gmc on Nostr: The pinball community at large is unfortunately not a very inclusive community. I've ...

The pinball community at large is unfortunately not a very inclusive community. I've seen plenty of racism, sexism and queerphobia at pinball events, including within the Dutch Pinball Association, where I was a very active member. I remember one meeting / brainstorm about the future of the association where one of the subjects was 'attracting a more diverse audience'. When I brought up diversity, it turned out they were mostly interested in bringing in younger players, not poc, queer or women. I was laughed away by board members.

Mind you, there's a lot of exceptions and a lot of good people in the community as well. I've worked with many of them organising big tournaments. Still, in the community at large, all the isms are, if not encouraged, at least tolerated.

Personally, I just stopped going to events, the fun to be had wasn't outweighed by constantly having to be prepared for abusive language and derogatory comments. I'm still a somewhat active member of the Dutch Pinball Association (even though I don't live in The Netherlands anymore), but I've become wary of gatherings.

The fact that in reply to your post you got a 'don't take away my points, it's not worth it' from @mattlqx shows you where the community's priorities are. Instead of making a stand against intolerance, they are more interested in their personal standings.