2014 Appearance Schedule Updates + GaymerX2 Boss of Honor
Posted on October 1, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 14 Comments
I’m beginning to update my 2014 appearance schedule and I have my first three dates up, primary among them GaymerX2, at which I will be a “Boss of Honor” next July 11 – 13. GaymerX2 is an LGBTQ video game and gaming-centered convention, and it looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. I’m excited to be part of it — not the least of which is because by next July the video game I’m working on should be out and about in the world.
At the moment GaymerX2 is my only GoH-level appearance for 2014, and given how late it is in the programming year, I suspect it will stay that way. But you never know. I will obviously let you all know if that changes.
There are also conventions I am likely to go to next year that I haven’t yet officially put on my schedule, chief among them LonCon 3, next year’s Worldcon. My next novel may or may not be coming out right around then, which means I may or may not be having a book tour at that time. We’ll have to see.
Gaymer. Even sadder than that pun is the fact it took me a second to get it.
Is it too early to start putting in requests for stops on your next tour? We’d love to see you in Raleigh again.
Beej:
Inasmuch as I don’t know if I am having a tour, yes, probably too early.
There is a game con just for that group? Interesting, not sure I know how different?
Loncon! Squeee! Yes, I am also registered and now I have /another/ reason to go :).
John, you’ll need an extra mallet — perhaps rainbow-hued ;-) — for all the incremental unitelligent snark you’ll need to correct lovingly for going to GaymerX2. <3
I am looking to forward to hearing where else you are going!
You have come to Loncon! I was gonna offer you a fine (if warm) ale, or more likely coke zero in a pint glass in a London hostelry. You can always have a European leg of the book tour…
Friartuck:
Mostly it’s not that much different than the usual gaming convention, except for more panels on LGBTQ issues in gaming, except for one very important thing that might not occur to those who are not of that group: there is none of the abusive or negative behavior LGBTQ people run into all too often in cons.
It seems like that wouldn’t be a problem–many SFF fans, as well as gamers, like to think we’re all very accepting of differences–but I’ve seen convention audience panels turn ugly when, for example, Bioware’s support of homosexual partnerships in their games is brought up. And I’ve seen gay convention attendees given grief for sharing a quick peck on the cheek with their same-sex partner.
And, to be honest, I suspect a great many LGBTQ people just like the comfort of knowing they won’t face any of that when at GaymerX2.
The benefits of this for non-hetero gamers are obvious. Freedom!
I find, as a straight woman, that the LGBTQI focused conventions are also more comfortable for me. There’s just less prickly hegemonic stuff* in the air. Fewer frothing dudebros** makes for a mellower atmosphere all around, for everyone. There’s so much less need for posturing, rigid gender role policing, and suspicion of your fellow con-goers.
Plus, it makes you think about stuff from another point of view, which is always a valuable thing for a human being.
*the name of my next band
**the band after that, if OGH isn’t using it, which he’s free to
I was *just* about to ask if you were likely to visit the UK… LonCon 3 it is, then! (I hope!)
You’ll have be monitoring an entire herd of gamma rabbits! At an LGBTQ event, I seriously doubt if there are enough truly manly men to be anything else… at least in the eyes of those who would carve the gamma rabbits out of the herd.
I was, within living memory, one of the people who didn’t think there was a good reason for “LGBT-friendly” guilds in MMOs, etcetera.
Then I wanted to hang out with a friend, and she got into such a guild, and I went there too, and you know what? It was sort of weird not seeing people randomly use “gay” as their all-purpose negative word.
I remember, in one of the nicest, friendliest, MMO guilds I’d ever been in, someone mentioning Lady Gaga, and the ensuing discussion of rumors that she was trans and how disgusting that would be. And wondering if they knew that one of their best players was trans, and being glad she happened not to be online at the time.
Now I mostly do “LGBT-friendly” guilds.
Detcon1? :)
I just heard about your boss of honor status for GaymerX2 and am super excited! You’re now one of the major selling points of the convention for me!
I also wanted to say thank you, and that it means a lot to me (and probably many others) to have this kind of support from someone I admire.
As for what’s different about GaymerX2 from other conventions, I’d agree Michael Johnston, Lurkertype, and Seebs in saying that people can go and enjoy themselves and not have to worry about feeling unsafe and unwelcome, LGBTQ or not!
Another valuable trait is that GaymerX2 provides an opportunity for LGBTQ gamers to meet other people that fit that description in person. Depending on where you live, finding other LGBTQ people can be difficult, meeting other gamers might be difficult, and finding someone else that meets both criteria is correspondingly more so, making an environment in which those people are actually the majority immensely desirable, even if you only get the opportunity once or twice a year.
I could go on about how it’s valuable to build a community where people can support each other when times get hard, and how the presence of such a convention is important to demonstrate to game developers that the LGBTQ gaming community is large enough to warrant thinking about when creating new material, and so on and so forth, but I think I’ve gone on long enough already, so I’ll just leave it at thanks for being in attendance and I’m super excited the con now!