Gay-mers, unite!

Hello, my name is Nuclia Waste. And I am an addict.

Not smoking (like my mom). Not booze (like my dad). Not crystal meth (like too many gay youth).

No, for me it’s games. Put a joystick or D-pad in my hands and I will find every last Pokemon, close every last Oblivion gate, slay every last Skyrim dragon. I can’t help myself. Mr. Waste is not too concerned with my addiction. As he says, “At least I know where he is at night.”

I always read lots of fantasy and science fiction as a young drag thing. I got through the entire Lord of the Rings before 8th grade, overriding the protests of my teachers who said it was far advanced for my reading comprehension. Never say never to the Nuclia. I read the trilogy AND all the appendices. As video gaming progressed towards more and more realism, I discovered I could live and play in the worlds I had only read about.

My home office is set up with surround sound, two Xboxes and Kinect, two Nintendo DS Lites (your never know when a friend might want to play), one Nintendo 3-DS XL (for the release of Animal Crossing this spring), Wii, iPhone and of course the iPad. It’s a gaming gadgeteers wet dream of electronics.

I recently started playing Clash of Clans on my iPad. It’s filled with goblins and gold, wizards and elixir. You build a fortress and can go online to raid gold and elixir from others all over the world. Players form clans and help each other out. I recently decided to look for a clan to join, as my fortress was looking pretty badass. (I could hardly join a clan with lame wooden log walls and pea-shooting cannons).

So I typed “gay” into the clan search. Sure enough, a few clans with gay in the title popped up. I picked one and asked to join. I was accepted and found myself in a friendly gaggle of gay players. This drag queen from Denver was now chatting with gay-mers in England, Australia, France and the Philippines.

There’s Tonchi, a gay Philippino getting his degree in nursing while working for surfing tourists on Mindanao Island. His closest nightlife is three hours away on another island. When he goes, he’s stuck with his straight cousins who he cannot come out to.

There’s Karlo, a Brazilian working in Japan. He’s finally getting a taste for sushi and sashimi.

There’s Simon from Leeds, England who is our clan leader. “Si” started the group as a haven safe from the homophobic taunts that STILL take place in online gaming.

There’s Jack, a lonely youth, who knows he is gay but has never been with a man or on a date. With our encouragement he signed up with a gay youth online dating service.

I play games to escape the real world and have found myself in another just a real. Real people dealing with real issues. We chat, give advice, we help each other out. So maybe my addiction is doing a world of good.

(If you’re a gay-mer too, look me up. My Game Center ID is Nuclia, of course!)