Another thing for gamers to get pissed about

Written by: Chris McKenna

Rage!

This week, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) launched an ad campaign, called “Think Before You Speak,” aimed at reducing teenagers use of derogatory terms like “that’s so gay” in their everyday speech.

A noble endeavor, to be sure. I’ve never been one for casual gay bashing, and God only knows that teens could do with a little less subconscious homophobia.

Just leave it to gamers to mess up a good thing.

Thinkb4youspeak’s ad campaign aims to point out the consequences of using phrases like “that’s so gay” by turning the tables on those who use them. Their first series of ads focus on a stereotypical jock, cheerleader, and gamer. Special emphasis on that last group.

By so much as mentioning gaming in a negative light, Thinkb4youspeak has inadvertently opened up a can of worms, the likes of which they never could have imagined.

Unleash the hate after the break.

This is a real comment.

You see, most of the time gamers (or the kind of gamers who would get worked up over this kind of thing) are too busy debating the merits of the Suckbox 360 vs. the PSGay, but every once and a while, someone badmouths their beloved hobby and unleashes a torrential outpouring of hate.

This time, that someone was Thinkb4youspeak.

The offensive ad in question depicts a male gamer, with large, yellow block print covering the majority of the ad which reads “That’s so ‘gamer guy who has more videogames than friends.’”

Now, before you go off and write an angry letter to your senator, there’s more. In considerably smaller font, the ad also says “Think that’s mean? How do you think ‘that’s so gay’ sounds? Hurtful. So, knock it off.”

To be fair to the internet hate machine, Thinkb4youspeak probably should have considered making the explanatory text a little larger, but it’s really no excuse for gamers getting their panties in a proverbial bunch.

There are no cheer squads up in arms about these ads, there are no angry forum posts from high school athletes saying that they’ve been somehow wronged.

For years, gamers were picked on for the things they loved. But now, in the era of Halo and the Wii, video games are becoming more and more mainstream, more and more accessible, to the point where they rival music and movies as a form of entertainment.

10 years ago, an ad campaign like this wouldn’t even be focusing on gamers as a social group on the level of jocks and cheerleaders, which in itself says something about how popular video games have become.

And yet, we still see ourselves as a persecuted minority and look to lash out against anyone who we perceive as a threat to our way of life.

The sad thing is, if anyone needs a lesson when it comes to homophobia, its gamers. Spend 10 minutes on Xbox LIVE and you’ll find out why.

But the real irony here isn’t in the reactions of gamers; it’s in the way that the gaming press has covered this so-called “controversy.”

Gamespy published an article on the advertisements titled “ThinkB4YouSPeak Ad Campaign Angers Gamers,” not bothering to mention which gamers were angered, just that they were.

And, lo and behold, the comments were full of outraged gamers.

If it weren’t for the gaming media, this whole thing would have blown over. But, because gaming sites took it upon themselves to blow this thing out of proportion – bang! Controversy.

And yet, here I am, rambling on about that very same ad campaign, which will no doubt incite a few more people to make a bigger deal out of this than it already is.

And the cycle continues.

*sigh.*