GaymerX will no longer be holding its annual LGBT conference.
According to IGN, because of the lack of sponsorship for the conference, the organizers of GaymerX conference for LGBT gamers and developers have stated that 2014’s conference will likely be the last one for an undetermined amount of time.
GaymerX has stressed that the end of the conference is not the end of GaymerX or the fight for equality in gaming.
“This year, we went all out with the venue and going to three days – the costs skyrocketed and although attendance has been doing well, corporate sponsorship was just not at a level to sustain going this huge. We’re taking on a huge risk of debt, and even if we do end up selling out, we will barely just break even,” GaymerX said in a statement.
GaymerX was the first LGBT specific gaming convention. It was created as a separate space for LGBT people to come together and interact with others from the community.
When asked if a separate space for LGBT gamers was necessary, Toni Rocca, president of GaymerX and organization of the convention, told Joystiq that it was indeed.
“The easiest analogy that one could use is that it's like a gay bar. There’s bars, and then there's gay bars. A gay bar is a place where gay people can meet one another…and they can do so in a place where they know that they're not going to be harassed by somebody else,” Rocca said.
“This is about LGBT issues in gaming, and also celebrating the culture of LGBT intersecting with gaming as an art form. It's like having an LGBT film festival or things like that: It allows people from this culture to express themselves and see people like them expressing themselves, and see people like themselves creating things."
The GaymerX convention will take place in San Francisco from July 11-13 and tickets are still available at $70 apiece.