HIGH SCORE 000004010PLEDGES

The Pledge:

As a gamer, I realize I contribute to an incredibly diverse social network of gamers around the world, and that my actions have the ability to impact others. In effort to make a positive impact, and to create a community that is welcoming to all, I pledge to not use bigoted language while gaming, online and otherwise.

Bigoted language includes, but is not limited to, slurs based on race? (e.g, "chink," "nigger," "wetback"), ethnicity? (e.g., "kyke," "polock"), gender? (e.g., "cunt," "bitch," "tranny"), religion? (e.g., "dirty jew," "papist"), sexual orientation? (e.g., "gay," "fag[got]," "dyke"), and disability? (e.g., "retard[ed]").

Read more about the pledge, including what is and isn't included, and the overall purpose here.

Read why you shouldn't use the word "rape" casually here.

Sign the Pledge

Communication: A reflection on the Microsoft press conference

Posted by & filed under Opinion.

The weight of your words impacts others every time you use them no matter where you are or who you are talking to. This includes the internet. There has been the continued belief that the separation of an electronically powered screen removes the impetus of ones words whether you are in the same room or across the world from one another. It isn’t true and never has been.

It was highly relevant Monday during a Killer Instinct promo at the Microsoft Press Conference where what have long been considered “rape jokes” along with blatant sexual innuendos where Killer Instinct Producer Torrence says,”Wow you like this” and Communications Director Ashton, one of the only female speakers at the Microsoft Press Conference says, “No, I don’t like this” then drops her controller down to one hand as he finishes her off. They were feet from each other separated by electronic devices yet, the awkwardness from the “banter” was still visible to me half the nation away in Austin, Tx. Ashtons’ defeat was obviously scripted to showcase new additions to the Xbox franchise. They played again, Ashton defeated Torrence and banter was very light with Ashton saying, “Maybe I should be a producer.”

Gaming is a very influential industry, full of intelligent people. Why have we yet to fully figure out that “rape jokes” are flat out inappropriate? Along with jokes about homosexuality, race, gender, disability, class, and anything that degrades an individual for who they are. Why are we making fun of each other for who we are? We as an industry and as players are and have been better than this since the creation of the industry. Have we allowed our insecurities to supersede our better selves? I have no other answers for why we have continued to allow this to continue to happen for so long other than game play having turned into a community of enablers. It is not and never has been appropriate to do something just because everyone else, your friend, or your icon did it or is doing it.

[Also read: Why "Just Let it Happen, It'll Be Over Soon" Is a Rape Joke, and Extremely Problematic]

Companies have also long held this belief that if they establish rules in their communities that “clean up” unhealthy behavior to create healthier communities that they will lose all of their players. This is actually not true. Why are you enabling a handful of bullies to run your community? If you create a healthy community for all, by listening to all of your community (including your potential community), after you create a healthier environment you will more than be compensated for doing so, and your community will grow exponentially.

As a female I don’t want to play in a community online where I know I’m going to be harassed. I’d personally prefer a healthy community where I know I’m going to enjoy myself. Companies are responsible for the communities and the environments they create. You establish the guidelines and rules for communication. Having excellent community directors and managers changes everything.

Healthy and positive communities ensure healthy and positive people!

Why “Just let it happen, it’ll be over soon” is a rape joke, and extremely problematic

Posted by & filed under Opinion.

(Trigger warning: this article contains graphic language related to rape)

If you missed what happened at Microsoft’s E3 press event, you can read this great write-up we posted yesterday, but I want to talk about what I think is the most unsettling thing about this entire incident: the section of our population who keeps insisting “just let it happen, it’ll be over soon” is not a rape joke, or — and this is even worse — that it’s not a big deal because it’s just normal trash talk.

This debate was happening all over Twitter, various discussion boards, and even made its way to the comments of our Facebook post last night.

Let me help: “just let it happen, it’ll be over soon” absolutely is a rape joke, and it is normal trash talk, and that is the problem. Watch the video at Kotaku to get a better sense of the context for what I’m about to talk about if you haven’t already seen it.

It absolutely is a rape joke.

It’s a rape joke because it is a phrase rapists use during rape and is reported later by survivors; it’s used commonly enough that a huge number of people heard him say that and immediately went “WTF” on Twitter, in their minds, and in their stomachs; and it’s a joke because people laughed (is it worth noting it was the only thing people really laughed at in that demo?).

And it is normal trash talk.

It’s a rape joke that is a variation the many rape-related phrases and jokes that get used flippantly in games to describe a severe defeat. “You might as well try to enjoy it” or “don’t fight it” or “I wish you had at least used lube” or (the most common) “I/we just got raped.” Some of these are phrases perpetrators of rape use during the act and are later turned into jokes by us, while others are victim-centric and used as a self-deprecating joke to dismiss a bad loss — all of them condone and normalize rape, and they are all problematic.

And that is the problem.

Before you shout “They were playing Killer Instinct! It’s a fighting game where people kill each other! What’s it matter if there’s a rape joke?” read our public stance on rape references, which goes into great detail why rape jokes/references are far more harmful than the “I’m going to blow your head off” type language that gets tossed around. Rape-related threats and trash talk are completely different from general violent threats, but you know that, because you read the article (right?).

Casual rape jokes are normalized far beyond just games culture. Back in the 90s, we (Texans) had a gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams who was asked about rape and joked “if it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.” Yes. That’s real life. Several years before that, Tex Antoine, a New York City weatherman (but originally from Texas… damnit) joked, while responding to a story about a 5-year old girl who was violently raped, “With rape so predominant in the news lately, it is well to remember the words of Confucius: ‘If rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it.’” Also real life. And those are just two examples I knew off the top of my head.

“You’re just looking for something that isn’t there.”

A lot of people seem to think that this is an issue of rabble-rousers trying to find something in this language that isn’t there — that it wasn’t a rape reference, and we are creating something out of nothing. To quote someone from our Facebook page “I think things are getting to the point where people are looking for stuff like that, and Microsoft, et. al’s appearance as a yeah-brah male dominated culture lends itself easily to that, whether or not there is anything to it.”

Speaking for myself, I can’t tell you how frustrating this is. I am doing the exact opposite of looking for things that “aren’t there,” because there is so much that is there it gets overwhelming at times. The last thing I need is to create a new fight when there are a thousand other unsolved battles underway.

This wasn’t an intellectual thing where I was like, “Ooo! Someone at E3 said something that we can twist into a rape joke and it’ll be great!” I don’t want that. That’s not great. It’d be a huge win if an event went off without any sort of horribleness.

This was a gut, horrible reaction that hit my heart before it hit my head. To temper my reaction, I even asked one of my roommates (who’s not a gamer or social justice-y person), “Hey, no context, if a person said ‘just let it happen, it’ll be over soon,’ what do you think it’d mean?” The verdict: rape reference. He even got the stomach discmfort, and he heard it second-hand.

Let’s talk about the guy who said it!

Actually, let’s not. It doesn’t matter who said it, if he’s a “nice” guy, if he’s a “great team leader,” if he’s generally “supportive of women” in the industry, or (as the most common narrative goes) if he “didn’t mean anything by it.” Doesn’t matter. None of it. I personally don’t think he’s a bad person at all, nor do I think him saying this makes him a bad person, but it doesn’t matter what I think.

He made a rape joke that he’s been told over and over is an okay joke to make while playing games, because he hears those jokes all the time — in games, on television, around his friends, and hopefully-not-but-likely at his workplace.

He made a rape joke in an extremely public (the most public?) event because he’s been formally and informally told it’s totally cool to make rape jokes.

But one thing that is worth pointing out is this particular joke was far more troubling than the normal “we just got raped” usage of “rape” we hear in games. Why? Because the whole dialogue and situation happened to be playing into a situation where a man was exerting violent dominance over a woman (is it worth noting she was the first woman to speak at the event?), and using a rape perpetrator phrase against her. And the dialogue continued with him saying, ”Wow, you like this?” and her replying “No, I don’t like this.” What’s that sound like? Yes, it sounds like a problem.

Instead, let’s talk about what we can do about it.

We can ask for Microsoft or the Killer Instinct Team to issue an apology, beyond the statement (that I hope is true) from a Microsoft spokesperson to Kotaku of “The comments in question during the Killer Instinct demo were not scripted. The demo was meant to include friendly gameplay banter and there was there was no ill intent.” That might be helpful.

But I suggest we stop apologizing, scapegoating, rationalizing, dismissing, and benefit-of-doubt-giving and acknowledge the unfortunate fact that rape is not something that is viewed as a serious issue — not in society at large and particularly not in gaming culture. We can look inside, start to unpack and address why we don’t acknowledge it as a serious issue, have honest dialogues about it, listen to survivors and advocates, and take a firm stance that we will no longer put up with rape being viewed as acceptable in our culture.

That’s my vote, because I, for one, don’t think rape is acceptable in any culture.

[Message Deleted] : Microsoft, Rape Jokes, and the Next Gen of Gamer Culture

Posted by & filed under Opinion.

It’s often said that you don’t read the comments section of any site for intelligent discourse, and the Twitch stream for Gamespot’s E3 coverage is no exception. What can be gleaned from it though, is just how much of gamer culture tolerates the cancer of hate speach, childish scatalogical humour, and just straight-up, ignorant, irritating showboating. Every few messages in the Twitch streams for the day’s E3 content read “<message deleted>” if you were reading it casually, and were peppered with hate speech and ascii art of ejaculating phalluses if you were fast enough to see them before they were automatically deleted.

xbox-reaction-tweets-1

That’s not to say that the industry condones this kind of behaviour, but as we found out throughout the day, and particularly during Microsoft’s press conference, it’s not doing much to quash it either.

The questions that hit me during Microsoft’s event was one of complete and utter confusion. Don’t they get it? Don’t they understand that the status-quo is no longer acceptable? We’ve made a lot of strides this last console generation, both on the dev side, and that of gaming culture itself. The boys club, the petulant trash talk, and the language rooted in misogyny all need to go.

For those who missed it, Rare Inc. took to the stage, to show off a new Killer Instinct, and during a brutal combo in a match between a male producer at Rare Inc., and a female community manager for Microsoft, the producer taunted “Just let it happen. It’ll be over soon.” Original reactions were based on the assumption that the banter was scripted, which would have been an absolutely unimaginable oversight. Microsoft has since issued a statement though, saying it was spontaneous and absolutely not scripted, though it’s still telling. Did the Rare Inc. producer mean to make a rape joke? Probably not, and there certainly didn’t seem to be any malice intended, but it’s perfectly illustrative of the kind of language that’s been normalized in our culture. It’s our job to stand up to this ignorance though, and steer the ship in the right direction. The Twitter contingent of the gaming community made us proud:

AJ says it as well as anyone. The producer should have known better, and the fact that he didn’t perfectly exhibits the kind of misogyny in our culture that we need to stamp out. If that wasn’t enough, the second woman to take the stage, 343 producer Bonnie Ross, got wolf whistled by a male journalist. This particular instance isn’t Microsoft’s fault, but it turned out to be the final strike in an unsettling pattern that only those with their heads planted firmly in the ground could ignore.

What we can no longer ignore is this: There is an inherent culture of misogyny in gaming, and whether intended or not, we need to speak up and put a stop to it. Bonnie was doing her job, and while cat calling is unacceptable enough as it is, you certainly don’t do it while you’re supposed to be at least putting up the appearance that you’re not a caveman who’s just pretending that you’re on common ground. How amazing would it have been if they stopped the show, or someone had interrupted to put that journalist in his place? We’d all be singing a very different song right now, and Microsoft would be lauded as forward thinking and inclusive. As it stands though, launching a new system, with a new slew of games, in the 21st century, with no female protagonists, is unacceptable. Sexual advances at work are unacceptable. Rape jokes are unacceptable.

Call me a dreamer, but I was expecting much more from Microsoft’s E3 press conference. We’ve made immeasurable strides, and while we still have a long way to go, I figured at least a few things were understood. Among them, that the same old dude-bro killfest just won’t cut it anymore. I’ve nothing against action games, or FPS titles in general, but I was expecting new directions in game design to be brought to the table. I was expecting Microsoft to make an honest effort to reform Xbox Live as the terribly toxic platform it is, and actually make that a main selling point of the system. I was expecting the multifaceted nature of the community to be reflected by those on stage, and most of all, I was expecting at least a subtle hint of a lesson being learned.

Still, I’m left with that nagging question. Don’t they get it?

Must Watch: Extra Credits does it again with “Toxicity”

Posted by & filed under Video.

We at GAB have always been fans of Extra Credits. We’ve cited their “Harassment” Episode from Season 4 many times in conversations with devs. It’s fantastic. Two seasons later, they are still bringing it. Check out the video below about “Toxicity” in the gaming environment (a term made popular in the GDC Presentation by Riot about curbing toxic behavior in LoL, and a term we’ve since embraced).

One of our favorite takeaways:

“Sometimes a tiny bit of empathy, team-oriented phrasing, and finding something other than ourselves or our teammates to blame is all it takes to cool people’s heads and get them back in the game.”

What do you think about the video and, specifically, the onus they place on the individual gamer to clean things up? Let’s discuss it in the comments below.

Reconciliation: A roundtable discussion with Chloe and Allistair

Posted by & filed under Interview.

This past week was a harrowing one for the video game community as a whole, several members in particular, and for communities beyond. I wrote an article that was met with mixed response due to its vagueness, which was an attempt to not speak on any individual’s behalf. Yesterday evening I received an email from the individuals in question, who wanted to have an open discussion about what happened, and use GAB as a platform to share that conversation with the community.

These are two people I knew as much about as you did (next to nothing), so the conversation that unfolded was one that was as eye-opening for me as it was perspective-shifting. This has been an incredibly volatile issue in the community, but our discussion was anything but, as you’ll see below. We will be leaving the comments enabled on this post to continue the discussion, but will be moderating it with severe regard: if your comment is non-constructive, attacks either party ad hominem, or is the least bit toxic or bigoted, it will be deleted.

I realize that you likely have many more questions for Chloe and Allistair — as do I — but to say this has been an overwhelming ordeal would be a gross understatement, and both have expressed the need to spend time recuperating. Please respect this. Words of support for both parties are always appreciated, and can be shared in the comments below. I’ll make sure the appropriate party sees them.

Finally, because of how loaded this whole thing has been — and just to be safe — here’s proof of Chloe and Allistair’s involvement.

The Conversation

Below is the reply-all email conversation as we had it Friday May 17, from roughly 6pm – 11pm CDT, only edited to remove some additional questions/discussion at the end, mostly involving me making double- and triple-sure people still wanted to publish this. It began with introductions, then I moved into asking questions (in bold).

Chloe:

I am Chloe, an indie game developer, I started a charity with misleading information, and confided in Allistair.  We had a brief chat, and after the charity ended, I grabbed a knife and threatened to kill myself.  Allistair with the help of another friend, Mike, talked me down.  Another party called the police, and I spent the week in a psych ward.  I’ve had no contact with Allistair until today, after being release from the Psych Ward a second time.

Allistair:

I’m Allistair Pinsof. I’m a journalist who revealed Chloe’s identity without her consent — the thing she feared most upon meeting me. I never would have dreamed that Chloe would choose to get back in touch with me, after what I had done. She continues to display strong character in difficult times. I’d like this conversation to show that she did make the right choice and all three of us together can make a positive impact by righting some wrongs.

Sam:

I’m Sam Killermann and I’m the Executive Director of Gamers Against Bigotry. Allistair reached out to our organization to be a neutral party to host this conversation. I’ll do my best to lead this chat, but I want to make it incredibly clear that both of you can drop out at any time, and if anyone changes their mind about publishing this later just let me know. And Chloe, please do not feel like you have any responsibility to your fans, the gamer community, or any community to have this discussion.

First question: what are your main thoughts right now regarding this situation? For one another, and in general.

Chloe:

Well, I for one feel like a moron.  I’m working with Bertie from Eurogamer to release the full story from my perspective, and I acted out of fear, when I should have just been forward with who I am.  I feel like this outrage that is coming at my door was going to happen regardless, and it’s what I wanted to avoid from the start.  I feel hurt, but not by Allistair, he did what he felt was right.  I just wish people would stop fighting the both of us pretending to be doing this on our behalf.  I also feel like I’ve lost something that was my refuge, somewhere I could go and was treated based on what I could do and what I said, not based on who I was as a person.  Most of all, I blame myself for everything that has happened.  I am a terrible person.

Sam:

Chloe, you made a mistake, and you acted out of fear — things we all do. You’re not a terrible person. You’re a person.

Allistair, what’re your main thoughts right now regarding this situation?

Allistair:

Chloe sent me a letter today that could be, more or less, considered her life story. I suspect she shared it because she knew I wouldn’t have done what I did if I had read it prior. To read what she has been put through in life because of other people, from friends and employers to doctors, it suddenly became abundantly clear that society is the problem. The right situation would be one where Chloe wouldn’t need to acquire money to be who she is and one where it wouldn’t matter if people knew who she is. I did a bad thing but I don’t think that should define me as a person. I don’t believe in bad people. We all try our best and sometimes make mistakes along the way, and to define someone by their mistake is not fair. This entire event has informed me so much on people like Chloe. I’ve always been accepting, but only recently have I discovered that that doesn’t mean I can’t still be ignorant on what people go through, who they are, and how they’d like to be treated. I’m learning and I hope this exchange will contribute to that.

Sam:

Allistair, I think many people think that being understanding makes up for their ignorance — it’s great that you’ve realized the former doesn’t excuse the latter. In a lot of the messages I saw you sharing over the past few days it seemed like you were really hung up on that. And it’s also important to realize, as I suspect you do, that Chloe’s story is just that: Chloe’s story, and her life experience.

Okay, moving forward.

You both have something in common now that most people can’t relate to, in that you’ve been targeted by innumerable strangers who have flung a lot of horrible things your way, in many cases not really having an idea of who you really are.

You’ve both already addressed that situation a little bit, but if you could say one thing to the mass of strangers on the internet who were supporting you what would it be?

Chloe:

I would say, if you want people to take you seriously as a skeptic, then do not run your mouth without having all the information, people have been doing this the whole time and it is just a shame.  If you just want to yell and scream and crucify someone, then by all means, keep sending me your hate, I will be your whipping post for whatever problems you have in your life, and if it makes you feel better, then at least one of us is happy.  I’ve survived killing myself twice now, it’s safe to say that I really don’t want to die, and I have a strong support group that is willing to help me when the time comes.  I may slip up and actually get away with it if this continues this way, but I’m just one person, I don’t matter.  I am not the victim in this scenario, I am the cause, I am to blame.

Sam:

Chloe, what thoughts do you have for the people who were acting on your behalf and leading the hate campaign against Allistair?

And Allistair, what thoughts do you have for the people who were acting on your behalf and leading the hate campaign against Chloe?

Chloe:

I would tell them that you shouldn’t blame Allistair for what he did.  I don’t think he should have lost his job, either.  I know he really wouldn’t have done it unless he really felt like he had to, and to be honest, I did make it seem like I had a vendetta against IndieGoGo.  Just leave him alone, he’s a good guy, and he’s been trying hard to make things right, even though he really doesn’t have to.  Do you really think you are going to teach him a lesson?

Allistair:

Well, I can tell that neo-nazi guy I blocked on Twitter I won’t be replying to his job offer. Jokes aside, these people make it so much harder to do the right thing once the person decides to do the right thing. For example, when I pointed toward you on Twitter as a source to send Chloe support emails. Just by associating your name with mine, both sides instantly hated you when it’s your job to help trans* community. It’s so silly. It’s complicated and people have no time for complicated issues on Twitter.

In a strange way, the emails supporting my actions helped me realize faster what I had done was wrong. These aren’t people I want to associate with. I have so much respect for the trans* people and others who wrote me saying they can’t agree with what I had done but they could understand that I’m not a bad person. Those emails meant so much to me. I hope Chloe gets lots of emails like that and this can be one of them: I can’t agree with holding a false charity but I can understand that you’re not a bad person.

There will be people on both extremes who will never forgive me or Chloe. I always turn back to a Dr. Suess quote: ”Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

Sam:

Dr. Seuss is always a great place to turn. I’ll get back to him later. First I want to ask you both a question that you might not be able to answer, so please do not do so if you’re not comfortable doing so:

What’s the one thing you most want to hear from the other person right now?

Allistair:

For clarification, I still have my job. Not sure what the details are. My head is a mess and I’ve been concentrating on Chloe today but updates will probably go here. I don’t know how to fit that into all of this but it needs to be said somewhere.

Chloe:

I am glad about that.  As far as the question is concerned: nothing. Allistair has already said some very nice things in this past hour that have made me feel like everything is going to be okay.

Allistair:

I’d like to hear Chloe say “I’m going to make it through this.”

I’ve been in a position in life that affords me a certain amount of freedom. Losing my job (which I’m not) was a reality I quickly accepted. But for Chloe, she has been put through so much that I can’t fault her for lacking strength at times. Through my interactions with her, I can see she tries so hard. That mass of anger and refusal to accept I faced this week on Twitter is the noise she must face everyday; to find courage to go on with that is remarkable. She can’t simply walk away from anything. She can’t just walk away from who she is or change herself to be what anyone wants her to be anymore than I can be a stand-up comedian. Chloe takes negative remarks to heart and there will always be negativity directed at her online. I want her to be strong and to tell herself she’ll make it through. I believe she can and I’m not the only one.

People can say I’m full of it for saying the above. After all, I put Chloe in direct harm and pushed her off a cliff that there is no getting back from. But even when I made that awful choice — which I’d like to apologize for again: I’m sorry, Chloe — I still believe Chloe is a good person and that she needs and deserves the surgery.

Sam:

Wow. Can I just take a moment and say that I am incredibly floored by the direction this conversation has gone in, from both of you — that I’m really impressed by both of your strength and honesty and really just want to group hug right now? No? Sorry. Moving on. One more question from me — inspired by something said earlier — then I’ll open it up for questions from either of you:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” So, where do you go from here? And where should we go as a community?

Chloe:

A group hug would be nice.  There was a no touching rule in the psych ward, though we had one patient that just kept trying to touch everyone, and it annoyed everyone.  But he put his hand on my shoulder when I was crying.  It’s very rare to have anyone comfort me like that, and I try to remember the experiences.

I can’t suggest anything.  I have no idea what to do, I’ve been punching blind through this whole ordeal, and going about everything all wrong.  I don’t know what to do, and I can’t say I know what I will end up doing.  All I know is I’m way to stressed and I shouldn’t be at the helm of anything, especially the direction of an entire community.

Allistair:

Hugs. Hugs. Hugs <3 I’m glad I can continue to keep my job while miraculously not ending the world. I enjoy helping tell stories from perspectives or places you don’t often see. One thing I greatly miss from my days at my college paper is making a difference in people’s lives. Giving a game publicity isn’t quiet the same, though enjoyable in its own way. Supporting Chloe gave me so much satisfaction when I first met her. I hope I can continue to support her. I’d like to add-on the trans community to that and invite anyone to share game-related things going on in the trans community I can write about. Part of me is afraid that my name will always be associated with “does harm to the trans community” but I shouldn’t let that fear drive me away from doing good. And if people don’t want my support, that’s fine too.

I’m incredibly grateful for this education I received on ethics, the trans community, and who I am as a person. Knowing what I know now, there are many things I would have done different. I can blame others for my ignorance — and did at first — but it’s more satisfying to focus on informing others. I’m too close to Chloe to tell her story, should she want to share as it develops, but I’ll continue to support and help her in the way she thinks best.

There will be many people who will walk away from this with nothing learned. Your blog, Sam, will undoubtedly receive hateful and ignorant remarks, but if we impact enough people that doesn’t really matter. I’m like Chloe in that I always focus on the negative comments in my articles, never realizing that those comments don’t matter. What matters is knowing we try our best, learn from mistakes, and listen to others who mean well. If me, Chloe, and everyone closely following our story does this, we’ll have a better world to wake up to.

Sam:

Chloe, you don’t have to worry about taking the helm, Starfleet Regulation 619 precludes you from command in that you’re emotionally spent, and that’s good enough for me (: … and you have a team of 20+ people from all over the world in the GAB staff who have offered their individual support, so don’t hesitate to call on it if you need it.

Allistair, if you’re sincere in that offer to take up trans-related gaming issues, I know a lot of folks who will want to take you up on that (some of the GAB team included), and if your actions follow your words I don’t think you’ll have to worry about your name hindering things.

Moving Forward

I’m going to leave this blog post as it is, and not include any more thoughts from myself. I still need time to process everything that happened, but I will be writing a reflection soon. In the meantime, I want to point everyone to a wonderful organization that is dear to my heart: The Trevor Project.

From their site: “The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.”

If you need help, there are a ton of ways they can be there for you. Below are some links you’re encouraged to check out, as well as the number for their 24/7 lifeline where trained counselors are always there to support you.

AskTrevorButtontrevor-spaceTrevorChatButtontrevortextsmall2_0support

A Journalist “Outs” a Trans* Person, Gets Eviscerated Online: How we are missing the point

Posted by & filed under Opinion.

A few disclosures from me upfront:

  1. I’m not going to be naming any names in this article: I don’t want to contribute to the public outing of a trans* person (who is being continuously outed again and again in all of the media covering this story), and I also don’t want to contribute to the public torch-mobbing of a journalist who screwed up
  2. I don’t condone “outing” anyone, and can’t think of an instance where it’d be helpful for a journalist to do so
  3. This is an incredibly personal issue for me, so I want to say that while I am the Executive Director of GAB, this is coming more from day job Sam.

What happened?

In general, what happened was a person with a public platform screwed up and the internet reacted. As it always happens in situations like this, one part of the internet was angrily, aggressively, and [no joke] death-threateningly “WTF?!” while another part of the internet was angrily, defensively, nothing-wrong-happened “WTF?!”

Specifically, in this instance, the screw up was in outing a trans* person in the video game community who had recently attempted suicide. One angry part of the internet (which included myself) was all “WTF?! It’s incredibly damaging to a trans* person to do that! How could you be so insensitive?” Then the angry part of the internet reacting to my angry part of the internet was all “WTF?! It’s the job of a journalist to report accurately. You people are way too sensitive.”

Why does it matter?

This situation can be viewed as a case study for how things like this keep happening, and why they’re going to keep happening until we grow as a community (community = both sides of the “WTF?!” coin). Why? For a few reasons.

1. We can’t be sensitive to issues we don’t understand

To a lot of people, gender = penises and vaginas. It’s not that. In fact, it’s so not that that I’ve written an entire book about gender and given a TED talk that distills the major themes of the book down into 16 minutes. Remember when I said this was a personal issue? This is why. This is my life.

The point is — and this applies to all social justice issues, not just gender — we can’t be supportive, inclusive, and health-focused about things we don’t understand. But it’s hard (if not impossible) for us, as a community, to learn because…

2. People won’t feel comfortable talking about these issues until they feel safe making mistakes

We can’t move forward until we can have a calm, safe conversation about sensitive issues. And it’s impossible to have calm, safe conversations about issues like these when every time someone screws up they are immediately vilified. The way things work now, a person’s best bet after making a mistake isn’t to ask “how can we do better in the future?” but to apologize, then never breach the subject again.

Not okay.

We need to take a more educative approach to missteps, instead of a punitive, threatening, and eviscerating one. We need to temper our emotional outrage and exchange accusations for questions, focusing more on the future and less on the past. Above all, we need to realize…

3. We can’t expect love and understanding until we’re willing to give love and be understanding

I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees the hypocrisy in viciously attacking someone for not being empathetic and inclusive. But realizing this doesn’t mean I don’t still have that knee-jerk reaction (just like I never don’t use double negatives). It’s hard not to lose sight of the big picture when your blood is boiling. But that’s when we need the big picture the most.

I had a professor in grad school who would say “We’re all hypocrites, I just try to limit my acts of hypocrisy to three a day.” Let’s all agree to stop letting this be one of our allowed hypocrisies, and start holding ourselves to the same standard to which we vehemently hold public figures. The best way we can start doing this is by realizing…

4. It’s more productive to focus on actions than actors

Our organization is called Gamers Against Bigotry not Gamers Against Bigots because we believe that the vast majority of people who add to the toxicity of the gaming environment are generally good people, but they are generally good people who sometimes use bigoted language, or sometimes make mistakes. Yes, that’s a thing that exists. Life isn’t as polarizing as we sometimes want to see it.

In the situation that inspired this article, it’s my belief that the person who misstepped is a generally good person who made a mistake, then got pinned in a corner and didn’t see a good way out. To help make #1, #2, and #3 above possible, we need to start focusing more on the mistake and less on the person who made it.

How can we make our community safer for trans* people?

This is the question we should be focusing our energy on. So let me talk about it for a bit, then let’s keep talking about it in the comments below.

For the most part, the same things that we-at-large can do to make the world more trans*-friendly apply, but the video game community presents a few particular cases. Here are a few of the gaming-specific things I suggest:

  1. Recognize that a gamer may be out in games space but not in meatspace: games (specifically MMORPGs) present what can be a uniquely safe space where trans* gamers can publicly identify as their gender without the same likelihood of recourse as in the “real” world
  2. Use the pronouns gamers use for themselves in games when referring to them to other gamers (and ask when you’re not sure what pronouns to use): when you’re unsure of what pronouns to use for a person, ask, but keep in mind those are the pronouns they gave you in-game
  3. (added from FB) Don’t ask someone if they are a boy or a girl: that’s a personal question, and you don’t need to know the answer; if you’re unsure of pronouns, see #2
  4. Know that it’s never your place to out someone: while you may think you’re doing them a favor (“allowing” them to be their true gender in the “real” world, like they are in games), outing someone before they are ready to come out can be a dangerous, harmful experience; you’re not doing anyone a favor by making this decision for them, and you’re only making other trans* people afraid the same thing might happen to them

Why is it “dangerous” to out someone? Beyond the social and emotional damage you might do, there is the simple and unfortunate fact that transgender people are far more likely to be targeted and become victims of violence, both verbally and physically. Depending on the study you look at (there’s a lot of disparity), trans* people are eight times more likely to be murdered than cisgender people, or — even grimmer — the lifetime odds of a transgender person being murdered are commonly cited to be 1 in 12.

We live in a world that places an extreme amount of pressure on people to fit one of two gender molds. That pressure can have a serious negative impact on many individual’s emotional and psychological health when they don’t fit in the mold they feel they are being smashed into. Games can be a space where that pressure is released, or at least lessened.

Let’s work on making that happen. Comment below to show your support for trans* gamers, and to suggest ways we (GAB, games journalists, gamers, etc.) can make this space safe for trans* people.

INTERNS WANTED: Announcing Summer 2013 Gamers Against Bigotry Internship Positions

Posted by & filed under Update.

Gamers Against Bigotry is excited to announce our first ever summer internship positions: The Inclusivity Guide Project Lead and The Apparel & Merchandise Design Lead! Check out the at-a-glance descriptions of the roles below, click any of the links on this page for more info, and be in touch if you think you might be the droids we’re looking for. Also, please share this post with any friends who are awesome!

View the full position descriptions and apply here.

Inclusivity Guide Project Lead

GAB is looking for a self-directed, passionate individual to take the lead in the creation of GAB’s Inclusivity Guide (working title), a project that will be used by game developers looking to make their games more inviting and welcoming to gamers of all identities, and their characters more well-rounded, relatable, and diverse.

LEARN MORE

Apparel & Merchandise Design Lead

GAB is looking for an artistic, driven, creative individual to take the lead in the creation of GAB’s line of apparel and merchandise, to be released in Fall 2013. The designs created will be featured on clothing, posters, mugs, stickers, and other miscellaneous items, and will also be featured electronically in various places around the web.

LEARN MORE

More Opportunities

As always, check out  the Volunteer Page to see the more long-term roles we are looking to fill, or if you’re a writer or programmer (looking for both!).

GLHF,

Gamers Against Bigotry

Reflecting on Race & Racism in Gaming

Posted by & filed under Update.

This past week we focused our Facebook and Twitter discussions on race and racism in gaming. In my opinion, it was the best weekly theme discussion we’ve had yet. I wanted to take a moment to look back at the week, highlight some outstanding moments, and provide a bit of a reflection from my perspective.

Edit: one quick thing I forgot to confess. I’m White (see, that’s me over on the right — with the shiny white forehead and cheeks). I’m pointing this out in response to a confusing email I just received, and as an effort of transparency (you know, in addition to the giant photo). Okay. Carry on.

The Pigeon-holing of POC in Games

We started the week out by asking people to name a character in a game who was a person of color (POC), then describing a dominant physical trait and personality trait that this character embodies. We wanted to see if the examples people brought up would reinforce a pervasive idea that the majority of POC characters in games are often little more than one-dimensional stereotypes.

Instead, many great examples of layered and supportive portrayals of POC characters were brought up. From Luis in resident evil, described as “resilient, and a good friend,” to Steve Cortez from Mass Effect 3, who was described as “smart, good mechanic, funny, logical and sensitive” and “(is also gay).” Cortez is an anti-stereotype on many levels.

The example that stuck out to me the most was Sazh Katzroy, a playable character from FFVIII. Railenthe Zeal was the first person to comment on the post with Sazh as an example, and described him as “handles ludicrous situations very well, and can (occasionally) kick ass.” The reason Sazh stuck out to me so much is because on the surface level he’s a stereotype (stylish black man with a huge afro and well maintained goatee), but once you get to know him you feel terrible for making that snap judgment. In actuality, he’s a widower who lost his wife and is dedicating his life to saving his son. Super supportive dad. And as a Synergist, super supportive party member. Awesome (not sarcastic).

All this goes to say that while there are certainly plenty of pigeon-holed POC characters in games that aren’t doing much for making games welcoming to people of color (like our leading man up top), there are also several examples of where developers did a great job. So kudos to them.

But that leads us to our next thread, the one that really gets at the root of the issues with race and racism in gaming: the fact that most games are all about White people; and that bringing this up tends to bother White people.

is this bothering you?

The Racial Variant of the Bechdel Test

If you’re unaware, the Bechdel Test is a fun [not really] way to measure the significance of women in particular films. It’s really simple and asks just three questions (modified for our uses):

1. It has to have at least two [named] women people of color in it.

2. Who talk to each other.

3. About something besides a man White person (or the protagonist).

We asked our Facebook community to supply us with a list of games that passed our racial variant of the Bechdel Test and the results were… underwhelming.

Here’s a great quote from Amanda Cales:

“Wow. Only ones I could think of off the top of my head (and Steam library) are Sleeping Dogs and the Fallout and/or Skyrim series…the last two being a bit sketchy since I don’t think they talk to each other very often. (If at all.)

It also took me about ten minutes of full on, glassy-eyed pondering to come up with even that. And I’ve been playing video games since I was 5.”

A lot of games mentioned passed two of three. Well, so do a lot of films. But the point of this test is to determine if POC have a significant role in a game, not just to determine if they exist there or not. The biggest issue was the games folks could think of that did pass the test.

Sleeping Dogs, GTA San Andreas, and Saints Row were the leading suggestions. If you’re unfamiliar, and don’t know why this is problematic, allow me to help: they are all about organized and violent crime. Yep. The main games folks could think of that absolutely passed the tests of having significant roles for people of color were games in which the significant characters were violent criminals. Awesome (very sarcastic).

Oh, and Prototype 2 was also mentioned. I haven’t played that game (honestly, didn’t know it came out), but from what I understand the main playable character is Black and his sidekick is Hispanic. So there’s that.

mass-effect-3-wrex

Single-Characteristic Alien Races

Next we moved the discussion from race (as in Black and White) to race (as in human race and aliens). Eric, our Social Media Manager, posed the following question in in a Facebook post:

“So we’ve established that alien races in sci-fi and fantasy break bias tests, but there’s another issue specific to them. Single-characteristic races.

Star Trek most famously did this to subtly open discussion about our differences. The question: Do we even need to do this any more, or is projecting a single characteristic on a race of fictional people just another way of strengthening stereotypes, and keeping us from really exploring what it means to be human?”

This is something that has always irked me as a Star Wars fan, considering how little there is to know about inhabitants of the different systems beyond one or two dominant traits. What do they do on Kashyyyk when they’re not fighting for emancipation from slavery? Or, as Brad Johnson put it, “I’m still at a loss when I think of what people in Star Wars do for fun.” (besides Pod Racing OF COURSE) Games are often similarly lacking in providing depth to characters from alien races.

The majority of the discussion on the Facebook page seemed to echo the idea that we’re past the point of needing one-dimensional alien races as a metaphor to begin discussing racial and ethnic differences on Earth — you know, with humans. Further, Seth Brodbeck brought up a concern with this idea that is particularly poignant:

“The problem with single characteristic species is that Humanity (often represented by white heterosexual cisgender males) tends to get elevated by that approach. Since Humanity already displays a variety of characteristics, unlike the species being contacted, the intended lesson about the benefits of cultural exchange gets undermined. It ends up appearing that they have more to learn from us than us from them. Which becomes terribly presumptuous once you follow the analogy back to human ethnic/cultural relations.”

Well put. And a great thing for anyone to keep in mind as they consider using interactions with alien races as a means to increase a player’s multicultural sensitivity.

A Study: Racism against Black Gamers on Xbox Live

racist-on-xbox-liveWhile anyone who has ever played for more than five minutes on Xbox Live doesn’t need science to tell them there’s rampant racism, it’s helpful (and depressing) to have some good sturdy science to back up our anecdotal experience.

Enter Deviant bodies, stigmatized identities, and racist acts: examining the experiences of African-American gamers in Xbox Live, exactly the kind of science I’m talking about. The link will get you to a downloadable .PDF of the study if you’d like to read it yourself (always recommended).

If you’re more of the TL;DR type, here’s the run-down as we shared in on Facebook:

Racism that used to be evident in our culture bled into online spaces, where it became normalized because of its sheer volume, its ability to escalate, and inability of the abusers to realize they were actually being racist. Black gamers faced racial slurs daily. DAILY.

Daily.

Again, this probably isn’t a surprise if you’ve ever traipsed into those waters, but it shouldn’t make it any less distressing. It should be distressing, not just “not surprising.” We should be distressed by this. BE DISTRESSED! And do something about it.

The first and most perfect in its simplicity comment to that post on Facebook sums up why Gamers Against Bigotry exists: “Reason #1 I don’t play online games.” Sorry to hear that, Sean, but you’re not alone.

A few closing thoughts, and a brief response to shouts of “reverse racism”

It’s clear that racism is an issue in gaming, both in an overt, aggressive way (via the prevalence of race-based slurs), but also in a passive, marginalizing way (via the exclusion of significant POC characters in most games). But it’s also clear that games have come a long way in a short time and that a few developers/studios in particular have gone to great measures to create multi-dimensional, positive versions of POC characters in their games. This is progress. Progress is good…

inigo-montoyaUnless you’re one of those people yelling “reverse racism!”

“Reverse racism” isn’t a thing. Well, it’s a thing, but it’s not the thing you think it is. For one, reverse racism isn’t “racism against White people.” That’s just called racism. But having that perspective is an awesome way of indicating your racial privilege — to think that any racism against your race is somehow backwards. Touché.

Reverse racism is meant to describe possessing racist beliefs against one’s own race (e.g., a White person who holds prejudice or discriminates against White people). But that’s also not what we’re ever talking about here. What we’re talking about here is diminishing all forms of racism.

We have a long way to go before people of color can feel as welcome in gaming as White people currently do, and it appears we’re moving in that direction, which is great. But I want to reassure White people everywhere that this does not have to mean we won’t feel welcome. We can de-marginalize one group without marginalizing another; we can stop perpetuating racism against people of color without inviting racism against White people; we can lift one group up without tearing another down.

So let’s do that.

Finally, on a personal note, I wanted to say that I really appreciated reading all of the comments and discussions this week. As always, I’ve learned a ton from all of you, which will allow me to do my job better. So thank you for being involved. I look forward to learning something new this week!

GLHF,

Sam Killermann
Founder & Director of Gamers Against Bigotry
Organizer of Kashyyyk Bingo Night
Reverse Racism Reversal Reverser

The First 3,000 Gamers Against Bigotry [INFOGRAPHIC]

Posted by & filed under Update.

This is a big step for us, folks. The site is solid, the staff is in the double digits and growing weekly, and we just passed the 3,000th person to sign the pledge. Check out the graphic below for a demographic breakdown of our first 3,000 pledges, and share it in celebration! Huzzah!

First 3000 Gamers Against Bigotry -- 3000 Awesome People

One note worth noting: these demographics do not take into account the pledges lost due to hacking/shenanigans, but should still be fairly representative

A critical look at the internet’s response to “Tropes vs. Women” Episode 1

Posted by & filed under Opinion.

I must admit that Tropes vs. Women in Video Games (if you haven’t watched it, click the link to do so) slipped right under my radar until the completed first part came crashing onto the internet, quickly followed by a hellish storm of disapproval from Anita Sarkeesian’s critics. People have taken to the internet in droves to throw their hat into the ring and although the ring is already brimming with hats, I’m going to casually discard mine into the pile as well. I’m not here to defend Sarkeesian; I am simply hoping to illustrate what exactly sparked this cry of damnation towards her and why I find the backlash itself to exemplify the more disturbing traits that exist within the gaming community.

In my effort to understand exactly how the first episode was received I took to the internet, YouTube in particular, and did some trawling before instantly falling into a state of unrelenting depression – I cannot help but despair at some of the replies to Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, many of which are not so much a criticism of the video, but simply a personal attack against Sarkeesian and are founded primarily in a personal dislike of her. While I can understand that it is possible to simply dislike someone, and such animosity may have an adverse effect on how you view their work, it is where this hostility comes from that I find most disturbing.

Tropes vs. Women in Video GamesThe rhetoric used to criticise Sarkeesian is predominantly derived from the language of Men’s Rights Activists and, instead of addressing the issue, merely highlights the “inequalities” that men have to endure. Such pomposity includes suggestions that feminism is unfairly skewed in favour of women, that it overlooks societal injustices towards men such as domestic abuse, alimony, and the depiction of men in video games as biceps on legs. What it fails to understand, however, is that a few of the primary concerns of feminism are ending the objectification of women, combating inequality in the workplace, and countering the suggestions that if a woman is raped, it is her fault.

Damsels in Distress

Flashback to the Kickstarter Campaign

The moment Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter began gaining some real traction the internet lit up with vitriolic reactionaries who declared she was going to spend the excess cash on ‘shopping sprees’. From the outset, Sarkeesian had been berated merely for gaining support – the goal was set at $6,000 but because she was able to raise $160,000 people took it as a vindication to accuse her of scamming her supporters and attack her personally for the success of the Kickstarter.

Rather than believing that Sarkessian’s series could perhaps be a worthwhile addition to the debate surrounding the portrayal of women in video games, they decided the money would be used to fund some sort of high-flying lifestyle. The overwhelming support for the series on Kickstarter has unlocked the true potential of the ‘systemic and big picture perspective’ (allowing for a greater number of episodes) but has been largely ignored in order to focus on what the first video has to say, rather than what questions Sarkeesian could address at a later date.

Damsels in Distress

Enter “Damsels in Distress Pt. 1”

Even before Sarkeesian was able to bring her project to life, she was being accused of seeking controversy for the sake of gaining attention and was berated for her intentions to ascend discussion into a more academic environment. When the first episode of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games was released, a worrying amount of responses failed to even understand the fundamentals of Sarkeesian’s argument and believe that merely presenting the player with female protagonist is enough to completely counter the trope of Damsel in Distress.

What they have not realised is that Sarkeesian never once accused the video game industry of possessing an inability to establish a female protagonist or positive female character but that the image of women which is presented to the gaming audience is an overwhelmingly a negative one that draws heavily from stereotypes or places the female characters as an object belonging to the male.

The main issue with the criticism surrounding Sarkeesian’s work is that many of her critics think in absolute terms, rather than accounting for mitigating and aggravating factors. From what I’ve seen, many have disregarded the fact that she is approaching the topic from a ‘systemic, big picture perspective’ and that the series is, in fact, a series, one that will grow and expand on themes as it progresses; that this first episode is not the sole element of her analysis and that other aspects will be addressed in future episodes seems to be lost on many people.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the first instalment is how comments have been disabled on the video. YouTube contributor TheAmazingAtheist wrote that ‘You [Sarkeesian] are putting forth a particular ideological stance. Your unwillingness to allow that stance to be challenged undermines the legitimacy of your claims because it sends the signal to everyone who lands on your page that your ideas cannot hold up under scrutiny.’

Although TheAmazingAtheist admitted to not having any major qualms with the video itself aside from that, it doesn’t detract from the main problem with the statement in the first place: the meaningless focus on disabled YouTube comments. This focus has led to the suggestion that Sarkeesian is now, somehow, a Damsel in Distress herself which is a point I am unable to even understand the logic of. It does, however, galvanise the fact that Sarkeesian’s video has been largely misunderstood by a predominantly white, male, heterosexual audience.

Yes, Sarkeesian’s decision to block comments on the YouTube is a popular matter of contention amongst her critics who have declared that in doing so, she is stifling discussion on the matter. However, let’s face it, YouTube is hardly a haven for enlightened intellectual discussion and, like many other websites, the anonymity it provides often results in disinhibited behaviour which can quickly devolve into abusive threats of physical violence. Whether or not blocking comments was the right decision is ultimately unknowable. But the fact remains that the portrayal of women in video games deserves a greater consideration than allowed by 500 characters in a YouTube comment and, hopefully, Sarkeesian’s decision will lead to a more serious and articulate discussion in the long run.

Another popular criticism of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games is how Sarkeesian argues that there exist no positive female role models in games (something she never argues) and completely fails to realise that she is merely addressing the trope itself and how damaging it is to the perception of women as objects. The video itself looks at how, in the past, women have been portrayed as helpless beings that exist solely to be saved by men who, through the course of their quest, exhibit “superior” traits of chivalry, prowess and virtue. She also alludes to how in numerous games, the male characters find themselves to be incapacitated in much the same way their damsel is but to them, it is merely a challenge to be overcome whereas for women, being captured is the essence of their being.

However, by addressing this trope, Sarkeesian has been vilified for overlooking games such as Super Princess Peach, and Metroid, wherein the female character is the hero. The premise for Super Princess Peach strikes me as a parody on the established formula which is played for laughs and the omission of Samus Aran was intentional so that it could be properly analysed in a later episode that deals with positive female characters. Again, this illustrates how many of the more sardonic critics have simply misunderstood the purpose of series.

The extensive misinterpretation of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games appears to stem from a belief that because Sarkeesian is a woman, she is somehow attempting to degenerate video games.

Damsels in Distress

Final Thoughts

As Jim Sterling argued in Jimquisition: Anita Sarkeesian – The Monster Gamers Created, gaming is considered a ‘safe male space’ and that gamers are upset that those ‘feminists are ruining everything’. He asks us: what exactly it is that feminism is going to ruin about video games?

His answer is, essentially, that nothing will be ruined by approaching the question of gender roles and the portrayal of women in video games and that the vile responses to Sarkeesian and her work have invalidated the debate; a point which has been unintentionally furthered by those arguing that because this is the internet, you really shouldn’t expect anything else. I’m sure that while we can all agree that this sort of vitriolic response has come of no shock to any of us, that doesn’t make it acceptable.

As Sarkeesian herself suggested, “It is both possible and even necessary to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects.” There exists a certain degree of dogma within the gaming community which is unwilling to accept this simple point made my Sarkeesian. The attacks on her, more often than not, stem from her gender and perceived desire to ‘ruin’ video games for the male consumer; this is the most substantial barrier between those who enjoy the medium and its ability to evolve into something beyond basic entertainment and therefore tackle social issues such as gender inequality.

Although the first video isn’t perfect, it is still the most valuable and academic addition to this debate – not once does it attempt to force any ideals on the viewer, choosing instead to highlight the issues and allow us to think for ourselves. Sadly, raising awareness of this sort is a difficult task and no matter the approach, the mere fact that gender issues are being addressed appears to be enough to create a vacuum of bigotry and hollow arguments with no basis other than virile hatred for basic concepts, a vacuum into which also reasoned debate and analysis is lost.