"Unfortunately, however, the stereotype of the shallow, effeminate and bitchy queen is one that a lot of gay men themselves decide to subscribe to, whether because they identify with women or because, on a subconscious level, believe that that kind of behaviour allows for easier identification of their sexual orientation and thus can more easily (i.e., lazily) form relationships or undertake sexual encounters.

This is, to me at least, learned behaviour that, in the mind of the averagely conservatively heterosexual individual unfortunately associates itself with promiscuity and the spread of HIV.  This is of course illogical, but a little ignorance goes a long way and we all know that gay people aren't subjects of a little ignorance.

From my experience, GayGamer.net has a great cross-section of people who certainly conform to stereotypes, but not necessarily the ones connected with sexuality.  Geeky/nerdy behaviour is a stereotypically male attribute, so it helps to break down the preconceptions that all gay guys might as well be girls with penises.

If you can make straight people think twice about what they thought about gay people, then you're helping to break down those negative stereotypes and little by little, it's a sure way to victory over those who would make or sustain laws discriminating against gay people.  And, of course, it's always best to address the adults of the future, so every time you cause someone to say "hey, I didn't know a fag could beat the shit out of me at Super Smash Bros. Brawl" you're actually breaking down those stereotypes. 

Just by playing games! 

...amazing!"

My point, of course, was that actually, gaming online connects people who wouldn't ordinarily come into contact with one another.  A gay gamer can meet hundreds, if not thousands of heterosexual gamers, a lot of which, judging by the language on LIVE or PSN, hold anti-gay sentiment on some level.  Sure, people may call something 'gay' and mean 'shit', and not have any homophobic intent, but wouldn't people make a lot of noise if suddenly the word 'Asian' became synonymous with 'shit'?  Or 'black African'?

And how disgusting is it when people say "well, you can't equate racism with homophobia?"
My dad said that to me a couple of months or so ago.  I was outraged and tried as hard as I could, but really couldn't get it through his head that actually, there's no difference between racism and homophobia.  I'd hate to think that it is largely to do with the misconception that sexuality is a choice.  Sure, there's no big mystery with race.  Are you born black?  Yes, I think you are.  Do you ever have to come out as Asian?  "But you always seemed so... well, so white."  Of course not.  So there's a lot of confusion about sexuality, but come on, if you're straight and you never decided to be straight, why would it follow that gay people chose to be gay?  And the whole, "but you used to like girls" is just silly.  Of course most gay people pretended to like the opposite sex because that's what you were meant to do.

I'm not saying that every mutliplayer experience for a gay person should turn into a debate about sexuality and how there really is no us'n'them divide, but I do think that when you finish your deathmatch at the top of the score board, then it's always nice to let people know that, if you are, then you're gay, just let your opponents know, because for some stupid fucking reason, nobody expects gay people to be any good at gaming.  Will it change the world?  No, but it can't hurt, can it?