OTTAWA, ON
Following what they call years of systemic discrimination, “gamers” flooded the House of Commons yesterday to make their voices known. Championing private member’s bill C-1337, gamers of all stripes came to highlight the struggles they have faced and how parliament has remained silent on these issues.
“It’s an utter travesty, what we can see is the state trying to control our very culture, right down to erasing our language,” said a cargo-pant-clad protester, of course in reference to his idol pewdiepie facing backlash for using the n-word on stream.
Another protester brought forward complaints about the appropriation of gamer culture by non-gamers. “We can trace a through-line from Big Bang Theory to Jumanji 2 … just examples of Hollywood stealing, bastardizing, and misrepresenting our culture. Legal standing would really give legitimacy to our movement,” said a white man wearing a Naruto headband and sporting a series of sexually-explicit anime neck tattoos.
The movement says that official recognition at both the federal and provincial level is necessary to see justice for gamers. “When I told my boss I needed a week off to do my 72-hour livestream of Super Mario 64, he just laughed at me and told me not to bother showing up for work ever again. He never would have said that if I told him I had to spend that time Yom Kippuring or something,” said a protester who only provided us with his decidedly white nationalist username.
“What we have here is something real – a real intersectional movement. If there’s something that can unite fans of Western RPGs and JRPGs, shooters and puzzlers, millenials and slightly younger milennials, we truly have everyone represented,” said the lead organizer in between tweeting out death threats to a feminist game critic whose work he had never read.
The dozen or so protesters remained on the steps of Parliament Hill until they had to be home for curfew.