Video Game’s Gay Sex Scene Has Christian Right Hot and Bothered
Gay gamers who find their way to a man-elf sex scene included in the Mature-rated Dragon Age: Origins will delight to see their sexuality depicted. Given that the video game world has a reputation for homophobia, some straight enthusiasts may be put off. If so, all they need to do is avoid taking the several steps required to access the scene in question.
But one right-wing Christian site is so shocked--shocked!--by the scene, which it labels "dirty," that it has posted step-by-step instructions for how to get to the scene in which a human and an elf allegedly get "naked." The exact amount of CGI skin shown, and the degree of anatomical verisimilitude of the characters involved, were not directly addressed in the Nov. 29 WorldNetDaily article, but the article says that the characters are shown "dirty, naked and kissing" in the scene, which also presents them "in various homosexual sex positions," after which they are seen "nestling together and gazing into one another's eyes."
The site, which frequently reports on GLBT issues, says in the article that other characters in the game are possessed by demons, although the gay ones are not possessed. The scene can be accessed by adult viewers at YouTube.
A simulated same-sex encounter between a woman and a female alien was part of the video game Mass Effect which was created by BioWare, the same company that is behind Dragon Age: Origins. The scene got Mass Effect banned in Singapore two years ago.
Among their own ranks, gamers have gained something of a reputation for homophobia, with gay gamers complaining that when they go online to play in group situations, they are subject to being killed virtually by their own teammates if they disclose their sexuality. A lesbian gamer named Theresa said earlier this year that her XBox Live account was canceled after she disclosed her sexuality in her online profile, even though all player profiles are supposed to be kept free of any reference to the player's sexual orientation, be it gay or straight.
But the vagueness of the reasons for that rule, and the fact that an XBox Live playing lesbian says she was harassed by other players and had her account suspended by Microsoft for disclosing her sexuality, led to what XBox Live's program manager for policy and enforcement Stephen Toulouse called a "'Microsoft sides with the homophobes' meme."
Teresa said that, "Microsoft does nothing to stop this or prevent it." Other gay and lesbian players have also blogged and chatted online about their experiences, including being "killed" by their own teammates.
But Toulouse declared that "harassment of gamers of any type be it homophobia or racism or other, is expressly forbidden and my team will take action against it, up to and including a permanent ban."
A British office of Microsoft made headlines when a gay employee claimed that he had been subjected to anti-gay harassment on the job. Jamie Durrant, a 38-year-old designer for XBox, claimed to have been subjected to anti-gay harassment in the office following the acquisition of the company for which he worked, Lionhead Studios, by the software giant.
According to Durrant's claim, email messages were circulated mocking him as "fag boy Jim," among other taunts. Durrant claimed that the company's Human Resources office "blatantly disregarded" his complaints and, at one point, attempted to get him to sign documents promising not to bring action against the company. The claim sought damages plus pay for time lost; Durrant said that he had been unable to work for seven months due to "depression."
As a corporate entity, Microsoft has supported GLBT equality measures in America, including a recent vote on domestic partnership rights in the state of Washington. Moreoever, a gay early member of the Microsoft team, Ric Weiland, bequeathed a considerable portion of his fortune--$65 million--to GLBT groups upon his death in 2006.