LGBT | Gays and Lesbians in video games (bit of a rant!)

Google Images: The world would implode! Or not. 

Looking through this massive list of LGBT characters represented in video games makes me happy to say the least. It's great that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are getting their screen-time, especially on a medium as popular as video gaming.

However, I still find that I have a bone to pick when it comes to the representation of these groups.

LGBT characters first began appearing in the 1980's. Ever heard of Birdo? 
He was arguably one of the first (it was certainly Nintendo's first) trangender creation, though there has been a lot of confusion surround the character's gender identity.

Of course, Birdo is bright pink in color with fabulously long eyelashes, wearing a cute red bow on his head. The shocker was Birdo was biologically male. 
He just looked and dressed like a "female." 
But why was Birdo made to look like this exactly? 
Obviously, not all girls like pink and those who do identify as feminine do NOT necessarily have to be super pretty-looking, wearing bows in their hair and possessing massive eyelashes. I assume this representation was popular because back in the 80's, people probably viewed gender as binary, strictly male (strong, male, blue etc) and female (dainty, female, pink etc). Since Birdo behaved and dressed up like a stereotypical female, he was depicted as a "girl" in the gaudiest sense of the word, maybe to avoid confusing the audience too much..?

But as I'm sure you know, sex and gender expression are two very different things. 

Sex is your assigned biological genetic trait, either you have testes or ovaries. But gender expression is a much more complicated issue than biological sex. Gender expression is often molded by the multitude of social and cultural pressures surrounding gender roles, therefore gender expression runs along a spectrum. For example, a gay man can be a muscular, strong gym-bunny and he could also be completely obsessed with his pet cats and floral knitwear designs. A lesbian doesn't necessarily have to be "butch"; she can still wear dresses and make-up whenever she pleases. All these traits don't have to be fixed. Gender expression can certainly fluctuate. People may not identify as any gender at all!

Yet people still often conflate gender and sex. Traditionally, if you were born with a penis, you are masculine, like girls and therefore wear blue trousers and like football. If you were born with a vagina, you are feminine, like boys, wear pink, flowery dresses and play with tea sets. End of discussion.

Birdo (called Ostro in the first edition manual of Super Mario Bros 2, presumably by mistake) is allegedly a biological male, yet since he'd rather be a girl, he has this wholly "hyper girly" appearance. Though this was a bold statement at the time and a (very) wobbly step in the right direction, this depiction also continued to strengthen the idea that stereotypically feminine identities are strictly pink, pretty, dainty and cutesy. The trangender character Poison from Final Fight and Street Fighter also has bright pink hair, purple accessories and a hyper feminine appearance too.

Birdo and Poison's depiction ultimately entrenches the idea that a male to female transgenders will switch into a highly stereotypical example of a "female", an oversimplification of gender expressionism that leads to the more nuanced subtleties of gender formation getting brushed aside, or ignored entirely. And I haven't even got started on the more problematic stuff.

But what I find most problematic about these types of characters is that, instead of being revolutionary, this gender confusion was used solely to comic effect. 
You know, har de har, that man thinks he's a women LOL LMAO ROFL. 

Stock photo: Mass Effect 3 where things got steamy...

Admittedly, there has been some change over the years. Games such a Fallout 2, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 give players the opportunity to choose either a male or female character, with which they can pursue an LGTB relationship over the course of the story. This is certainly a good thing, since the inclusion of previously ignored minorities opens the gaming doorway to real communities of people. 

I am a huge LGTB supporter myself and I find that being gay, lesbian, trans or bi has been the central, defining trait of LGTB characters for too long, rather than just a single part of their persona.

The first characters that spring to my mind when I think of very well-rounded LGTB characters are Ellie and Riley from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us.

Stock Photo: Riley and Ellie are young, but their emotions are portrayed as genuine; a real step forward.

The unique portrayal of their LGTB status was quite honestly, outstanding. Ellie's relationship with her best friend Riley is particularly touching, as demonstrated in the DLC content The Last of Us: Left Behind.
The constant camaraderie, with the dancing scene followed by the quick, awkward, passionate teenage kiss, forms a solid platform which other gaming developers can spring from.  
They are by far my favorite depictions of LGTB characters to date. 
Ellie and Riley are not portrayed as simple stereotypes or silly cameos and their identities are not left vague or confusing to the viewer. 
They have stand-out personalities that jump out of the screen and strike you as real. 

But there are still problems the gaming world faces today. 
In the real world, deviating from the heterosexual norm can sometimes be nothing less than social suicide, even in 2015. LGTB individuals (or more accurately, people who have defied their cultural gender norms) have historically been depicted as "weird, unnatural" misfits. 
Stigma is very hard to shake off, which is probably why a homosexual, transsexual or gender deviant character hasn't quite stood out in the gaming spotlight as a protagonist. 

As well as the actual games themselves, the very people playing them can cause huge problems for LGTB people.

For example, Call of Duty players have a bad rep for being blatantly homophobic online, with words like "faggot" getting thrown around very, VERY often. But the truth is, most online players use "gay" and other derogatory words associated with homosexuality to insult each other, even if it is meant to be playful. It is becoming a part of the regular lexicon. 
Harassment is sadly commonplace, especially if a gamer admits to being homosexual. Women and girls experience negativity too. 
"Get back in the kitchen, c*nt" is an expression heard too often by female gamers. I should know. 

Hopefully the gaming community will only continue to challenge gender roles and stereotypes, developing LGBT characters that will be believable, relateable, well written and lovable, just as any straight character is made to be.