VIDEO: GLAAD’s Panel on Homophobia & Virtual Communities
July 28, 2009
On Saturday, July 18th, GLAAD held its first ever Digital Media event as part of our newly launched Project on Homophobia & Virtual Communities.
The event, a panel discussion hosted by Electronic Arts on their private campus in Redwood City, CA, brought out some of the industry’s foremost companies, organizations, gamers and media as both panelists and audience members.
Linden Lab's Cyn Skyberg
Panelists included Flynn DeMarco, the founder of GayGamer.net, Dan Hewitt, the Senior Director of Communications for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) which owns and hosts E3, Caryl Shaw, a Senior Producer in the Maxis Studio (Electronic Arts, Inc.) who has worked on games like The Sims and Spore, Cyn Skyberg, VP of Customer Relations at Linden Lab (Second Life), and Stephen Toulouse, the Program Manager for Policy and Enforcement on Microsoft’s XBox LIVE service.
The panel started with an introduction from GLAAD’s incoming President, Jarrett Barrios who then introduced me, GLAAD’s Director of Digital Media, as the moderator of the panel.
XBox LIVE's Stephen Toulouse
To begin, we showed a video I produced specifically for the panel which highlighted the issue at hand – how rampant and vile homophobia and anti-LGBT rhetoric is across virtual communities and how that virtual vitriol has real world impacts, especially on young children.
The video was made entirely of content publicly available on the internet, from news stories on outlets such as 365Gay News on Logo, to homemade videos on YouTube, to comments on blogs, social networks, and other places.
You can watch the intro video below:
Click here to watch the high quality version.
The ESA's Dan Hewitt
From there, I invited the panelists up to begin our discussion. I decided the best way to run the panel would to truly moderate – take questions and comments from virtual community enthusiasts and have the panelists address them directly. Having written an op-ed about the panel’s topic a couple weeks prior for the popular gaming website Kotaku, I pulled from the near 500 comments and conversations generated there.
Maxis Studio's Caryl Shaw
The panel discussion was spirited, with the panelists addressing comments and questions ranging from what some have called “flaunting” sexual orientation in gaming, to the justifications people have for using anti-gay slurs, to why there aren’t more LGBT characters to identify with, to the importance of education, and much more. There was also a Q&A portion where attendees got to ask their own questions.
GayGamer's Flynn DeMarco
At the conclusion of the event, the panelists reaffirmed their commitment to working with GLAAD and stressed how important this issue was to all of them. We all agreed that our goal should be to make virtual communities fun and safe for everyone, and that “everyone” includes LGBT people.
Dozens of press outlets and blogs have written about the panel and GLAAD’s work in this area. A representative from Kotaku was able to attend the event in Redwood City and wrote about their experience here and here.
As you will see and hear below, this is just the beginning of GLAAD’s important work in virtual communities. We’ll be expanding our work with our current partners, reaching out to more companies, and engaging our members and supporters to call for more safe spaces, better and LGBT inclusive policies, and help educating people about the real world impacts of virtual homophobia.
I have broken the panel down into segments which you can view below. Just click where it says “click here to play” and that video will load and play.
Part 1 – Introduction by incoming President Jarrett Barrios.
Part 2 – Panelists introduce themselves and explain why think its important to be there.
Part 3 – On the topic of what some have called “flaunting” sexual orientation in gaming.
**NOTE: A comment in this section was wrongly attributed to the Kotaku user “GameBuddy.” The comment was actually left by the user “robinandtami.”**
Part 4 - A commentor notes that vitriol makes gaming less fun for everyone – the panelists respond.
Part 5 – How do virtual worlds differ from other communities in dealing with homophobia?
Part 6 - Why aren’t their more positive portrayals of LGBT characters in games?
Part 7 - Panelists address impediments to having LGBT characters in games and how we – both the industry and GLAAD – should respond to defamation like “Watch Out Behind You, Hunter!“
Part 8 – Where are the educational opportunities and opportunities for engagement?
Part 9 - Addressing the phrase “That’s So Gay” & a discussion about looking forward to solutions.
Part 10 – Being “out” in the industry.
Part 11 - The problem may be bigger than solely LGBT related, but solutions can be universal.
Part 12 – The trouble with reporting and reporting mechanisms.
Part 13 – Q & A #1: The head of an LGBT World of Warcraft guild describes his perspective.
Part 14 – Q & A #2: Question about anti-lesbian, bi, and transgender incidents & whether “shooter” games are the problem.
Part 15 – Q & A #3: A game producer asks about using certain language.
Part 16 – Q & A #4: A question about LGBT characters in games.
Part 17 – Q & A #5: On the ability to “sell” an LGBT character/game.
Part 18 – Q & A #6: Being banned for being gay? Microsoft says its committed to changing its policy on self-expression.
Part 19 – Q & A # 7: Is funding an issue with making needed changes happen?
GLAAD Highlights Anti-Gay Internet Game That Advocates Killing During Recent Panel
July 22, 2009
Last week, Justin Cole, our Director of Digital and Online Media, was in San Francisco preparing for our groundbreaking Panel on Homophobia & Virtual Communities and was made aware by a supporter of an internet game called Watch Out Behind You, Hunter!, in which the goal is to shoot gay men before they can rape you. Recognizing the panel would be a good opportunity to bring some visibility to the rampant homophobia online, sometimes manifesting in games like this, Cole brought up the issue during his moderation of the panel.
The panelists made it clear that their companies would never tolerate games like this, which is user generated content.
The problem in this case is how to address anti-gay defamatory gaming content when it is made by an individual and then goes viral. A simple Google search brings up a staggering number of sites where it is available to play and/or download.
The popular gaming website Kotaku did a write up Monday on the panel which included a mention of Cole raising the issues with the game. The game originated on a French website called Uzinagaz in 2002 and was subsequently yanked and banned in France after an outcry from French LGBT rights groups. The group Gay Armenia has been pressuring a Georgian gaming site, which markets their games to children, to remove it.
GLAAD will be looking into the online game and providing more information soon. To see the discussion that GLAAD initiated on the game, please check back next week for footage of the panel.
Related Posts:Kotaku.com Runs GLAAD Op-Ed on Homophobia in Virtual Communities
July 10, 2009
Kotaku.com has run an article/op-ed I wrote on homophobia in virtual communities. It’s on their homepage and is generating a vibrant discussion with over 7,000 recommendations and over 300 comments. I encourage everyone to pop over and leave a comment.
Unfortunately, the Kotaku version doesn’t have all the links/video, so I’ll cross-post it below.
———
Guest Op/Ed: The Impact of Homophobia in Virtual Communities
A few weeks ago there was a group established on Facebook called “I hate gays” which openly advocated killing gay people. When the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) sent a report through Facebook’s built in reporting system and then urged its Facebook and Twitter followers to do the same, the user was suspended, and the group abandoned and commandeered by pro-gay users in the matter of hours. It seems that real people in those virtual communities, as well as the massive companies that run the platforms, don’t like when people form groups that advocate killing people or targeting groups.
Now what happens when you take that model and you turn it to online gaming virtual communities?
To illustrate my point, take a look at this video previously highlighted on Kotaku and GayGamer to get a sense of the problem just in online gaming communities.
Halo 3: Homophobia Evolved (NSFW)
This isn’t to say that all gamers feel and think this way. As we know, there’s a great diversity in who plays computer and video games and how they think. But similar to other forms of mass medium entertainment-like music, books, and movies-the new frontier created by advances in technology, especially Internet technology, has increased ability to transmit our voices, images, and ideas. But it has also come with a greater capacity to harass, bully, and spread prejudices – often times with little-to-no repercussions.
The problem is widespread in these communities, with kids and adults alike throwing around virtual threats and threatening real world violence and death.
In 2006, a survey under supervision by the University of Illinois provided the first glimpse of “the social and behavioral demographics of gay video game players” as well as “the role of sexual orientation on gaming habits.” Here are some highlights:
- 52.7% of those surveyed said the gaming community is “Somewhat Hostile” to gay and lesbian gamers, 14% said “Very Hostile.”
- When asked what forms of homophobia people have seen in the gaming community, here are some of what the surveyed said:
- 87.7% – Players use the phrase, “That’s so gay.”
- 83.4% – Players use the words “gay” or “queer” as derogatory names.
- 52.3% – Stereotypical representations of gay characters in games.
- 42.5% – Refusal of game designers to include well-developed gay characters.
- 49.4% – Invisibility of gaymers and/or the gaymer community.
- When asked how frequently players experience homophobia, those surveyed who responded “Always” or “Frequently” equaled 42%. Add in “Sometimes” and it brings up that total to 74.5%.
- When asked how often those players respond to the homophobia they witness – 50.9% total responded “Never” or “Rarely.”
Keep in mind, that’s a survey from 3 years ago. According to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2009 Essential Facts, last year 68% of American households played video or computer games. It’s an industry that continues to grow – from 2.6 billion dollars in sales in 1996 to 11.7 billion last year. And don’t think it’s child’s play – the average player age is 35.
The problem is only getting worse and needs to be addressed with comprehensive and sustainable solutions. That’s why GLAAD has announced an initiative to do just that – The Project on Homophobia & Virtual Communities – which kicks off with a groundbreaking panel discussion to be held on the Electronic Arts campus on July 18, 2009.
The panel discussion will include an assessment of the problem in these communities, policy solutions that have been developed to address homophobia – some that are working and those that are not – as well as looking to the future at the challenges and opportunities to combating homophobia in various sectors of the industry.
Confirmed panelists include representatives from XBox LIVE, Electronic Arts, Inc., Linden Lab, the Entertainment Software Association, and GayGamer.net.
There is no doubt that this is a complicated endeavor. While most companies do have some sort of policy in place that prohibits threats, advocating violence or death, and hate speech, there are major concerns with the effectiveness of those policies. Those concerns including the policies themselves, which in some cases ban self-identifying your orientation or using words like “gay” or “lesbian” altogether. They also include the mechanisms in place to report violations of the policies, many which don’t allow you to submit evidence (i.e. recordings of in game audio/video). Then there is the lack of transparency once a user has been reported, leaving the harassed often feeling as if nothing has been done.
GLAAD’s project has an established set of goals to address these concerns. To get companies to provide safe spaces for LGBT people in these virtual communities (which includes virtual worlds, online games, social networks, message boards, etc). To work with each of the companies to ensure they have solid policies in place that prevent anti-LGBT defamation where possible and mechanisms to report the defamation when it does occur. And what will be the most challenging in my eyes – to educate the user base about the real impact of their virtual homophobia.
However, what this comes down to is that this really is a company-by-company and a case-by-case project. For example, when a potentially anti-gay situation with the Old Republic message board arose, I reached out to Bioware about the situation and ended up getting a call back from a VP at Electronic Arts (EA), Bioware’s parent company. After making sure the situation was corrected, he issued a statement through GLAAD, which we shared on our blog, and put me in touch with EA staff to continue conversations about the overall issue of homophobia in virtual communities.
Through ongoing conversations with EA, they have offered to host our upcoming panel on their private campus in Redwood City, CA, and have provided a panelist – a senior producer from the Maxis Studio. While I’m out in California I’ll also be meeting with EA staff to discuss the issue of homophobia, their policies and begin working on a comprehensive plan to address it.
Microsoft has also had recent and ongoing dust-ups regarding their XBox LIVE policies being “anti-gay.” After opening up a dialogue with them about the problems, they invited GLAAD out to their campus in Washington State for two days of meetings with XBox LIVE managers to review their systems, protocols and policies and provide recommendation on way to address the problem. We now have quarterly conference calls to continue working towards solutions.
These companies aren’t monoliths and are very much committed to providing a safe and fun environment for all their players – they’re just not all there yet.
We all know it’s not going to happen overnight and it’s not going to be easy. We have an uphill battle of policy issues, system improvements and campaigns to educate users on the real dangers of homophobia. In my job as GLAAD Director of Digital Media, I’ve also seen the real impact unchecked homophobia has on people’s lives and how it leads to a climate of intolerance, to bullying and harassment, and can ultimately lead to violence and death, especially among children.
While the average player age may be 35, 25% of all game players are under 18. These are impressionable kids who are witnessing and then participating in anti-gay slurs, normalizing homophobia for them. They then take that behavior from their virtual worlds into their real world.
According to a 2007 report by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, “86.2% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 44.1% reported being physically harassed and 22.1% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.”
In February of 2008, a 14-year-old took out a gun during class and killed a 15-year-old classmate because of the student’s sexual orientation and gender identity. This past April, an 11-year-old boy in Massachusetts who didn’t identify as gay hanged himself because of anti-gay bullying, as did another 11-year-old boy in Georgia. These are but a few examples.
Some may argue that these examples don’t directly support the argument that unchecked homophobia in virtual communities leads to real world violence amongst kids. However, we can all agree that children learn what’s appropriate and acceptable and how to treat others from their friends, families and from their communities. And that includes their virtual communities.
This is a problem we cannot leave unchecked.
For those who say this is bigger than just being about homophobia – that there are also issues like racism and sexism to be addressed – you are right. But keep in mind; while the work being done here is focused around fighting homophobia its implications will affect many other groups. If we work to help implement better reporting mechanisms, it helps everyone. If we work to provide better policies and safe spaces for LGBT people, those policies and spaces can be replicated for other groups as well.
If we are moving in a direction where so much of our communications and interactions occur in virtual communities, then maybe its about time we start considering how we can make the spaces civilized and safe, inviting millions more into the communities, and paving the way for the expansion of this technology into other areas of our real world.
We have an opportunity to learn from the lessons of our real-life society, to not repeat the same mistakes in our virtual ones.
We at GLAAD hope you’ll join us in this effort.
Related Posts:Panelists Announced for GLAAD’s Panel on Homophobia & Virtual Communities
July 7, 2009
Today, GLAAD announced the panelists and topics to be covered in an upcoming panel on Homophobia & Virtual Communities. The panel will take place from 11am-1pm on July 18, 2009 at the Electronic Arts campus, just south of San Francisco in Redwood City, California.
To RSVP, please email digitaltickets@glaad.org or visit www.glaad.org/digitalevent. You can also join the Facebook Event Page.
The first of its kind panel discussion will spotlight the issue of homophobia in virtual communities and include the perspectives of both gaming companies and LGBT gamers. Discussion will revolve around the state of the problem in these communities, policy solutions that have been developed to address homophobia – some that are working and those that are not – as well as looking forward to challenges and opportunities in various sectors of the industry including production, policy and enforcement, financial, customer service and the end user experience.
Confirmed panelists include:
- Flynn DeMarco (Alias: Fruite Brute), Founder of GayGamer.net
- Dan Hewitt, Senior Director of Communications & Industry Affairs for the Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
- Caryl Shaw, Senior Producer in the Maxis Studio (Electronic Arts, Inc.)
- Cyn Skyberg, VP of Customer Relations at Linden Lab
- Stephen Toulouse (Gamertag: stepto), Program Manager for Policy and Enforcement on Microsoft’s XBox LIVE
I’ll be moderating the panel as the Director of Digital Media for GLAAD.
Jarrett Barrios, the incoming President of GLAAD, remarked today:
The panel will provide an important forum to discuss a problem many LGBT people face in virtual communities and will help set the groundwork for better and more LGBT inclusive policies. These companies have voiced a commitment to all their customers – ensuring a safe environment for LGBT people is a critical part of that.
To RSVP, please email digitaltickets@glaad.org or visit www.glaad.org/digitalevent. You can also join the Facebook Event Page.
Other key information:
- Title: Homophobia in Virtual Communities – Highlighting the Problem and Working Towards Sustainable Solutions
- Date: Saturday, July 18th, 2009
- Time: 11am-1pm PST
- Place: Redwood City, CA (specific location information and directions will be given to those who RSVP)
- Format: 1 moderator, 5 panelists – Introductions, three major questions each followed by discussion, audience Q&A
The panel is part of GLAAD’s previously announced advocacy and anti-defamation project that will focus on a range of virtual communities including networked PC games, social networks, online gaming and virtual worlds. The project will also address policies related to commenting features on blogs, Web sites and message boards.
GLAAD will work to ensure such communities remain committed to:
- Providing safe spaces for LGBT people to connect
- Enact the best policies to prevent anti-LGBT defamation
- Educate users of these communities about the effects of homophobia.
You can read more about our Digital Media work here.
Related Posts:GLAAD Announces Project to Combat Homophobia In Virtual Communities
July 2, 2009
Today, GLAAD formally announced our Project on Homophobia & Virtual Communities. We also announced we’ll be holding an exciting and FREE panel to discuss the issue on July 18th, in the San Francisco Bay area (RSVP here).
From the release:
As part of this project, GLAAD will focus on a range of virtual communities including networked PC games, social networks, online gaming and virtual worlds. The project will also address policies related to commenting features on blogs, Web sites and message boards.
GLAAD will work to ensure such communities remain committed to:
- Providing safe spaces for LGBT people to connect
- Enact the best policies to prevent anti-LGBT defamation
- Educate users of these communities about the effects of homophobia.
And also:
GLAAD will also be convening a groundbreaking panel discussion in Silicon Valley on July 18, 2009, that will spotlight the issue of homophobia in virtual communities and include the perspectives of both gaming companies and LGBT gamers. Confirmed panelists include representatives from XBox Live, Electronic Arts, Inc., Linden Lab, the Entertainment Software Association, and GayGamer.net. For more information on the panel event and to RSVP, please visit: www.glaad.org/digitalevent.
Rashad Robinson, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs, from the release:
As more and more people turn to virtual communities to connect with each other and for entertainment, we need to ensure these spaces are LGBT-inclusive and safe for our community – right now that’s not always the case. Our new project and work with leading tech companies aims to both educate users on the impact of homophobic remarks and put sustainable policies in place that make the experience fun and inclusive for everyone.
As GLAAD’s Director of Digital Media, I’ll be heading up the project and moderating the upcoming panel.
As I said in the release:
In most cases, the policies devised by these companies were done so to stop defamation from happening – to protect LGBT people. For instance, by banning the use of the word ‘gay,’ the companies were preventing people from using it as a slur. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of this is the creation of a virtual closet, where LGBT people cannot live, game, or interact openly.
Our aim here is to work with all the players – including companies, gamers, journalists, and community moderators – to develop sustainable policy solutions that address the rampant homophobia, provide safe spaces for LGBT people, and make the experience fun for all.
You can read the full release for more information.
If you’d like to provide questions or feedback, please feel free to email me at cole@glaad.org or via GLAAD’s Twitter feed @GLAAD. And if you’d like to attend the groundbreaking and FREE panel, please visit: www.glaad.org/digitalevent.
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