The LGBT Thread

[Snake]

There are a number of gay or transgender indie developers making smaller games either based on or related to their experiences and sensibilities. Aunte Pixelante, Porpentine, Kat Lake/Kat Chastain, Ted Lauterbach/Rotten Tater, and a number of others whose names escape me.

I'm sure its easier to infuse smaller games with relevant personal experiences than in AAA titles, where you have massive teams answering to corporate higher-ups. Mainstream gamers have to make do with the overt homoeroticism of Madden and CoD.

If anyone here hasn't seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch, get on that shit.

Saw this on stage. Its actually the only musical I've ever seen live, so at least I went all-out.

[BulletMagnet]

There are a number of gay or transgender indie developers making smaller games either based on or related to their experiences and sensibilities.

I think a gay gaming con was also started up recently, though I don't know much about exactly what it features that other gaming conventions wouldn't.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Oi! Warning is one memorable film. I watched it screened under very peculiar conditons...

[Moniker]

There are a number of gay or transgender indie developers making smaller games either based on or related to their experiences and sensibilities.

I think a gay gaming con was also started up recently, though I don't know much about exactly what it features that other gaming conventions wouldn't.

Never been to a gaming con, but if it's anything like Xbox Live, a lack of 11 year-olds screaming 'faggot!' at you might be a nice feature.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Conventions can't be the same as online gaming, the reason being that people must look each other in the eye. All telecommunication is a substitute for personal contact.

[Krooze L-Roy]

Seems a bit unrealistic to want nuanced, respectful depictions of gay people when the vast majority of male and female characters in general are still variations on Schwarzenegger and Pam Anderson, respectively. That's like criticizing a toddler's stick figure as having unrealistic ears.

And, really, why not just assume that vague characters are just like you. I mean, Link certainly seems more like a gay person than not, but I still give him my first name in every game.

[CIT]

Adol and Dogi

People have been in the know about them for years, they just haven't come out yet.

[Skykid]

Adol and Dogi

People have been in the know about them for years, they just haven't come out yet.

There's definitely some kind of thing there.

I think the translation team took a few liberties in Oath, though.

[evil_ash_xero]

Never been gay, myself. They seem chipper.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Seems a bit unrealistic to want nuanced, respectful depictions of gay people when the vast majority of male and female characters in general are still variations on Schwarzenegger and Pam Anderson, respectively. That's like criticizing a toddler's stick figure as having unrealistic ears.

And, really, why not just assume that vague characters are just like you. I mean, Link certainly seems more like a gay person than not, but I still give him my first name in every game.

What's needed is not nuanced. Was Lara Croft nuanced? What's needed is a character we'd all fall for. It's "safe" to admire, say, dr Jones because he doesn't do anything queer. You need to be as "normal" as John McClane to get Die Hard level production values and distribution.

[seraph]

(nvm)

[Krooze L-Roy]

What's needed is not nuanced. Was Lara Croft nuanced? What's needed is a character we'd all fall for. It's "safe" to admire, say, dr Jones because he doesn't do anything queer. You need to be as "normal" as John McClane to get Die Hard level production values and distribution.

I get what you're saying, but John McClane is to the typical straight guy as Mr. Gold and Mr. Silver are to the typical gay guy. If gay people were the majority, McClane would be considered offensive.

And the Pirates of the Caribbean series are big budget movies which feature a gay main character. I'd say that gives gays a level of popcorny action/adventure series representation in proportion to their population.

[Obiwanshinobi]

You don't watch many Japanese cartoons, do you? Protip - avoid US dubs. One Piece is as good a place to start as any.

[Moniker]

A guy at work today, in his early twenties, just got netflix and is making his way through season 1 of House of Cards, was absolutely shattered that KS's character had a gay relationship. I mean, he whinged about it to just about anyone who would listen. And I generally like the guy. Man is it rough in these small towns. ('Faggot' and 'dyke' are basically the dictionary words around here. I'd be even more upset if 'nigger' weren't more dominant than 'black'.) What's funny/sad is that the gay-bashing ringleaders are almost uniformly effeminate.

What's somewhat heartening is that there are a couple of 'don't ask - don't tell' gay folk that are basically out of the closet, live with their partners, and don't really give a shit about appearances. And they're wholeheartedly accepted, as far as I can tell. But there's still that line that no one crosses; no one references their sexual identity, either directly or tangentially. And maybe that's good enough. Pretty damn good, actually, around here.

[BulletMagnet]

What's funny/sad is that the gay-bashing ringleaders are almost uniformly effeminate.

Well, you know what the stereotypical assumption is in cases like that...

[Moniker]

What's funny/sad is that the gay-bashing ringleaders are almost uniformly effeminate.

Well, you know what the stereotypical assumption is in cases like that...

That's what sorta kills me. I don't know whether to pity them for feeling that they have to overcompensate (assuming, of course, a direct correlation b/w effeminacy and sexual identity), or to despise them for a sort of civil betrayal. As I'm not gay (only bi with a strong bias towards females), I don't have to carry such weight, so I guess I can't fully criticize.

This one bona-fide self-loathing gay fella in my town, though. Talk to him for 15 mins on any topic at all, and he'll chat your ear off on how niggers and fags are ruining the country. I have no sympathy for him, but other people, whom I respect, count him as an old and dear friend. Not sure how to handle that situation.

[glitch]

so apparently some new The Last of Us DLC (Left Behind) has a protagonist in an interracial lesbian relation?
not the sort of game i'd play but i'm half inclined to check it out just to see how right or wrong that went.

[BIL]

Adol and Dogi

People have been in the know about them for years, they just haven't come out yet.

There's definitely some kind of thing there.

I think the translation team took a few liberties in Oath, though.

Just a couple of vigorous young dudes who met up in jail.

[Skykid]

^ Lol.

It would explain Adol never getting it on with any of the very many chicks looking to jump his bones.

[Xyga]

Every time I see this thread's title I can't help but think it's about the LBT sandwich.

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Isn't it usually written as BLT?

[Xyga]

You're right, but still.

[Krooze L-Roy]

LGBLT. Extra lettuce, extra gay.

[Ed Oscuro]

What happens if you put ham in the LGBLT? "This is not a real LGBLT, you're trying to degrade the value of the LGBLT and steal its spotlight." Reminds me of the Manhattan vs. New England clam chowder debate.

I know those people are in the minority, but it's just so fun to pick on it

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

LGBLT. Extra lettuce, extra gay.

Almost choked on my Apple juice

[Zerst]

It's LGBTQ now anyway. C'mon, get with the times.

[glitch]

goddammit uganda >_<

It's LGBTQ now anyway. C'mon, get with the times.

hey you're forgetting the I.

[evil_ash_xero]

I'm gonna throw something out here that's probably controversial. And possibly ignorant. But hey, it's late at night, and I'm fried.

I don't have any problems with gay or lesbian people at all. Nor do I have any issues with transgendered people.

I definitely believe most men who are gay, are born that way. Lesbians...some certainly. Women though seem to be born kind of...they can kind of switch teams sometimes without a lot of effort. So, they confuse me a bit.

But the whole transgender thing. I don't really buy that "I was born a man, but I'm a woman". I think you may want to become a woman, like REALLY freaking bad, but I don't think it's the same as being gay or lesbian. And I don't really like how it's portrayed the same way.
I guess what I'm trying to say is...I think that being gay and lesbian is more of a physical thing. Like, it's in the genetics. Whereas I think transgendered people(who may be gay as well..and that part I believe is physical)...I think it's more of a mental thing. I'm not saying they're mentally ill, it's just coming from a different place.

A lot of them seem sad, and out of place. And I feel kind of bad for them. Very few are "hot", and get lots of attention and acceptance. A lot of them look like transgender...so, they are looked at like freaks to a degree. So, it's sad.

But I could be completely wrong. It's not like I have a lot of experience with transgendered people. Just my 2 cents.

[glitch]

well, i think you're right that there's something conceptually odd about heaping transgenderism in with homosexuality. i guess it makes socio-political sense though.

as for transgenderism being "mental"...
when you read up on the neurology, it's definitely not simply a matter of "wanting to be the other gender". super-short version: there isn't all that much qualitative difference between male brains and female brains, but in what little difference there is (in areas related to gender-specific instincts) it is found that transgender people have the brain structures of the gender they identify as.

it has also been shown in mice that if you mess with their prenatal hormone levels in the right way you can make mice that have the anatomy of one sex but the brain structure and behaviour of the other sex. so it's biologically very well possible to have such a mismatch as a result of hormonal disturbances during pre-natal development, and something this seems to be the neurological basis for gender dysphoria in humans. makes sense that such brains would feel misplaced in their bodies.

i think that touches on what you say about transgender people seeming sad in a way homo/bisexual people don't. homo/bisexuals suffer from social repression and such, but if you just let us be who we are then we're fine. same-sex attraction is not, in and of itself, a problem. transgenders however seem to be born with a paradoxical brain-anatomy configuration that is doomed to lead to dysphoria and often depression, whether they are socially accepted or not. fortunately more and more countries recognize gender dysphoria as a real problem that may require medical attention.

(disclaimer: yeah i know i'm talking specifically about classical GID here, as that seems be what the post above is on about. i'm a bisexual phd student that reads lots of neurology, i'm not up to speed on the myriad variant gender terms some people self-identify with lately.)

[evil_ash_xero]

as for transgenderism being "mental"...
when you read up on the neurology, it's definitely not simply a matter of "wanting to be the other gender". super-short version: there isn't all that much qualitative difference between male brains and female brains, but in what little difference there is (in areas related to gender-specific instincts) it is found that transgender people have the brain structures of the gender they identify as.

it has also been shown in mice that if you mess with their prenatal hormone levels in the right way you can make mice that have the anatomy of one sex but the brain structure and behaviour of the other sex.

Very very interesting. Didn't know anything about that. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.