Alumni Bonnie Ruberg & Chris Goetz at QGCon
BCNM alumni Bonnie Ruberg and Chris Goetz created The Queerness and Games Conference here at the Berkeley campus in 2013. Taken from their website, QGCon is an "an annual, community-oriented, nationally-recognized event dedicated to exploring the intersection of LGBTQ issues and video games." This year the conference was held in Montréal in September.
The conference has grown and become sustainable with a group of invested volunteers and wider community, and Ruberg and Goetz have stepped back to allow others to helm what they created. They are still very much involved, with both serving as panel moderators this yer. Ruberg moderated Challenges of History, Labor,and Care with Meghan Blythe Adamns, Jess Moore,and Christopher Persuad. Goetz moderated Cruising in Games with Daren Fowler and Tommy Ting.
Below is Bonnie Ruberg’s introduction to the QGCon in 2014.
“The Queerness and Games Conference is a bastion of idealism in a turbulent sea of beauty and concern. We stand at a difficult yet pivotal moment in the history of video games, when the game-makers who design some of the most powerful examples of the medium are also those who put their safety on the line simply by sharing their creations.
It’s no secret that it’s difficult to be queer in games. The games community and the games industry have struggled for decades with homophobic and exclusionary practices. Straight, white, cisgender men have long dominated the landscape of games. As GamerGate has made clear, speaking up for diversity in this hostile environment takes real courage. Now more than ever, it is crucial that we create welcoming spaces for discussing sexuality, gender, race, and difference in video games.”
The conference continues to grow and reach new audiences with every year, with special thanks to Bonnie Ruberg and Chris Goetz for creating a safe space.
Learn more at https://qgcon.com/