Dutch airline KLM to attract more UK-based gay customers with the launch of online game

I tried it. It’s kind of fun, pretty easy to answer. My score was 10 out of 10 questions :) And apparently, you may be in a chance to win flights into one of KLM’s gay destinations. Competition ends 26 September.

Try it here: http://www.theklmgaygetaway.co.uk

In a press release I received, KLM says : “KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has launched its first ever gay online game in the UK.   The airline, which is a staunch supporter of the gay community in the Netherlands, has previously worked with the LGBT community in London but this is the first time the airline has targeted a UK-wide audience.

The game, entitled “The KLM Gay Getaway!”, which can be accessed at www.theklmgaygetaway.co.uk, focuses on the gay capitals of the world. Players get a whistle stop tour of the top KLM gay destinations as they answer a series of multiple choice questions about each city.  The view-master mechanic flicks up images of various cities with the questions overlaid on top of the images.  At the end of ten questions players can register their details in order to be put into a prize draw to win flights to a gay KLM destination of their choice."

P.S. Re: that homophobic game in Georgia

The Observer, run by France 24, reflects my earlier blog post on homophobic game which appeared on Georgian website popular among children: Hunting the homo – the game infuriating gay rights activists. The article states that the game was created by a Frenchman and it’s banned in France.

A video game hosted by a Georgian website is causing outrage in the gay rights community. The idea of the online game - to shoot nudists, before they b**ger you, was created by a Frenchman. It's banned in France... but not in Georgia.

The game (available here), was initially picked up and slated by the Gay Caucasus blog, shortly followed by Gay Armenia. Global Voices quoted the latter as being "completely disgusted", finding it particularly shocking that the concept was adopted by "those religious-minded people in Tbilisi, Georgia, who swear in the name of Georgian patriarchy and constantly cite Bible to ‘justify' their homophobia and hatred. Is this their (un-)‘orthodox' way of bringing up children by creating an image of an enemy (= gays) and teaching how to deal with it (= kill them)?" [...]

However the owner (Jean Christophe Calvet) of website which originally launched this game in 2002, tries to justify it as a “juvenile humour”.

"We launched this game a long time ago [2002] and it worked very well. It was only a few years after it came out that a gay rights association took legal action against us. So we withdrew the game. It's no longer available on French sites, but it's impossible to wipe it from all foreign sites too.
I have to say that at the beginning, we really didn't understand why the association was attacking us. The guy who came up with the game, Stéphane Aguie, wanted to mock hunters and red-necks, not gay men.
Our games are not politically correct. They're aimed at teenagers (12-18) and it's true that they're of a juvenile humour. I realise now that this one in particularly could be found shocking, but I believe that you should be able to make this kind of joke in the name of freedom of speech. Incidentally, not everyone in the gay community was supportive of banning the game.
It's not the first game we've been attacked over. Jean-Marie Le Pen [far right French party leader] took us to court over a game in which users could throw axes at his face. He was not the only celebrity featured in the game, but in his case it was a swastika rather than an axe... We were also criticised by the Americans for our ‘New York Defender' game. Launched in 2001, the aim of the game was to protect the Twin Towers from plane attacks."

I completely reject such ‘justification’. There is nothing “juvenile” and not a bit “humorous” in something which promotes hatred and killing. Even worse, if this is aimed at children and teenagers. Will Mr. Jean Christophe Calvet be as light-hearted in relation, for example, a game which depicts white people hunting and killing black people? Will he describe it as a “juvenile” and “humorous” concept, or a “joke in the name of freedom of speech”? I doubt very much. This has nothing to do with the freedom of speech. This has everything to do with promotion of hatred and homophobia.

You may read the piece by The Observer (France 24) here.

My original blog post is here.

‘Kill the faggots’ - new online game for children (!!) in Georgia

Gay Caucasus reports on extremely disturbing, utterly homophobic and hateful game which appeared on Georgian online game site games.jeje.ge, popular among children and teenagers. ‘Kill the faggots’ game involves a hunter shooting naked men who jump out of bushes. If hunter is unsuccessful, the men rape the hunter.

This is totally disgusting. The website has to be shut down unless they take this game out of their server. This is even more unacceptable considering that the site aims mainly at children and teenagers. Children as young as six are familiar with the site and regularly play online games there. In fact, the author of Gay Caucasus found out about the game via children of close people. I wonder, where are the voices of those religious-minded people in Tbilisi, Georgia, who swear in the name of Georgian patriarch and constantly cite Bible to ‘justify’ their homophobia and hatred. Is this their (un-)‘orthodox’ way of bringing up children by creating an image of enemy (=gays) and teaching how to deal with it (=kill them)?

Теперь хочется задать вопрос как хозяевам этого игрового сайта, так и всем, кому «надоели» разговоры о гомофобию и геи, пытающиеся защитить свои права. Господа, что может значить такая игра на детском игровом сервере? Чему мы учим своих детей – что гомосексуалы враги и их нужно убивать? Понятно, что для взрослых гомофодов такая игра может быть вполне забавной, но когда ее размещают на детском сервере, чему мы учим тем самым детей? «Убивать пидоров»? Есть во всем этом какая-либо логика или рационализм? Что может сотворить этот ребенок, когда повзрослеет, если все свое детство будет играть в эту игру, «убивая пидоров», бегающих за охотником с одной целью, чтобы его изнасиловть...

*picture - via Gay Caucasus blog

Lesbian Gamers

If you are lesbian and gamer, this site is apparently for you (found via UKGayNews). As they say, "Because sometimes we use our hands for other things" ;)

Enjoy!

http://www.lesbiangamers.com/