While I know this survey is biased, it’s people who watch Brulosophy content and answer surveys, but my own experience backs this up: https://brulosophy.com/2024/05/27/2024-general-homebrewer-survey-results/
My personal experience mirrors that as well. Everyone in my homebrew group is that. Everyone in surrounding groups (as seen in pictures of state-wide gatherings) is that. 95% of the people I see in homebrew shops are that.
Why?
When I was a kid, I was a girl and me and my best friend (also a girl) went to Dungeons and Dragons games hosted by a DM at a local gaming shop. We were in middle school, the other players and the DMs were all adults.
There was a guy who would regularly teasingly poke my friend in a way that was clearly inappropriate and uncomfortable. Nobody stopped him. We did go for a few more sessions but eventually stopped attending. We stayed in the hobby, but it’s not a mystery why people would leave.
Not to mention the underlying currents of racism in a lot of games.
I know D&D and homebrew aren’t the same thing, but D&D is the intro for a lot of people so it’s very relevant.
Edit: ahh okay different homebrew.
God bless you please keep this up
If it makes you feel better, I first thought we where talking about moding game consoles and rom hacking. This made me seriously confused about the apparent physical stores.