Anyone that has played a BioWare game on the XBOX 360 knows that they are the flagship games for homosexuals in that they feature a lot of options for homosexual relationships but I find that they are sadly lacking in transsexual and Otherkin characters. Don't get me wrong, I find it thoroughly fantastic that you can not only have a same sex relationship but you can also an interracial same sex relationship with a Mexican man, this is breaking down two social barriers. When Cortez randomly stated how he missed his husband I nearly broke down into tears of joy at how far we have come as a nation since the days where physical violence against homosexual men was rampant in our nations and it was unsafe for anyone to come out of the closet without fearing a boot in the face from their neighbor and a burning cross in their lawn from the local pastors. I know anti-Homosexual bigots made a big fuss over all of the homosexual people but they should realize that it's the 23rd century in the Mass Effect Universe and with the social constructs of the patriarchy thoroughly abolished same sex, transsexual, hermaphroditic and Otherkin relationships could constitute at least 90% of all relationships with ease.
This brings me to the point of my thread, namely that despite these great strides for gay couples I thought they really missed a major opportunity to help to really get the message out about identity politics. They could have done so easily by either having a transsexual love interest or with having the option of having a transsexual Shepard. I also thought that in addition to missing the boat on the transsexual question did they also wasted the chance to bring to light the struggles of the Otherkin. If not in characters themselves dialogue options could have gone a great way in exposing children to the fact that some people are born into the wrong species . Take me for instance, I am proud to share that I am really a goblin like those found in the Harry Potter series of novels born in a human being's body. I often like to pose in front of my mirror with my fedora and trench coat fantasizing that I am a sprightly 3'6'' of solid muscle, sinew and magical energies performing the role of a bouncer protecting my more industrious banking kinsmen. Alas, I know it is a world I can never enter for I was born into a muggle family as a human being, and I know for others that to all appearances that is exactly what I am. I hope and trust that no one will find that curious as most Internet users are highly savvy when it comes to obscure subcultures and unusual medical and sexual identity conditions such as mine. My life as a goblin trapped in a human body has been extremely difficult to say the least. During job interviews it often comes down to me having to reveal my actual identity, most management types are not understanding of my condition and this has led me to miss out on a lot of professional opportunities.
In too many video games it seems they only halfheartedly deal with the Otherkin issue. Like for instance the werewolves in Skyrim which I played on the XBOX 360. In those games it's possible to be a lycanthrope but it isn't possible to be a wolf trapped in in a man's body or a whale or a dinosaur etc trapped in a human's body. Don't get me wrong, lycanthropes are valid identities but so are other animals trapped in a human being's body. It's things like this that really makes me have to doubt whether these game publishers actually understand identity politics at all. Identity politics simply does not have enough exposure with XBOX 360 gamers and I blame the game designers and totally irresponsible publishers. I hope that within my lifetime that the average American will have an understanding of identity politics and will in turn be more tolerant of boys and girls with abnormal (but perfectly natural and yes, HEALTHY) identities.
Thank you.
