I bet you didn’t know there's a blog called gaygamer.net. Their tag line is "For boys who like boys who like joysticks!" At which point I just sigh and shake my head at the silly boys' club that is gaming. Even at our most inclusive, we've got a No Girls Allowed mentality.

Gaygamer is hosting the voting for the Best Upcoming Industry Gay Gaming Professional. Since they're "upcoming" rather than "already there", you probably haven't heard of them. The nominees are one of the developers of World of Goo for the Wii, a designer on the Spore team, and someone from Midway's Austin studio. The winner will be announced this weekend at a gay-themed awards show called the NewNowNext Awards, which "[highlights] the best of [lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-gender] pop culture across all mediums".

Although it looks awfully campy, natch, they deserve kudos for being inclusive enough to recognize something as un-stylish as gaming. Frankly, we could use a few more people in our industry who know how to dress (hopefully, the presenters in the screenshot above aren't representative).

While it's awfully easy to snicker at this, it's important to realize this has been a part of the industry for a long time. Dani Bunten was unique for various reasons, and not just for M.U.L.E.
And considering that about 2% of the population is gay, you can probably assume the same about 2% of gamers. It's part of the human condition, and as such, there's a place for it in the stories we tell. And that should absolutely include videogames.

If I may indulge in a bit of stereotyping, I've lived in Los Angeles for nearly fifteen years, and I've worked in the entertainment industry for many of those years. I was involved in theatre for many years before that. It's my experience that for whatever reason, there's a powerful creative streak among many gay people, a powerful drive to tell stories and express aesthetics, whether it's the stereotypical theatre, fashion, and opera, or more widely known fare like television, comics, and videogames. Is there a correlation between being gay and having a strong imagination? I have no idea. But if that is the case, as videogamers, I think it's something we can all understand, regardless of whom we're inclined to sleep with.