I didn't really know how to start this post. Honestly, I wasn't sure what direction would best serve the most people and still openly express my opinion.
Then I realized that it's 2015. Damn it, it's far past time that people heard this and hopefully things will change.
I play a lot of games, and I have got a long time now. I played the original pong, when that was the only game on the console. Likewise, the Atari iterations, and Intellivision. The point is, I've been at this a while. Online gaming is relatively new, when compared to gaming as a whole and in that short time it's already gained a culture all its own.
For the most part, it's pretty good stuff. Gamers aren't naturally hateful towards one another and generally prefer to cooperate and/or help one another. But as with any culture, there are a few bad apples, and unfortunately they drag the rest of us down with them.
"That's so gay!" Has become my least favorite phrase of all time, and is this generation's "that sucks!" I'm not sure why it even exists, but it really makes me angry to hear it and WHEN (not if) I hear it, I call people on it immediately. I let people know it's not okay to say, and that I won't play with people that do say it. My own son said it one day, and his mother and I both immediately let him know that it was unacceptable.
Here's the thing: why is there an existing negative connotation with being gay? There's nothing wrong with being gay and there's no reason to associate being gay with anything bad. I've noticed some progress, in that I see advertisements now dissuading people from using words like "fag" to mean something bad, and frankly it's about time. This is not only unacceptable in the gaming community, it's socially unacceptable period. It gives me a little hope to see things going that way in mainstream media.
Maybe someday soon, people won't be persecuted for how they live. I can hope.
