Ep. 25: "Mama Let's Research!" (PRIDE 2021: Queer Gaming's Past & Present)

In honor of Pride Month, this week we’re taking our silly gay lil show back to its roots and celebrating queer-centric video games throughout gaming history!

First, Laurence shares the stories of two of the earliest documented LGBTQ-centric video games -- Caper in the Castro and Gayblade-- exploring the stories of how these two landmark games came about as a form of protest and resilience during the height of the AIDS-epidemic.

Then, Eric jumps us forward in time to discuss a modern queer gaming icon: game developer Robert Yang. Unafraid to create intimate, explicit, & provocative game experiences about sexuality & gay culture, Yang’s games are pushing the boundary of the medium and changing the way we think about queer representation in gaming. 

Yang was also recently honored as the recipient of Gayming Magazine’s 2021 Gayming Icon Award: honoring individuals who have “made a significant contribution to not only promoting the status of the LGBTQ+ community in video games, but also increasing its visibility.”

Between Pride and all of this month’s gaming news and announcements: June is a great time to be an LGBTQ+ gamer! We hope you enjoy this episode, find ways to uplift and celebrate queer voices, and always fight for the rights of all marginalized people in your communities and across the world. Happy Pride listeners!

LINKS!! (so many this week!)

Gayming Magazine DIGIPRIDE 2021 Line-up

Itch.io Queer Games Bundle 2021

Links to play/download Games discussed this week

Caper in the Castro
Gayblade
Robert Yang's Website

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Join us on our Twitch Channel! We'll be livestreaming the Nintendo Direct E3 Press Conference on Tuesday, June 15th @ 9am PDT / 12pm EDT  
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Intro and outro music by Connor Marsh (@connorjmarshmallow)

Show art by Nick Adams (@stickartams)

Special thanks to our patrons: Blueberri Mary, Elijah Punzal, & Martha Turner <3

MUSIC THIS WEEK:
"Grounders" by Vyvanse