Gaming and Pride: Vancouver Gaymers host latest meetup
Attendees came together to play board and video games while bonding over common interests
Vancouver Gaymers was formed in 2009. (Yohani Weheragama)
Among various Pride celebrations in Vancouver last weekend, gamers had their own special corner. In an outdoor, tucked away venue on Johnson Street, the Vancouver Gaymers hosted a Pride meetup on Aug. 4 from 1:00 to 7:00 pm.
The Vancouver Gaymers is a volunteer-run, registered society that provides a space for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and allies to get together and find community through shared hobbies and interests.
Rafael Rodrigues, the president of the Vancouver Gaymers, says it’s a space catered to those with “nerdy hobbies” within the queer community. He says back in the day, the word “nerd” used to be a slur, but that they embrace the term and have fun with “nerdy hobbies.”
Relevant interests for the group include board games, video games, as well as anything connected to them such as anime, comic books, shows, and more.
“We are not necessarily the clubbers, not so much the bar-goers all the time, but we still are queer. We still want to find community,” Rodrigues says.
The Vancouver Gaymers initially began as a Facebook group in 2009 to meet other queer gamers with shared interests. While meetups were then hosted at Tim Hortons, the community has now grown to have about four events each month.
The Aug. 4 meetup featured various board and video games for attendees to play. A bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks was also set up. Board and card games available included Azul, Zoo Vadis, Samurai Sword, Throw Throw Burrito, Codename Pictures, Doomlings, and Tsuro.
Video games were set up on two T.V. screen stations, featuring games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, as well as the console Pandora’s Box 11S among others.
The Troopas, a Vancouver-based video game music cover band, also performed at the event. The band featured five members on various instruments including the flute, saxophone, percussion, and guitar.
Each member dressed the part in Mario Kart costumes, including characters like Princess Peach and Bowser. They played pieces from well-known video games such as Mario Kart, along with various background music tracks.
Rodrigues says the organization is an important space to have outside of going to clubs or drinking, allowing people with shared hobbies to have fun together. Back in the day, queer people had to go to bars and clubs because they needed a space that was for just adults to meet, he says, adding that he is happy this is no longer the case.
“Vancouver, especially for a foreign person like me, is not the easiest place to find friends,” Rodrigues says.
“About 90 per cent of the friends that I currently have came from [Vancouver Gaymers], and that’s what made me so passionate, … I can see that in a lot of other people.”
The connections that people make through the Vancouver Gaymers are important and meaningful for everybody, Rodriguez says.
“I went to a friend’s wedding the other day. I met this friend through the Gaymers, and he met his husband through the Gaymers, too.”
There are no membership fees to join Vancouver Gaymers, and most events are free. To learn more, visit vancouvergaymers.com/.
