Gamers Against Bigotry Is Hacked… by Gamers in Favour of Bigotry
Today’s instalment of “you can’t have anything nice” comes courtesy of Texan comedian Sam Killermann. At the end of June, he set up a website with a simple aim: to allow the vast majority of decent, good human beings who enjoy videogames a forum in which to register their views.
The site was called Gamers Against Bigotry, and it asked readers to sign a simple pledge:
As a gamer, I realize I contribute to an incredibly diverse social network of gamers around the world, and that my actions have the ability to impact others. In effort to make a positive impact, and to create a community that is welcoming to all, I pledge to not use bigoted language while gaming, online and otherwise. Bigoted language includes, but is not limited to, slurs based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
Killermann added in an interview with The Mary Sue:
At times, and depending on the game you’re playing, it can feel like you’re the only one who is put off by the bigoted speech that’s tossed around in game chat. Every additional pledge is another person speaking up, publicly, that bigoted language isn’t okay.
He clarified elsewhere on the GAB site that he wasn’t against angry swearing, just angry swearing that targeted other gamers for their race, gender or sexuality: “The pledge doesn’t preclude you from making sailors blush, provided you’re making them blush with non-identity-specific four-letter words.”
Or, as geek idol Wil Wheaton put it when he posted a link to the pledge on his Tumblr: “In other words, Don’t be a Dick.”