobile Entertainment Destination
The publisher debuted its editorial talents at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York, March 28th and in LA, April 18th, where MoxieQ media personalities Ryan and Caroline, formerly of Clear Channel’s Pride Radio, conducted red carpet interviews with celebrities including Suze Orman, Tyra Banks, Judith Light, Kathy Griffin and Wilson Cruz. The GLAAD awards recognize accurate and fair LGBT portrayals and news content in the media.
“We are proud to share our TV ‘Gayed’ weekly guide to what’s LGBT on TV and outstanding LGBT-inclusive commercials from GLAAD’s online ad library with MoxieQ as they bring important and entertaining content to our community on the go,” said Neil Giuliano, President of GLAAD.
Leading Brand and Celebrity Partners
MoxieQ partners include a number of leading LGBT celebrities and brands: BRAVO’s “The Fashion Show” personality and underwear designer Andrew Christian, DishMiss, Gay Cities, GLAAD, LOTL, Ryan and Caroline, Under the Pink Carpet and Witeck Combs Communications.
“I am excited to have my products featured in the ‘Daily Briefs’ section of MoxieQ,” said Andrew Christian. “My viewers and customers are young, hip, and on the move which means the mobile channel is a primary way for them to discover new products. MoxieQ is a perfect match for us to expose our latest designs directly to our target consumer.”
For Advertisers Targeting the LGBT Community
MoxieQ exclusives deliver sassy, short-form content such as Test your Gay IQ, Psychic Snacs (“gay” horoscopes), Ask Mr. Moxie, “Bite, Sip and Buy” recommendations for gay and green businesses, and up-to-the-minute Gay Weather.
“The LGBT and LGBT-friendly demographics are a perfect fit for both mobile and advertising, with an audience that is increasingly looked to by the mainstream consumer as trendsetters with tremendous influence and insight into what is hot and cutting-edge,” said MoxieQ founder and CEO Heidi Lehmann. “MoxieQ is designed to provide both a primary source of entertaining content and interactivity with a gay twist and an extremely targeted environment for brands who want to reach this valuable community.”
MoxieQ is designed to appeal to the gay community and people who want access to fun and irreverent gay themed content, games, and “in the know” advice and insights. The destination is ad-supported with future revenue models to include premium, syndicated and online content. MoxieQ Media is available now on the mobile phone at: http://m.moxieq.com or on the web at www.moxieq.com.
About MoxieQ Media, Inc.
Based in New York City, MoxieQ is an entertainment and advocacy site with a gay sensibility. It features original, syndicated, and user generated content, formatted for mobile phones and the PC. MoxieQ’s unique mix of information, games, recommendations, audio, video and interactivity, captures the irreverence and trendsetting perspective of this hip and influential demographic. Through MoxieQ, Fortune 500 brands will be able to reach the LGBT market directly. For more information, visit us at http://m.moxieq.com or www.moxieq.com.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/moxieq-launch…
LGBT athletes team up for sports visibility
LGBT athletes will take to the fields, the courts, the pool and many other venues this weekend for a series of events that exhibit the varied sports prospects for the community.
Sports Week, June 5-14, is organized by Team Philadelphia, the umbrella organization that oversees all Philadelphia LGBT sports, which has spearheaded the series since 1992.
“We started this as a way to introduce people to the organizations that were a part of Team Philadelphia and to promote awareness of the opportunities available to LGBT people in athletics,” said Rick Van Tassel, Team Philadelphia board member and director of Sports Week.
Van Tassel said Sports Week additionally functions as a precursor to the quadrennial Gay Games, which will next be held in 2010 in Cologne, Germany.
Soheila Nikpour, Team Philadelphia chairperson, said the week also helps to dispel myths among mainstream athletic communities that LGBT individuals are not interested in sports.
See LGBT athletes team up for sports visibility
Philadelphia Gay News -
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/lgbt-athletes…
Gay marriage ‘legal’ in Sims 3
Popular EA game, ‘The Sims 3′, was released this week at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. And while California recently opposed legalizing gay marriage, the makers of ‘The Sims’ have allowed it in their newest version.
Lyle Masaki at After Elton explained that in the game’s first release in 2000, same sex couples were only able to move in together and could not be officially married. The Sims 2, released in 2004, allowed gay couples to be “joined.”
Now, Masaki wrote:
So when I bought my copy of the latest Sims game yesterday, I wanted to find out if gay couples had taken another step forward and now had the ability to get married like any other couple … and after a week of game time, I was able to get a male couple to plan a wedding party and tie the knot.
It may seem like a small step for a game series that has always been LGB-inclusive, but games that treat gay people equally are still pretty rare. Homophobia is still sadly common among video game communities and, worse, some companies’ attempts to deal with anti-gay harassment have ended up being even more repressive to queer players.
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Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/gay-marriage-…
Lesbians And Gays In Gaming
As gaming grows into a more mature artistic medium, elements of the “real world” that were once completely separate from games are creeping in, so make room for the gays and lesbians, everyone! Whether gamers like it or not, the issue of how to treat the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered community in games is quickly becoming an area of controversy.
The influx of people who live non-traditional lives is forcing game companies to come up with more nuanced policies to deal with gays in games. For example, Bioware dealt with the issue by banning the words “gay” and “lesbian” from their forums, then unbanning them, and Microsoft and Sony have had their own methods of dealing with words and concepts that make some people uncomfortable.
A recent post on Ars Technica takes an in-depth look at the issue, specifically, the ad-hoc “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell” policy many think is the answer to the problem. Basically, the argument goes like this: Games aren’t about your sexuality, so as long as you don’t identify yourself as gay or lesbian in an way, there won’t be a problem… which might make sense to you, but what if you substituted the word “Black” for gay?Censoring certain words from profiles is not only discriminatory, it also creates the idea that there’s something wrong with whatever the word is. The words “gay,” “lesbian” and “queer” present unique problems, however, as they are used as points of pride or as slurs, depending on how they’re being said and who is talking. All of which creates the kind of gray area that you can hardly expect the common Xbox Live citizen to either respect or understand.
While using “gay” and “fag” as insults has been around probably since the first online game was ever played, I imagine identifying yourself as homosexual on your profile would open you up to online harassment in a big way, but that’s exactly why gay people should be “allowed” to identify themselves online, if they choose to. I truly believe that if people hang out, game-with and otherwise co-exist with different kinds people, eventually the problem will settle itself. Because, in the end, it’s no big deal. See, gay people are just like you, and you’re just like them, and gay gamers just want to play games, so let’s all chill out and act like humans, eh? See Lesbians And Gays In Gaming
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Proposals for Games reviewed
Finalist cities for 2014 event are Boston, Cleveland and Washington, DC.
Proposals for Games reviewed
Finalist cities for 2014 event are Boston, Cleveland and Washington, DC.
