CEO 2023 is the FGC at its inclusive best, even as it faces down looming anti-LGBTQ+ laws

On March 6, 2023, house bill 1521 was filed by Florida-based government officials. It would strictly determine what bathrooms people could use based on their assigned gender at birth – an attempt to prohibit the freedoms of non-binary people within the state. This bill, part of a wider political assault on the transgender population currently taking place in the USA, is set to go into effect today, July 1.

Just one week prior to this date was CEO 2023. A community born-and-bred fighting game event held in Daytona Beach, it has been the largest event in the state for over a decade. CEO, or Community Effort Orlando, was created as a hub not just for Florida natives slinging sticks and plinking buttons, but national and international fighters that wanted to get together and share a love for the genre.

But, 13 years after the dream started to come true for Florida’s scrappy FGC underbelly, 2023’s CEO may have been the last hurrah for a community looking down the barrel of growing social and legal prejudice all around them.

But first, some background. CEO has for many years built up a reputation as not just one of the USA’s fighting game biggest events, but also the most community-centered. It’s in the name for a reason – Alex Jebailey had the role of tournament organizer thrust upon him back in 2010 and has been bringing a hype competitive event, social space, and wrestling ring to both Florida natives and far-flung travelers ever since.

This has stood in stark contrast to Daytona Beach, the location CEO moved to starting in 2018. This part of Florida has always had a rough reputation for anti-social behavior, especially towards minority groups. As such, experiences with racism and other abhorrent behavior has sadly become a shared experiece for attendees.

“Daytona Beach is horrible. But this ain’t something to blame Jebailey for, though. He already assured us he’s found a better place in the next couple years. But Daytona Beach is terrible,” writes Tringy over Twitter DMs. Having played fighting games competitively since 2016, she made the journey over to CEO this year. Despite the danger of harassment outside the Daytona Beach Ocean Center for trans attendees, she firmly believe that “Jebailey always delivers.”

“Is the event itself a safe space? 1000%! Jebailey and his team always ensures our safety while inside the event at all times, and even addresses our concerns in a very timely manner,” she explains. As a case in point, a 16-year-old player starting throwing hands following a loss in bracket at this year’s event, and Jebailey asked them to leave promptly.

Kenzie, another trans attendee, travelled to CEO 2023 as their second major event. While they initially asked family to go with them, they ended up travelling solo to Daytona Beach. “It was very fun! The atmosphere felt very welcoming and nice, if that makes any sense. I had no issues with anyone there and got to talk to a lot of people and had a great time!”

While they didn’t personally face any antagonistic behavior outside of the venue, Kenzie clocked this up to not dressing in a feminine manner in public spaces. A Louisiana resident, they say they are used to doing so to avoid hateful comments. The only space they felt comfortable dressing comfortably was within CEO itself, where they cosplayed as the dolphon-loving May from Guilty Gear. When not in cosplay, those who conversed with Kenzie made an effort to address them with correct pronouns.

As of CEO 2023, Jebailey and his team were able to run an event with a drastically different culture to the world outside the premises. However, with anti-trans legislation coming to the state soon, creating a safe space in this manner may no longer be possible. Per house bill 1521, people or businesses who go against the ruling can face prosecution or fines up to $10,000 if the laws are broken.

The incoming legislation has led to numerous folks online urging Jebailey and crew to move out of state. However, the reality of such a move may not be as easy as it reads on paper. Says Tringy:

“It’s very unrealistic. He’s in a contract right now (until 2024), and breaking that contract – or any contract – requires up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. As much as we want him to move, some of us who know a bit about financial issues within businesses and organizations and contracts know that if you break them, you would have to dish out a multitude of fees.

“And moving CEO to an entirely different state would take an absurd amount of money, which would mean a definite increase in registration fees, food costs, cost of internet and streaming services, etc. Not to mention local people from Florida losing out and potentially not going. Moving to a different county, like Orlando, is 100% likely. Moving to a different state? Nah. Nice try.”

But while moving county may dodge many of the local issues in Daytona, it wouldn’t dodge the legal issues CEO and other Florida events will be facing. These laws themselves are enough for many to reconsider attending the event in the future, including Kenzie. “I’m not sure yet but I have been thinking about it,” they say. “It ultimately depends on what happens in a years’ time, but if everything stays the way it’s going I probably won’t go next year, at least.”

We reached out to Alex Jebailey prior to CEO 2023 for his thoughts on the situation, but he did not respond. His team did, however, publically share tweets echoing an all-parties-welcome message.

That’s the future that CEO, and numerous other events in the USA – a country becoming more and more hostile towards LGBTQ+ groups month by month – will have to face. We’re seeing a similar story with Games Done Quick; an event with a famously large proportion of enby and trans players.

This month’s event was championed as a welcoming and safe space for all attendees, in the face of increasingly aggressive pushes from the conservative right. LGBT fighting game players aren’t going anywhere, and their presence at CEO this year makes that clear.