LGBTQ+ Representation in Horror and DBD
One of the arguments I saw when BHVR announced that David was gay (As well as the Pride charms) is this:
"This is a horror game. Why does their sexuality matter?"
Or
"This is a horror game. Why are there rainbows everywhere?"
And it always makes me think...dang, this person is oblivious to the horror genre haha. LGBT+ rep has been ingrained in the horror genre for as long as I can personally remember. Ignoring subtext or potential "Well, maybe it doesn't mean that-" situations, we could always look at the more blatant examples in both classic and modern horror media.
Chucky is one of the biggest horror franchises to date. With both a gender fluid character (Glen / Glenda from Seed of Chucky 2004) and gay + bisexual characters. (Jake and Devon as well as Tiffany in the 2021 TV series It's so good please watch it season 2 is coming this year.)
Freaky, The Fear Street Trilogy, Jennifer's Body, Hellbent (A very fruity slasher from 2004), Hellraiser, The Haunting of Hill House & Bly Manor, Raw, Thelma, The Wild Boys, Knife + Heart, BIT
And we all know Frank-N-Furter from Rocky Horror Picture Show.
This isn't even close to ALL of the examples of LGBT+ representation in the horror genre. You've got Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (I left this one out of my OG list because it's not blatantly said, however I think most people can watch this movie and read into the subtext lol.)
I hope this doesn't come across as a bait post. I wanted to genuinely explain why having openly LGBT+ characters in DBD DOES fit and is needed, as well as recommend some great, gay, horror movies and shows. I want to see more LGBT+ rep in DBD, and hope BHVR don't just come out once a year (hehe, come out.) and say a different character is this or that.
I've said it before in this forum, but I'll say it again: Give us an openly gay, DRAG QUEEN survivor! With cosmetic pieces in and out of drag! How many drag queens do you all see on Twitch playing DBD? I SEE LOTS. AND they're fog whisperers! They're all gorgeous and so kind and sweet! Contact them and take inspiration from them! Let them help you curate a character that is genuine and doesn't seem like a last second hand wave decision. (Don't get me wrong though, I love David, and I love him being gay. I'm sure the devs have plenty of tome entries and lore planned to flesh David's character out and make it feel more natural. But, it was a very sudden announcement with no build up or anything.)
There are 30 survivors in DBD. (31 counting Haddie.) and thousands of DBD players around the world. All of different races, genders, sexualities, lifestyles. So I think it would be great to have as many people feel represented as possible. It's more important than people think. I fully believe BHVR is genuine with their love and support of the LGBT+ community. I don't think they're in it for the money like a lot of companies. (I mean, David is literally a free character. If they wanted to make money they could've chosen a paid character.)
Announcing David's sexuality was actually a huge step. But I hope there's more in the future!
Comments
Being LGBTQ+ is not a choice, being a crossdresser is.
I can wake up tomorrow and decide to put on a dress, I can't wake up tomorrow and decide to not be trans or bi.
An openly gay character who happens to be a drag queen. Most mainstream drag queens identify as gay men. Of course not all of them are. And there a drag kings as well. But I agree with you! I'd love to see binary trans representation as well!
Well some people happen to stop being trans sometimes.
most of the time being bi don't change
Being queer can be a choice though. Or what is the definition here? And the + part specifically means there is more to it. This community stands for inclusion before anything else..
People don't stop being trans, it means they were never trans.
Being queer is not a choice. Inclusion? So should we also add an S to lgbt for straight people? Inclusion after all.
But then who are you to decide who is and isn't trans ?
Someone stoping being trans meant they were never trans in the first place ?
Are you trans?
That's not something to ask to stranger on the internet
There are straight people included in the LGBTQ+ community already though…
and could you please give me the definition for queer? As I have seemingly something else in mind than you..
I am trans, and I wont admit some "stranger on the internet" to talk over me on trans issues, specially telling me being trans is a choice.
Never said being trans is a choice, said some people stopped transitioning and end up not being trans anymore.
I said that because you are trans it doesn't give you the power to decide if someone is a real trans or not
And I don't care if you're trans, I'm not here to get acquainted with you, keep this to yourself as I'm keeping my gender and sexual orientation to myself
Yes, transgender people also can be straight, so can intersex people. But there are no straight cisgender people on the LGBT community unless you count allies.
Queer just means you aren't straight/cisgender, one or both.
Thank you RiskyKara...Thats all I want to say on this. I just want to play a good horror game (which this game sometimes is). I dont need to know your sexuality, Im not clamoring to tell ya mine or anything else about me. I just want to play a good game with other people and have fun. You rock.
If you don't care about LGBT+ representation and only want to focus on the game over the lore then maybe consider following advice already given to you, and doing as your username suggests.
If you can "stop being trans" then it is a choice. Please do tell me how to stop being trans, I'd love to have saved thousands of euros in my transition and would have loved to not being disowned.
Someone who stops transitioning doesn't mean they stop being trans. A lot of people just go back in the closet because 1) unsupportive environment, 2) lack of funds, 3) some people cant transition medically for health issues.
Some gay people are in straight relationships, doesn't mean they aren't gay.
Trans definition: someone who doesn't identify with their assigned gender at birth. The definition, that I am aware of what it is, gives me the power to know who is trans or not, yes.
You are telling me to keep my identity to myself, are you gonna tell the gay people in this thread to also keep their gayness to themselves? What a crappy thing to say.
Bless your heart GoodBoy, you got anggy...
i do count allies as a matter of fact. Also doing drag or being an actual crossdresser (not just once wearing a dress as man) is already something against the traditional cis-gendered role and kinda goes into this queer-definition. Queer doesn’t mean outright not being straight in my eyes. And there is still the +, which means it’s not only LGBTQIA2S. There is more to this community.
and drag is really associated with gay culture in some ways as well, even if some drag queens are straight.
Yes I could tell that keeping your gender and/or sexual orientation to yourself is normal when you talk to stranger on the internet as long as they're not trying to get acquainted with you, wich is the usual way to talk with people on the internet.
I don't know you, and don't want to considering how agressive you are.
Not exactly angry, just tired of the exact same point being raised over and over when it never worked the first time.
No, telling someone to be silence about who they are in an LGBT thread is not normal.
It seems like some of you people only care to support LGBT people when they are "yes ma'am" and agree with everything you say, for you it's about politics and not about people's lived experiences with their sexuality and gender.
I don't count allies in the acronym. Like I don't count white people who support BLM as black.
Gender roles isnt the same as gender identity. Like I mentioned, you can dress as a woman while being a man, but you are not a marginalized group for doing that, since that is a choice and you can just stop doing it.
It never worked for YOU...but you arent the only one playing, are ya? And the point that is being made is this: If you continue down the path of "inclusion" vs. game play or creating game play mechanics that might actually be interesting then where does it end? Should I start going on the warpath to get pro-life characters or straight white characters in the game? Do you have any idea how many of us play this game? I'd rather debate about putting in a new mechanic for the game instead of constantly doing gens.....like maybe we find a new way to make the game more authentic and introduce a fear mechanic for Killers, and give survivors a new objective instead of the same mind-numbing 5 gen escape scenario....just a thought my dude.
There's already straight white characters in the game.
Being pro-life is a political position, being LGBT is not.
The gameplay team is different than the team who creates the lore, so something being worked on on category, doesn't mean the other one isn't also being worked on by its respective team.
//
Damn, seems like there's too many people that are hiding behind a veil to disguise their queer phobias.
Just let queer individuals exist in media, aint gotta crap on it for no reason.
The announcement was entirely justified cause I sure as hell know I am not the only one who doesnt read Archives lore. I would have never known if there was no announcement and it was just there hidden and tucked away.
What may seem heavy handed to you, may be a cheer of joy to another. This needs to be understood. Queer representation matters, and will always matter.
Yup, seen that before and still dont care....its just a lazy and quite honestly rubic way to deflect the point being made. Its cute though, points for that.
Where have I been? In the real world, and not terminally online like some of you people who spend too much time on twitter and see everything as political propaganda.
And I am right, the lore team which I'm assuming can go from writers to artists, is completely different than gameplay designers and programmers. One thing will not affect the other at all.
Lore team still don't decide gameplay decisions babes
And I still dont care.
white people that support BLM are obviously not black. But I don’t see how this is in any way related to this? I am not saying straight people are gay after all..
and for some people, crossdressing is more than just doing it once and it might be part of their gender identity while they don’t identify as trans. I don’t see why you would try to talk that down? Like. Gay people could also act straight in public but that doesn’t change that they are gay…
Dressing as a girl/boy is not gender identity. If a guy decides he likes to wear dresses it doesn't mean he identifies as a woman. That's just being gender non-conforming.
That's why you can still see trans women who like to trans masculine and trans men who like to dress feminine.
I can see how so many words and definitions with the word "gender" in it can be confusing, but they're not the same. Gender identity =/= gender presentation.
What would you consider "acting straight"? Because afaik the only thing that makes someone gay is liking someone of the same gender, not any other acts. Sure there are stereotypes, but that isn't really proof that someone is gay/straight/whatever.
If you look at my other threads I have made many discussions revolving around gameplay and gameplay ideas.
SPOILER ALERT: These conversations can coexist!! We can talk about one thing and the importance of one thing...and ALSO discuss the importance of another thing: preferably in a thread about that thing...
No. Me existing & loving someone has nothing to do with politics.
You don't care, yet you're still in the thread spreading negativity. Just move on?
Inclusion of the disrespectet, pitty eyed, the ones who get the "not normal"-treatment by society, the bullied, misunderstood, the ones that desperatly search for others to understand them and a safe place. Inclusion of everyone who needs to be included, because they are not included anywere else. You might think this is an exaggeration, it is not. At least not yet. Drag Queens definetly belong there. Straights - and I mean that respectfully - do not.
But that’s exactly my point. Gender non-conforming is part of the LGBTQ+ (mind the + please) community.
and with acting straight I meant acting straight. Like, actually having a public-heterosexual relationship as a cover up.
How are you disrespected? I literally opened this topic RESPECTING a person from the LGBT Community for wanting to do the same thing I want to do, and immediately three of you got your undies in a twist and assumed the worst about me for having the audacity to give an opinion.
By that logic, a lot of groups should be included in LGBT. Gingers have always been discriminated against, do they belong in LGBT?
I think we still should keep LGBT group to categories related to gender and sexuality, because if we're going to include everyone ever who has been discriminated against for this or that it will just lose all meaning.
Straights maybe not directly, but there are LGBTQ+ people that are straight and are part of the community.
Please take a look at legislation passed within a large amount of the world, particularly against transgender people, to see how LGBT+ people are disrespected.
I thought this wasnt about Politics?
Because LGBT people cant choose to be LGBT. People have a choice to dress how they want to dress.
You can go outside and dress how society thinks you should dress, but trans people don't go outside and stop being trans, like gay people dont go outside and stop being gay.
What happened to you not caring
I thought it would be obvious that the community moves in the Sexual-Identity circle. So of course it is in that context.
So by that logic only crossdressers who do it as a sexual act should be included?
Dressing as a girl while still identifying as a straight cisgender man is not an identity or sexuality. It's either a kink or a clothing choice, so they shouldn't be in this community.
Unfortunately certain people make it about politics, and some of them are in the government, trying to police adults on what they should or not do legally with their love life/bodies.
How can you say you're opressed when you also want to deny access to your community to people that want to help you ?
You are still only talking about LGBT people while I made it obvious I am talking about the LGBTQ+ community.
and no. You literally cant go outside dressing however you like. Not everywhere in the world. And just because a crossdresser doesn’t dress like that in public doesn’t magically change their person.
Dressing is part of your identity. So yes, I think they should be included. That's my opinion.
In first world countries you can go outside dressed as you like, as long as you aren't exposing yourself. Sure some people will give you weird looks, but I also got weird looks when I dressed as a goth in highschool.
I just hope they manage to do representation well.
Tacking a new sexuality onto an existing character because they were popular in gay ships was lazy and tacky, but I'm not going to pretend it's an easy thing to do.
Hell, I'm a gay guy and I've certainly turned more than one of the movies/series you mentioned off because it started trying to preach gender ideology for like 10 minutes straight.