Charlie Brooker and Stephen Fry support EA in anti-gay row
Online petition gathers over 40,000 signatures.
Lovable grumpy pundit Charlie Brooker and future UK king Stephen Fry have joined a throng of voices speaking in support of EA for defending same-sex relationships in their games.
Last week EA defended itself after receiving thousands of letters from religious groups in the US offended by EA's use of homosexual relationships in Mass Effect 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Dragon Age II.
"The overwhelming number of players on Star Wars games is children who do not need to be forced as a captured audience to participate in homosexual content" said one letter.
"Every one of EA's games includes ESRB content descriptors so it's hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment," retorted EA corporation communications VP Jeff Brown to GamesIndustry.
Over 40,000 people have subsequently joined an online petition in support of the publisher's stance, including Fry and Brooker.
"If you do 0 else today, do join me and @Yoda to help game-maker @ea stand strong against anti gay hate & the dark side," said Fry on Twitter.
Brooker's language was a bit more colourful. "Good for @EA for telling the homophobes to f*** off," he said.
"They should make *every* character in their games gay for a year just to wind up the bigots. Starting with the FIFA franchise," he added.
User Comments
jondonnis
Mr_Ninjutsu
AnneHiro@ EverTheOptimist
squidman@ hippyjon
(thanks for spotting)
EverTheOptimist@ CheekyLee
I'm just being silly - there's no such thing as a good portrayal of a gay person because gay people aren't a single 'type'.
munkee@ CheekyLee
CheekyLee@ EverTheOptimist
EverTheOptimist
munkee
EverTheOptimist
You may be right about the good PR, but that sentence is crackers - the homosexual guys I know are just normal guys. There's no such thing as a good portrayal of a homosexual person, haha.
AnneHiro
There have been gay people in video games for a long time, 12 years ago you could have gay relationships in The Sims. More recently in Fallout New Vegas there is a gay character that is widely considered an excellent portrayal of a homosexual person in a video game (read up on Arcade Gannon). However the gay characters in EA's Mass Effect 3 released this year is a step back on how homosexuals are portrayed. I could go on for a long time why it is a poor representation, but I suggest you look for yourself.
What Im trying to say is, there isnt actually any anti-gay movement against EA, it is something they have concocted themselves so that they appear as the good guys again after all the bad press theyve been receiving lately. They used bots to spam a petition that was against the EA boycott (see allout.org).
Also there is no gay relationship in Star Wars: TOR, it's Mass Effect 3 that this is all about really.
hippyjon
rickystaines
munkee@ EverTheOptimist
EverTheOptimist
People need to grow up. We live in a time where gay folk are hopefully becoming more and more confident about their sexuality and aren't being forced to repress it constantly. Some of the anti-gay comments that I've seen have been disgraceful, and those making them need to get rid of their internet connections - if they want to live in the dark ages they shouldn't have modern privileges.