Family Values Group Rails Against Hypothetical Transgender Darth Vader Video Gam

[Shana A]

By Kate Cox
Mar 21, 2012 1:00 PM

Family Values Group Rails Against Hypothetical Transgender Darth Vader Video Game

http://kotaku.com/5895181/family-values-group-rails-against-hypothetical-transgender-darth-vader-video-game/

The Florida Family Association, best known for badgering companies into pulling advertising from TLC reality show All-American Muslim last year, is hard at work ranting about a new target: BioWare/EA game Star Wars: The Old Republic. This isn't the first temper tantrum that supposedly pro-family groups have thrown over The Old Republic, just the most recent.

The headline of the alarmist new missive asks: "Will the makers of Star Wars video games create Darth VaPaula, a (mock) transgender version of Darth Vader - RuPaul, for kids to choose as their action player?" The mock-up image at the top of this post comes from their website.

Everything is wrong the FFA's claims. Their insistence that BioWare is going to start gender-bending Darth Vader and warping vulnerable minds indicates a bigoted point of view and a complete misunderstanding of how video games work.

------

LGBT content in video games: here come the old bullies

Complaints from US conservatives about same-sex relations in games smack of bigotry rather than concern for child safety

        Denis Farr
        guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 April 2012 06.00 EDT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/11/game-over-sexuality-harassment?newsfeed=true

"This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment." These are the words of Jeff Brown, the VP of corporate communications of video games company EA, given to Gamesindustry International when asked about the letter campaign that has targeted the LGBT content in EA's games – a campaign largely spearheaded by the conservative Florida-based Family Research Council. As one of the few larger game companies providing same-sex content to its audience, EA is caught in the crossfire in the larger political battle currently being waged on sexuality in the US.

The impetus for Brown's statement concerns EA's most recent massively multiplayer online game (MMO), Star Wars: The Old Republic (SW:TOR), in which you choose whether to be a part of the Jedi or Sith orders. While the long-standing tradition has been that any romance in MMOs is instigated among its players, in BioWare's own inimitable fashion, the game allows you to create a narrative for the characters you create, including having a companion whom you can romance. As yet, that has not included same-sex options, though it is in store for the future; a future that has the Family Research Council making inaccurate statements regarding Darth VaPaula, complete with Photoshopped images of RuPaul's head on Darth Vader's body and scare quotes about transgender characters.

[Lavender]

I know for a fact that BioWare has gay and trans people as employees. Even furries and people of alternative dress styles. Kudos to them for that.
Shame on those other people. Family is not man and woman, family is a matter of heart.  It makes me sick that an abusive husband and an alcoholic wife hold higher rank than two men or two women who are good, respectful people.
I feel like mentioning I went to a Jehova's Witness meeting the other day. The fellow started talking about sin, and homosexuality was the first and only one on his list. I felt like standing up and saying "Woah, woah, woah, what about murderers, thieves et cetera? You only focus on people who did not choose to be a certain way, which does not even affect how they are as human beings." If I ever go to another meeting, I will not be quiet out of respect for my friend who took me there.