A thread about a documentation on LGBT experiences in gaming? This was bound to be fun. You'd think that making a documentary about the experiences of (mainly, I guess) lesbians and gays in gaming would be a rather innocent undertaking, but not so. But while this discussions didn't turn as nasty as similar discussions about sexism, you still see the same type of comments as when it's about sexism, racism, or what not.
# "This documentation is not necessary". Yea, there's a lot of stuff that isn't necessary, there are documentations about virtually anything, so what's the issue with this one then? And perhaps some people believe it's necessary, perhaps some people find it interesting - so what? It seems that there's a certain subset of "unnecessary" things that some people have greater problems with than with others.
# "I hate this political correctness". That's cool, because that's not what it is about. In fact, these discussions rarely are.
# "Don't complain, just enjoy games" / "It's just a game, stop pushing your agendas". You know what, people from minorities want to enjoy their games too, so wouldn't it be nice if games were not offensive to them, if they were less homophobic (or sexist/racist/whatever)? Wouldn't it be nice if they're treated as respectfully as others online (not that that's a particularly high bar)?
# "No need to pander to very minority". That's easy to say if you're in the majority. What is this "pandering" supposed to be anyway? Things like featuring a more diverse cast in a game, for instance, a cast that includes good gay/female/non-white characters. A game that caters to their wishes too (like gay romance options). And, yea, just not being homophobic (or sexist/racist/whatever). Nothing that should really hurt anyone too much, and you know what? Many straight white dudes would welcome all that too.
Gays have every right to demand that games cater to their wishes as you. Don't worry, your still the majority, your wishes will still have more weight.
# Complaints about the sexuality of certain characters in BioWare games. How dare they to include gay characters! And, even worse, how dare they including gay-only love interests (Mass Effect 3)! It really sucks that not everyone wants to bang with you! And how dare they to make all love interests bisexual (Dragon Age 2)! It really sucks that everyone wants to bang with you!
# "This kickstarter campaign doesn't deserve that much money". What does it matter? What do you care how much they ask for? You're not forced to spend a single dime. Reminds me of a certain other kickstarter campaign; oh boy, did the gamer community showed its ugliest face there...
# "I haven't experienced any problems with the treatment of gays" or "I know gays and they never complained about X." You know what? That's good for you/them. But that doesn't imply that no one else has made bad experiences. That doesn't imply that X is not offensive (to a sizable share).
# "Gays don't have it worse in gaming than elsewhere, so this isn't necessary". Because if things are bad elsewhere, it's no problem that they have it bad here too, right? That's moral relativism, nothing else.
Perhaps gays really don't have it worse in the gaming community than elsewhere. I have some doubts about that, but I'm not the one to judge. But even if that is so, why not set a positive example for once?
# "Being called a fag on XBL is no real harassment, don't be so sensitive". Yes, perhaps gays face more serious issues, like not being allowed to marry. Or being stoned to death. But let me tell you something: There almost always are things that are worse. And there's almost always someone who has it worse, too. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do something about the more "minor" problems as well. Again, that's moral relativism.
And you know what, if you disagree on that, you shouldn't be here anyway. You should be fighting for world peace or something like that. Because that's surely more important, isn't it?
