Topic: GLBTQI gamers unite! and of course anyone else

As a gay man myself, it would be nicer if there were more games that actually allowed same sex relationships. I don't think I've ever played a game where there was a gay character in it (I did play Earthbound but actually didn't realize Tony was gay until i read about it), and it will probably be years before we see a gay lead as the default character. Someday we'll get there though. There's one thing for sure though, Nintendo won't be leading that pack.

Lol. Even if there is a game that features a non-heteronormative hero, I'd be reluctant to try it out. Sounds a bit ironic since I'm gay. But I personally feel like it's weird for me to do such a thing, though I don't care if another LGBTA person thinks otherwise. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm still in the closet.

Marriage between first cousins isn't viewed the same way in Japan as it is in the West. It's not exactly common, but it's not particularly unusual either. Then there's historical royal marriages, as TBD mentioned, and marriage between cousins is still quite common in regions where arranged marriage is practiced (eg. Middle East, India).

Reminds me though, I think I saw it on Reddit, there's this smartphone app in Iceland where you can determine if you and a stranger that you just met are related. Since the gene pool is so homogeneous in Iceland, chances are that you're somehow related to almost everyone you meet. The app is used at places like bars to avoid "hooking up" with a close cousin.

</banjo>

Is this thread just for games or can we spotlight other media as well. About to do a reread of Batwoman and some other comics ithat have LGBT characters.

I hadn't thought about that. I made the thread to just set up a talk about issues related to gamers of various orientations, both serious and fun topics. Even though i made it, its not just my thread. As long as the chat is fun and open to everyone you can talk about whatever you want.

If that''s the case, awesome! I'm interesting in checking out a manga at some pointed that's titled What Did You Eat Yesterday?. According to the author of the linked article, it tells of the life of two gay men in Japan who live together. One, who handles likes to cook, is openly gay to the public while the other one, who works as a lawyer, is reserved and never opens up in the work place. Interestingly, it has recipes that can actually be used for cooking.

Reminds me a bit of FAKE,which was also written by a woman. Gay themed manga in japan that are written by women are more story-driven, more about romance. I find that most gay male manga writers write mostly erotic stuff. That books story seems sweet. A bit like me and my partner, even though we're both foreigners.

As a gay gamer, the extreme stereotyping in this game is hilarious and slightly offensive (mostly hilarious). LOL

Here are some audio clips from the game: http://www.audioatrocities.com/games/enchantedarms/index.html

I'm staight, but I never understood how others can be against same-sex stuff.

But on the other hand, there's a distinct problem with gay/lesbian relationships in games: they're difficult to convey. I, for example, can't really understand what attracts them to each other (as in, what they look for in a partner), and I suspect many straight people feel similarly confused. As such, depicting a same-sex relationship isn't easy, since gays and lesbians are obviously a minority in our society.
Now, I know this might sound slightly uncalled for (or offensive - be assured that's not my intention), but showing a straight man a gay romance scene is like showing a vegetarian a slaughterhouse documentation - it goes against their very lifestyle and seems alienating, because it's pretty much the polar opposite of what they deem normal in their everyday life (don't complain, people find things they don't know unnormal, sorry).

But taking this into account, many developers don't see any point in adding same-sex stuff in their games just for having it. If anything, it should be justified by means of plot progression or character development, but that is hard to depict in an understandable way for the (largely) straight fanbase.

The worst thing (for my taste, at least) is the over-romanticization (is that even a word???) of gay relationships, especially in japanese pop culture. I don't know if that's actually accurate, but judging from the gay people I know, it's not. But this imagery of gay people is very popular, especially with girls, but for wrong reasons, so that's the point where I think "not cool, definitely not cool" and more or less go against this kind of depiction.
In that sense, the over-sexualization of homosexuals is even more offensive than that of women, because there's close to NO exception (read the manga Demon Flower for the only exception I know so far) to this depiction - it's either over-the-top sappy and obsessive, or outright sex-driven (and that stuff is rated lower than porn in germany).

@FOREST_RANGER mentioned 'being in the closet' still.... and though I'm not gay, I'm a bit of an odd case in that I'm in a proverbial closet myself about my sexuality... this is why I so readily sympathize (well, almost empathize, really), with gay people... I know exactly what that closet feels like...

U know, I feel very happy yhat I can talk about my life, my boyfriend and share some opinions about it on the miiverse. Usually people are very nice to me.

You know, i feel lucky too. I know Japan is seen as a very conservative country, but i think even though the government is, most of the people are nice and open to new things. Today i went on a double date with my bf and his closest straight couple friends. Im British born American, he's Chinese, and his friends are a straight couple, Japanese husband Chinese wife. I think Chinese people, especially from the northern part are very dominant and strongly opinionated. Me and the Japanese husband were mostly of making small talk or adding our two cents to our Chinese partners in either Japanese or Chinese, and they mostly led the conversation. It was really interesting. Many people i meet just shatter all stereotypes i learned as a kid. We even went to a gay bar after.

I do feel lucky. I do wish the Japanese government would realize their people are changing their opinions about things. Interestingly enough, from everything I've heard the Asian country most likely to legalize gay marriage of any sort is Taiwan. Japan is really safe and the gay community here is huge though.

On an unrelated note, my guy is so not a gamer, so i play Monster Hunter and Smash Bros. By myself or online.

All right guys, after the fiasco that was that Tomodatchi Collection article thread, we're not having a second space for people to show their butts. This thread will be handled like the MLP thread — if you are in here, we ask that you stick to open, civil discussion of the topic at hand, which is clearly outlined in the first post. This is not the place to post homophobic statements, this is not the place to preach passive-aggressively about how 'wrong' being not-straight is. If that's what you want to do, we ask that you keep it to yourself. This is not the place for an open war between straights and non-straights, period.

Trolling will absolutely not be tolerated. The discussion in here has been nice so far, and we'd like to keep it that way. Users who post for the purpose of dropping inflammatory bombs will see their posts deleted. Users who continue to attempt to provoke a negative response in this manner may find their accounts banned from posting altogether. This will be your only warning, any complaints will be redirected to this post. Don't like it? Too bad. There are plenty of other forums that allow their users to absolutely run rampant over one another. If that's the kind of thing you want, go elsewhere.

@theblackdragon
I apologize if I started anything unpleasant, that was never my intention. I just wanted to share my opinion on the matter in a civil way as others have done. I'm sorry if that offended anyone, but I'll refrain from posting in this thread or any similar ones in the future.

@CapnPancakes: With all due respect, you dropped an inflammatory bomb and left it in a thread asking for users to discuss GLBTQI issues in gaming, and the recent article thread proves how quickly that sort of thing can snowball even at a site like ours. No one is asking for your personal opinion, they're asking for game-related discussion. We're gonna handle this the way we do the MLP thread to cut the general nastiness between users; the MLP thread has functioned just fine over the years on its own with relatively little friction, and we'd like to see this thread as the same sort of 'safe space' for these users to engage in discussion.

You don't have to participate in this thread at all if you don't want to. No one is forcing your hand. Please leave it be if it bothers you, and participate in other threads if you like. Thanks in advance!

Good thing I actively avoided that thread then. I knew in the back of my mind things were going to turn ugly.

On-topic, as a straight man I was honestly a bit bummed that Fire Emblem didn't have a gay option. It's probably asking too much especially since Nintendo tries to stay conservative, but it'd be cool if it was possible. But I guess the excessive ship teasing between my man Chrom and the player character made up for that anyway.

There was also Tharja being in love with female avatar which made it even more sad for me =(

I never used Tharja that much so I must've missed that part.

@cookiex: I forget if it was part of her support conversations with the avatar or if it was in the DLC someplace, but yeah, Tharja's hopelessly obvious about her feelings for the avatar. She kinda gets stalker-esque about it, though, like she knows exactly how important the avatar is to the world or the story but without ever breaking that fourth wall (it's complicated, but she's technically a necromancer and Grima is technically who she's supposed to be following, and the avatar is technically Grima's avatar... idk, it made sense in my head lol).

I much prefer Tharja with Henry when it comes down to it, they both have the whole necromancer and dark magic thing going for them so they fit well IMO :3

I was wondering if Tharja still stalked the avatar if it was a female! Tharja is my wife, there's just something about her creepy death threats...