GLAAD is hosting a panel about homophobia & gaming, titled "Homophobia in Virtual Communities", including representatives from EA, Microsoft & Linden Labs.
As a casual gamer, it's very good to see this happening. Homophobia (and other bigotry) is far too rampant in most gaming communities. And things like Microsoft's policy for Xbox Live accounts forbidding mention of sexual orientation only help encourage it. (They have apparently pledged to reexamine their policy. Won't hold my breath.)
I don't tend to play much online games (I prefer God games and the like), and I'm generally unsocial when I do play online. But the rampant homophobia, and sexism, are such that I'll tend to avoid anything that would give away that I'm queer or a girl. And forget about letting people know I'm trans; people are even more transphobic. While this doesn't bother me most of the time, occasionally it would be nice to have an easier time finding a friendly community in online games.
It's not going to be an easy problem to solve, but it's good to know that game companies are interesting in attempting to solve it.
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