DAVID KING IS OFFICIALLY GAY
https://twitter.com/DeadByBHVR/status/1519330593733021696?s=20&t=XS9IEADnHKZnTlflubMYHQ
References:............................................................................................................................................36
^ For those of you who don’t think this isn’t important at all. It’s a thesis that got the highest pass on why representation in media is important.
Lastly, before it’s brought up again:
Courtesy of @GoodBoyKaru .
Comments
I think for some gays david might be their type and others might find jake hotter, some might even find leon or steve or whoever hotter.
I'm not gay, I'm female and straight, but if I think about it, my taste in men and that of my female friends is very different.
I think it's like that everywhere, no matter what gender you love. Tastes and types are different for everyone.
Whatever. I am completely fine with their decision and I am glad that the lgtbq people are happy with it. :)
Oh yeah I know it just funny when people use it as an assumption.
No! Don't touch my girl! take Nea. Nea is fine right?
Yui definitely gives me chaotic bisexual energies I'm sorry ✨
*laughs in gay*
I'm gay. I just assumed some characters with ambiguous backgrounds could be gay. Personally I didn't need BHVR to revise an existing character (who had a gf).
I mean, why not just make the next new survivor gay or something if it was so important?
Not mad about it either tho. Whatever.
Alright.. but it really has to be news? i couldn't care less about someone sexuality. This is not a taboo anymore or at least it shouldn't be in 2022.
Lazy job BHVR, well done right? No.
I am glad finally we have one LGBT+ character but why this took years? And why it is not new character?
Working with "GAYMER" was another lie?
Exactly.
This is so forced it's not even funny.
So... they could only have done it right if they did it years ago, when nobody cared about DbD lore? Dunno man, that seems pretty unfair.
Wow BHVR, I'm Really Damm Disappointed.
As a gay man I see this crap all the time.
ANOTHER LGBT+ Retcon.
Instead of making a LGBT character from scratch you turn a current one gay.
Really Sad to see this over and over again.
They're just trying to bait someone into a jail/ban, I'd imagine.
One step forward for representation. Two steps back for being lazy and unoriginal by making an already existing character gay.
They had straight characters when nobody cared about DbD lore.
Probably afraid a new character wouldn't sell
I just wanted to add to this discussion that I'm a gay guy and this news made me extremely happy. :) David has been my main for over two years now and this is just the cherry on top for me.
um... no it wasn't..?
I'm excited to exploring the lore of all of the characters, and new characters to come! 😍
What I love most about these news is BHVR’s continued commitment towards more representation.
Making David part of the LGBTQIA+ community is a smart choice because he is already an established character that people are familiar with, and they could build upon that lore-wise, so I can’t wait to read his tome when it comes out.
I think this was the safest and best option for BHVR as both a company and from a community standpoint.
As much as I generally dislike retconning, if they released a new character as "the gay one" that character would be insta tunneled by every homophobe out there. Plus, BHVR clearly are considering sales of these characters and would expect any LGBTQ+ character not to sell well (at least to homophobes) and still want as much money as possible...
By expanding the lore of an OG/free character, its one that everyone has access to and will likely not receive the same backlash.
They also cannot be accused of following stereotypes and I like how it shows that anyone in your life could be LGBT+ and that you should never just assume...
Also @ everyone "they turned an existing character gay" there are a couple of things:
Firstly, his sexuality was never explicitly confirmed. We knew he was in a heterosexual relationship in the past thanks to the tome, which insinuated he was straight, but this was never told.
Secondly, gay people can be in a heterosexual relationship. Shocking, I know, but it happens all the time! People discover themselves at later stages of life and that's perfectly okay lol.
I'm gay, probable obvious, for those that don't know- I officially came out in 2019. It took until literally today for me to have a gay relationship last longer than any of my straight ones.
Representation in a horror game…
Anyway, it is pretty cheap just stating an existing character is suddenly gay.
But people have to be careful what they say to this, otherwise they are called homophobic by the woke bubble, like always.
zzzzZzzz, i dont care what private part a made up character is interested in. just get on the hook and die.
Pretty much this.
And representation is hugely important and we're happy that we have this representation in our game.
Just saying that is cheap, yes. But the implication is that this announcement comes alongside the tome exploring it to some degree, which isn't cheap.
There has to be a right way for video games and other longrunning media to do representation, and doing it like this is probably going to be it; integrating it into a proper story so it's natural and part of the character.
My feelings exactly. The only thing I asked for when it came to representation was it not to be forced. Like Blizzard did in Overwatch. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I see an already introduced character made gay as a way to basically say "Alright shut up about it now", and with this big announcement like "give us credit for forced representation, because representing you naturally was too much to ask for".
But whatever I already assume all these game companies are the same at this point. BHVR is no different than Blizzard. At least it appears they didn't do it for marketing gain, which has been another problem with representation.
Fr, like I don’t give a flying ######### about anything that’s not gameplay related. If they gave David a perk where if he gives sloppy to Felix, they get 10% movement speed, I’d care, but as far as lore is concerned, I am snoring as well
This is great.
That's awesome! ❤
May I ask, genuinely, what about this is forced?
I'd argue that doing it in a tome where there's room to actually explore it and make it a relevant part of a story is much more natural than, say, a new character who has base lore mentioning a partner of the same gender. I'd very much like to hear the opposing side here, because I don't see a more natural way to do it than this.
It's certainly better than saying Soldier 76 is gay and then doing nothing with that fact, surely?
I thought he was ace. (I'm sorry.)
actually, I thought he was pan.
I don't know why, but I got pan vibes from him.
I just wanna bring up to this whole thread, yes David had ex-girlfriends before, but it doesn't mean he is Bi due to this, you can have Ex girlfriends but finding out that your sexuality is not towards girls, stated by Gayming magazine on twitter. So yes, David did have ex-girlfriends, but he is gay
and to anyone who is upset that dbd got gay rep, imagine being upset on how someone else likes someone of the same gender, thats just called Jealousy
same actually lol
Congrats on the.....
DOUBLE MILESTONE
*air horns and DBD lasers*
very well put!
A lot of gay people previously had hetero relationships prior to realising they were in fact gay...it's definitely very common.
Sluzzy? She wouldn’t do that; she’s more respectable than half the damned people here.
thanks i am very happy about it we've been going a year !!
I am actually a decent example of it, I thought I was straight and had 1 hetero relationship before going into a homosexual relationship, then hetero, then homosexual again. (Funny to say that my second relationship was caused by dbd, same with 4th) I am pansexual yes but its still great to see dbd finally get some LGBTQ+ rep, can't wait to see the next one
And what’s your opinion?
Like - how can you argue that representation being important is subjective?
I hate how that’s also the first thought I had.
This might work better if you don't bombastically shout it from the rooftops before releasing what will presumably be the lore story to give it depth and make it resonate. Because right now, it just feels like a rear-end-pull to try and cover something up.
Did you get involved with NFTs again or something?
what
Dw, they probably have a new pansexual, polysexual, otherkin, genderfluid character incoming.
Eh.
I don't really care either way, but if people enjoy this then more power to them I guess.
It does illustrate why this stuff is a bit of a minefield - make an existing character gay and people ask why you didn't make a new character. Make a new character and you get accused of tokenism.
That said - again - doesn't have any effect on my gameplay, and I barely care about the lore as is.
WHAT! Dude, I'm a David main now. This is huge. Not only because David is hot as Cooking Mama's stove. Damn, I can now confidently say that I and David is a thing.
I'm literally jumping of happiness xd
are you okay genuinely or do you just hate how people finally have the ability to label themselves without being beaten in about a quater of the world?
You said yourself "new character who has base lore mentioning a partner of the same gender." sounds about right, transitioning character, or testing the waters, etc - things that many of us experienced we can connect to in a storytelling way. Most likely the path I would take. Natural and subtle enough that it fits in the world that's already been established.
I would sooner ask you what isn't forced about this? It looks like a classic move by BHVR's marketing. Same kind of move made by other gaming companies that don't care enough to put in the effort. "We need an LGBT+ character. How do we do this the easiest way possible? We know that a lot of LGBT+ ship Dwight and David, and a lot of LGBT+ are attracted to David. David it is", then they called up Phil Swift to slap "THIS IS GAY" on the character. Then get their lore team to write about it, and then got their communications person to tweet about it.
Hey Blizzard why isn't there a LGBT+ character? Blizzard marketing "Alright we need a LGBT+ character. A lot of people ship Tracer and Widow, and a lot LGBT are attracted to Tracer. Tracer it is." hen they called up Phil Swift to slap "THIS IS GAY" on the character. Then get their lore team to write about it, and then got their communications person to tweet about it. It continues for Blizzard "Tracer being gay seems to be forced, what's up with that?" and Blizzard responds, "no - not forced at all, and guess what Soldier 76's gay! haha" while in their notes they recognized that most people considered him Daddy, and a lot of the LGBT were attracted to him.
It's not just them, other game companies did it too. It's easier than making a whole new character - I get that. At least it's some representation too. Beggars can't be choosers, especially when money is involved.
I would play the hell out of a pansexual character ngl
It's good they finally did it but really took THIS long for it to be a current character? I thought the delay was because it was going to be a new character.
My only complaint is David King who already had a rift and tends to get plenty of new cosmetics is getting another rift before other survivors even get their first and will probably get another new cosmetic while survivors that barely get any are yet again left out. They should've had it be Jeff that is gay so he would get his rift and new cosmetic to go with it.
But if the goal is to have something more substantial than simply making a character gay because of a marketing stunt, then surely you'd need to write something more substantial than just noting that a character has a partner of the same gender, right?
If you want some legitimate representation that's taken seriously, then for this game specifically, it'd be in a tome. Tomes, by and large, are for established characters, and if you're going to pick a character to expand on in this manner, who better than a character who is already considered a good pick by the community and is explicitly from an area with a huge LGBT community?
You say that a new character with a passing mention would be subtle, and surely that's not a good thing? Surely it'd be better, more impactful, more interesting representation if it actually matters and is relevant to a story being told?