Bioware Star Wars gaygate affair. No queers in Star Wars

This is in part a cross post with Lesbian Gamers .com given the subject matter is both gaming related and geek related (both posts are different however).

As a lesbian geek I have a deep love for Star Wars. I also have a deep love for Bioware, because they are one of the few game development studios out there that will allow me to pursue – should I wish – a lesbian relationship in a few of their games. I was therefore stunned today when news started circulating that my beloved Bioware had allegedly started – what seemed to be – a little homophobia on their very own forums.

My kneejerk reaction to the news was utter disbelief, but on looking into it I could see that indeed Bioware had not only blocked the words “gay”, “lesbian” and “homosexual” from their forums, but that also Sean Dahlberg – the community manager of the forums – had closed threads stating “As I have stated before, these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars. Thread closed.”

It seemed to me that even in the most positive light, that of the suggestion Dahlberg actually meant Star Wars had no need for such labels, because sexuality there was not an issue, the banning and closing of threads was only going to pour fuel on an already heated little fire (thanks to Microsoft, Sony and various other queer PR missteps recently).

It seems since the initial thread closure that much backroom ass slapping has occurred and Dahlberg has issued an apology, but is this good enough? Many gay gamers see Bioware as the bastion of how gaming relationships should be dealt with. More than a couple of their games do give the player the option of same sex relationships if pursued in game (though generally more lesbian than gay male). With this in mind is the message of this Bioware GayGate fiasco merely telling homophobic Bioware fans that they are right, that gay is a dirty word and that, regardless of gay content they do have a mindset that is unhappy with it as part of their universe? Yes it’s unlikely, but people will read things in whatever way they come at it and this has been a serious error by Bioware that once more brings to light the issue of homophobia in the games industry.

Some other sites discussing this issue:

• Ars Technica: Bioware only we can create gay characters
• The Escapist: Do gays not exist in Bioware’s Star Wars?
• Bit-Tech: Bioware dismisses homosexuality in Star Wars
• EuroGamer: No homosexuality in Star Wars Bioware
• VE3D: Please keep your homosexuality out of Star Wars
• PC World: Homosexuality does not exist in Star Wars
• Examiner: These aren’t the homoerotic stormtroopers you’re looking for

Many thanks to all those people who emailed this info into us!

UPDATE:

It seems after some talking to that Mr Dahlberg realised the error of his ways (and all that negative PR) and issued an apology:

“I would like to personally apologize to “Elikal” and anyone I may have offended. My intention was not to demean anyone but simply to help promote a community that could discuss topics in a mature fashion. When I first built the word filter list, I added a variety of terms to the word filter that have been used numerous times in derogatory messaging. There were some words added to the filter that should not have been – we corrected this today.” He went on to say:

“I apologize for the confusion that this has created but I would like to be clear that there was never any intent to limit discussion. That said, I have overstepped my boundaries in my original statement and I sincerely apologize for doing so.”