[Churchofgaming] Church of Gaming February 2009 Newsletter Issue #4

Thu Feb 19 04:50:01 UTC 2009

> Hi
> Do you want "Sexuality in 2199" a article of Background for the
> blueplanet universe?
>

That could be quite interesting... and a usually ignored element in RPGs.

It could make an interesting follow up on this article from Terry K many
years ago in White Wolf magazine (issue 48, October, 1994). Or, even more
appropriately, some ideas from Bertrand Russell who predicted with a great
deal of accuracy, the effects of technology on relationships (cf.,
Marriage and Morals, 1929)

Nicked from: http://www.alterworlds.com/articles/amthor.html

Queer as a Three-Sided Die
by Terry Amthor

This is a little editorial game-designer Terry Amthor (ICE's CyberSpace
and ShadowWorld) wrote for White Wolf magazine some years ago. White Wolf
made it available online, so I'm sure Terry wouldn't mind us sharing it.
-- Steve Kenson

Almost a year ago Travis Williams wrote an article about African-Americans
in gaming, and now I have been asked to write on a somewhat related topic:
gays and gaming. Like any discussion on gaming identities, mine naturally
falls into two categories: players and characters. Blacks and gays are
both minorities -- acute ones in the world of RPGs -- and that's about
where the similarites between blacks and gays in gaming end.

A couple of notes before I wade in:

First, I 'll try not to lecture, but I welcome the opportunity to educate
well-intentioned but uninformed straight people about homosexuals. There's
a lot of misinformation about homosexuals. Many of you probably have gay
friends and don't even know it.

Second, lesbian sisters, I'm going to use gay examples through most of
this; no slight is intended -- it's just what I know best.

Gay Characters in RPGs

This reminds me of some electronic bulletin board exchange about
minorities in Star Trek: TNG. There was talk about a regular gay character
on TNG, but s/he never materialized. "At least," someone whined, "have
some gay walk-ons!" Then someone said, "Maybe there is a gay character
there?" Being gay isn 't at all like being black -- it's all inside. This
is perhaps a blessing and a curse; at least you don 't have to explain to
your mother that you 're black. And while there are a few lingering crazed
white supremacists out there who think that African-Americans are
second-class humans, they're pretty much dismissed by thinking people.
However, the feeling of the general population about gays is more divided.
Most people take the attitude of live and let live... as long as they don
't have to watch us live. More on that later.

Of course there is black culture as much as there is gay culture, but
while African-Americans have a unique history here on earth, being gay
transcends the world environment; being black does not. If you 're "black"
on the TSR world of Athas (to use Travis ' example), your culture is
nothing like that of African-Americans in Southeast Washington, D.C.,
which is in turn nothing like the culture surrounding a Nubian princess in
ancient Egypt. But if you 're a guy attracted to guys, you 're attracted
to guys whether you 're checking out that cute half-Romulan stud on the
Enterprise, eyeing Mega-man's sexy superhero uniform or tromping around in
Middle-earth (I always had the hots for Legolas).

Sex (oh, I said it) wasn 't much of an issue in the early days of gaming,
when it was prepubescent boys playing D&D. But times have changed. Even
before White Wolf, many groups had moved beyond "roll playing" to
roleplaying as they got older and more mature. Campaigns got more
sophisticated, and social issues became a part of the game.

Playing a Gay or Bisexual Character

One of the pitfalls of gaming is that complex situations and issues tend
to get oversimplified, or worse, stereotyped. If you 're straight and want
to play a gay character, that's great, but don 't use it as an excuse to
be a "fairy" elf or some kind of foppish flaming bard. The stereotype many
people have of gays is that we're all limp-wristed squealing little
creatures. Wrong. A small percentage of queers act that way (some of us
occasionally do it as a joke), but the vast majority of gay men act and
look at least as "straight" as any straight guy.

So, straight friends, if the mood strikes you to play a gay character, the
key word is understatement. Chances are, he should act no different than
he would if he were straight, with one big exception: he likes boys
instead of girls. For instance, you and your buds are hanging around the
tavern having an ale. Instead of making a pass at the barmaid, you 're
thinking that the hunky swordmaker at the bar had a nice set of pecs, and
he gave you a really big smile that afternoon in the armory... maybe you
should buy him a drink. You get the idea.

But that's just the beginning. Queers are no more likely to want a tumble
in the hay than straights (not to say that we don 't like to have fun).
Gays have long-term relationships. We fall in love just like anybody else;
your character should be no different. This, however, can prove to be a
liability. I have an AD&D character with an NPC boyfriend with whom he's
madly in love. The NPCs opposing our group knew this, kidnapped my
character's lover and held him hostage. Straight or gay, it's all the
same: love can prove to be trouble.

Naturally, this sort of scenario requires maturity and sensitivity on the
part of the players and the GM. If you want to explore alternative
sexuality in a game, you might want to start out by playing a bisexual,
then you can use your character's straight relationships as a guide.

Of course, all this is just part of being a homosexual character: how you
relate to others of your kind and what the rest of the world thinks of
you. GMs running games with homosexual or bisexual characters need to deal
with what the world's societies think about these orientations. Most
people who don 't approve of homosexuality base their objections on
religious doctrine. I 'll extrapolate that objections to homosexuality in
a game environment stem from one of two sources: religion, which seems to
think homosexuality is an abomination because it corrupts the "real"
purpose of sex -- procreation ("Joe, you 're not likely to get your
boyfriend pregnant, so stop that!"), and the fact that it makes some
straight men (who seem to be in charge around here) squeamish or nervous,
so they outlaw it.

(Sorry, lecture time. Bear with me; it'll be short and does have a point.)

In case anyone is wondering, we don 't choose to be gay. Think about it:
who in their right mind would choose a way of life that leads to
persecution, denial of rights like marriage and the inability to do many
things that straight people take for granted (like holding hands or -- God
forbid -- kissing in public)? Who would choose to be beaten up or called
perverted? Sure, we choose this. Uh-huh. No, queers are born that way
(though some of us fight it or try to deny it, but ultimately without
success).

I 'm sure that when I mentioned two guys kissing, almost all of you
straight people (even the liberals, deep down) thought, "Yuck! Two men
kissing!" Well the first time I saw it I thought it was pretty bizarre
too. And dancing and... you get the picture. But you get used to it (as
long as it doesn 't get out of hand; I don 't approve of anyone getting
sloppy in public, gay or straight), and it becomes pretty ho-hum.

Now, let's talk about gay, bi and straight characters all thrown together
into the intimate atmosphere of a traveling band of adventurers. Sleeping
together, changing clothes, bathing... it starts to sound like the
military, doesn 't it? Oops. Well, I guess when women and men adventure
together everyone can control themselves (?), so this really isn't all
that different. We gays can control ourselves at least as well as our
straight buddies. We have to.

The GM should keep the above factors in mind when laying out the details
of a game that involves queer characters. In a fantasy milieu with a
pantheon of gods (like ICE's Shadow World), some deities (and their
religions) may openly embrace homosexuality, while others might consider
it a terrible abomination. Others might not care. It may also be racially
based. Elves might be innately bisexual (they live forever -- you 'd think
they would eventually try everything!), but certain mannish groups may
consider it a sin punishable by death. Maybe lesbianism is okay, but male
homosexuality is taboo. Part of the challenge of playing a gay character
might be if he realizes he's gay but lives in a society that's intolerant
of it. There are many possibilities. Playing a gay character can be an
eye-opening experience for the whole group. It can also be fun, and that's
what gaming is supposed to be, right?

Players -- Are There Any Gay Gamers?

I think that in the last couple years there's been a large, quiet influx
of gays into gaming, and I have to lay most of the credit squarely at the
feet of... yes, White Wolf. Why? Vampire. It's not that WW set out to do
it, mind you. Mark ReinoHagen claims that WW was out to bring in a new
breed of gamer, but when it pulled up the nets heavy with black-clad,
mascara-eyed, disenchanted Cure/Morrisey listeners, there were a fair
number of young fags* and dykes in there too.

And yet WW couldn 't have done it without Anne Rice. I've witnessed two
Anne Rice book signings, in Miami and here in D.C. Homosexuality was a
distinct theme among the fans. Let's face it, vampire books are highly
homoerotic -- certainly all of my gay friends have read every Lestat book.
There are two reasons behind Anne's popularity among gays: one is the
obvious homoerotic thread running throughout, the other is the appeal of
the vampire as an outsider. Gays can relate to these guys. We look just
like mortals, but inside we 're very different. We 're outsiders, just
like vampires. We have to pretend to be "normal" or risk persecution. (We
're also much cooler... just kidding.)

Then came the Vampire game, with very hip packaging and the appeal of a
"simple" system. It was an escape for thousands of disenchanted,
angst-ridden teenagers. And unlike AD&D (with its "strictly for dweebs,
dude" reputation), Vampire was cool.

Oh, there have been a few of us queer gamers here all along; there are
even a handful of us working in the gaming industry. But, as in society in
general, many of us have chosen not to be open about our orientation. This
is particularly so with gaming, because most players are in their teens
and 20s and aren't yet sure of their sexuality.

Finally

I hope I 've encouraged a few people to try an aspect of gaming that they
had never thought about or had only tried halfheartedly. Gaming gets such
a bad rap from people who don 't understand it, but here's another way
that I think it can serve a positive purpose. So next time you roll up a
character, consider one more thing -- Strength? Hit Points? Orientation?
So what if it makes a few people squirm. It's good for 'em. Now go rescue
that handsome prince.

*I can say this because I am one. It's all about taking from people terms
intended to be insults and making them your own. By embracing words like
queer and fag, we can 't be hurt by them. You hetero readers are learning
so much just by reading this!