Does gay belong in gaming?

A couple of years ago, I wrote a column calling for the “gay” to be kept out of gaming. So get ready for an about-turn.

What I tried to argue two years ago was that having a direct or targeted approach to bringing (specifically) non-heterosexual themes and characters into games would be disastrous.

This, I argued, was because:

1. Mainstream audiences would never accept it and it would just polarise the gaming community
2. Game developers would cock it up, force it in there, and play off stereotypes because they don’t know any better
3. Current – successful – integration of sexual orientation in games (such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age) is so far removed from the actual main point of the games that it’s irrelevant
4. What is a gay theme or character anyway? Gay people are people, and kind of boring, just like all people

To quote myself (like a douche), this was the overall position I took:

Why segment gamers even more – why do we need “gay” games? Why do we need “girl” games? Are we not all simply gamers? Bottom line: if you can’t do it properly, rather don’t do it. Let’s just keep gay out of gaming, and just keep shooting stuff.

At the time, a lot of people misconstrued my position as being one where I don’t want gay themes and characters in games at all; which wasn’t really the case – I just wasn’t sure sexual orientation should be thrust into the spotlight for the sake of it.

I took a lot of fire for that view, which got me thinking about it. I started paying closer attention to the games we all play, started listening to other opinions both for and against diversity in gaming – and over the past year or so, my position on the matter has changed quite a bit.

Mainly, I took my own argument of sexual orientation being irrelevant in games, and flipped it: If having a gay character in a game is so inconsequential, then why not just have it there anyway?

If a character’s sexuality is meaningless to the plot or gameplay, what harm is there in the alternative being there? Why should a one-dimensional heteronormative world and universe be the default, when the gamers entering into it are far more varied than that?

While this ‘refreshed’ view on things has been in my mind for a long time since my last column, recent events have certainly brought it to the fore.

GaymerGate

The gaming community (for those who have been following and engaging with the unfolding dramas and sagas) has become rather polarised over the past few months – particularly on the topic of diversity.

I’m not going to go into the GamerGate saga because it is merely a symptom of a greater societal paradigm, and, really, has just become juvenile conspiracy pushing that a lot of you simply don’t care about.

But, as a gay person, and someone who believes that gaming as medium must mature and diversify to become about more than tropes and shooty-shooty action*, I feel I need to speak up about this particular aspect, especially when people who I fundamentally disagree with start echoing my previously-held sentiments.

What really put things into perspective for me (and motivated this column) was when it was announced that the gay gaming convention, GaymerX, would be back this year, after struggling to find financing to set it up.

The news was met with the rather expected backlash:

This is just a small selection of responses. The key, and extremely sad part, is that this is the expected backlash, which speaks volumes in itself.

Two years ago, however, my views would have been mostly in line with these “why is this necessary” voices.

Why separate and further marginalise gamers when we’re all, simply, gamers? Why bring sexuality into it? Can’t we all just play games and have fun and get along? What does this have to do with gaming?

This year, I’m with the voices who say we need this. We really, really need this. And the aggressive and almost visceral reaction from people who are otherwise not impacted by this convention in any way, shows how badly it’s needed.

Let’s address the GaymerX ‘issue’ directly. First of all, straight gamers don’t need a straight gaming convention because game conventions – as well as the games we play – cater to straight people as a norm.

Secondly, GaymerX isn’t exclusively for gay people – it’s for everyone. It’s about having a “safe” environment for diversity. Why do we need a safe environment? Go read some more reaction comments. That’s why.

The most important factor here is that, while GaymerX has a focus on the LGBT community, it doesn’t come at the expense of straight people. That’s the key point here. Read that again. Straight people, unless they get involved, are unaffected by its existence.

Straight people, unless they get involved, are unaffected by its existence.

People who don’t see the point to stuff like GaymerX are the people the organisers are obviously not trying to appeal to. Yet it’s these voices — who won’t be attending, have no buy-in or attachment to it, and are in no way impacted by its existence — that don’t want it to exist.

And that is the problem. That’s why it’s needed. Because the voices of the “haves” would rather that the voices of the “have nots” just shut up so they don’t have to be exposed to their mere existence.

This is the same line of thinking that wants proponents of more diversity in games to just shut up.

These voices also echo other views: not only should diversity in games be shut out (because games already cater for the majority, or whatever other reason they can concoct), but also those who choose to make or support more diverse games (particularly in the indie scene) should simply be shut down (for pushing agendas, and “ruining gaming”).

Shut up, shut out, and shut down. Yikes.

So, about those games…

Speaking to other gay gamers and other under-represented groups — and watching the effects of the GamerGate mess play out — despite what people say, it’s obvious that diversity is important in gaming, and it is severely lacking. If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be an issue.

That’s not to say it’s currently non-existent — or that every non-white, non-hetero, and non-male gamer wants it — but it could always be done better.

Should diversity be shoe-horned in poorly to appease the market? No. Should every game be diverse and have a handicapped black lesbian protagonist? Of course not. Should diversity play a headline role in the games we play? Not necessarily.

Should every game be diverse and have a handicapped black lesbian protagonist? Of course not.

I don’t think developers should force diversity into games for the sake of diversity, detracting from what makes a game fun and enjoyable (or thought-provoking or challenging) to play – nor should it disrupt the game worlds they create. Developers are, after all, free to create as they see fit.

But I do think developers should get more creative in how they create these worlds and bring them to life.  It’s not about simply replacing all characters with more diverse people – it’s about making more games, and telling more stories, that appeal to more people.

It’s not about taking games away from “straight” players, it’s about adding more games, and more voices to the pool for everyone to enjoy.

And if that means acknowledging that people are different, and being thoughtful in how to present those differences, I can’t see how that can be a bad thing.

On the flip side, if you hold that diversity is truly as inconsequential in games as the proponents of “keep it out of gaming” say it is — which used to be me, remember — then why is there a fight against it, trying to actively keep it out?

Perhaps that’s the question we need to answer. Why can’t games be more diverse? And if the answer to that is “because I don’t like it”, then perhaps it’s not as inconsequential to you as you think.

Games are evolving

As evidenced by my about-turn from my previous position, I’m constantly learning and adapting to the changes taking place in gaming, because, as a gamer, I’m impacted. And I think we all are, whether you’re gay, straight, black, white, male, female, or anything in between.

The topic of diversity is an important discussion to have. If you don’t want to have it, don’t tell the people who do to simply shut up.

As gamers, we’re a diverse bunch — whether we like to acknowledge it or not — and just like music, movies, and literature, gaming belongs to everyone who’s passionate about it.

Gay belongs in gaming as much as anything else that makes up this crazy world.

*Note: I’m not saying these games shouldn’t exist, just that more diverse games should exist too. It’s not an all or nothing thing. No one loses here.

More on gayming

Where do you stand on GamerGate?

Keep gay out of gaming

GaymerX responds to Westboro Baptist Church criticisms