Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

Hi Riot, I'd like to have an honest, earnest, and open conversation about gay characters.

Seraphic Chicken·5/20/2018, 7:44:15 PM·83 votes·36,301 views

Hey! I saw the post about the rainbow poro icon and I wanted to thank you and say how much I(and i'm sure many others) appreciate the gesture. As a lesbian it means a lot to see a game developer that's been part of my life for 8 years now doing things like this!

...In the end, though, the rainbow poro icon is just a small gesture. It's not an empty gesture by any means, and I'm not here to accuse you of homophobia or anything like that. It's pretty clear that Riot tries hard to be an inclusive company. You just donated a whole bunch of money to lgbt charities. I'm dating a Rioter so I know how great you guys are about having a safe and inclusive workplace. Your values come through loud and clear.

My question to you is: how is this philosophy reflected in the work that you produce? So far we have Varus, who is two half-dead boyfriends trapped in a body controlled by a demon, and some extremely, extremely minor characters in stories that don’t have any impact on the game itself. Better than nothing, I guess? But is “better than nothing” the best we can do?

There’s a few other scraps here and there, like Star Guardian Jinx’s obvious jealousy about Lux giving Ezreal any attention in the SG story. There’s also some stuff about Leona and Diana, like the tweet when gay marriage was finally legalized in the United States, and the pool party post with Leona swooning over a woman. Are they just going to be bread crumbs, none of which are presumably “canon”, with no satisfying payoff? There’s an opportunity here, especially with the way Leona and Diana’s story was never resolved after the Mt. Targon update, and left hanging with Leona urgently needing to tell Diana some big discovery.

I want to know what your plans for the future are when it comes to gay characters. I’m not asking you to tell me the details of what you’re working on, if anything. I simply want to know that you have plans beyond the occasional joke or plausibly-deniable fragment. I want to be able to see the values that you clearly believe in reflected in the game you make. I want to believe that you are capable of writing gay characters without killing them or making them jokes or background characters, characters whose stories pay off in some way. I don’t feel like this is out of reach for you, and if it is, I would like to understand why. What place do gay characters have in the story of League? Do you feel like you need a "special reason" to make a character gay? Writing romance in general doesn't seem to be a problem, with Valmar and Kai, or Xayah and Rakan, or that Darius comic where he's drawn fully nude and having sex with a woman. I would love to know more about the process that goes into creating a character’s story, and how that would look when writing a gay character.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! This is something that’s been on my mind for a long time now, and I saw this as a good opportunity to ask about it and maybe get a response.

If you're in this thread to complain about how you're totally not a homophobe but you don't want to see gay characters or whatever please find something better to do with your time. Obviously Varus didn't stop you from playing League. There's plenty of space for a discussion like this as well.

357 Comments

Arakadia5/20/2018, 8:15:36 PM29 votes

Some people argue that there needs to be a reason for a character to be gay. That it has to have a purpose (like Varus's romance).

The thing is, in real life, lgbt characters don't have to justify themself or their existence. There is no justification or reasoning for why Pyke is black, and it doesn't interfere with his character so its fine. Similarly, there doesn't need to be a reason for a character to be gay.

And including lgbt representation in a game to look good and inclusive isn't a bad thing. Thats would be like saying that donating to charities to look good and compassionate is a bad thing. Even if the motivation wasn't true, its st ill a positive effort.

So I am all for more diversity. Statistically, there should be multiple lgbt characters in League.

Malicious Metal5/20/2018, 9:49:46 PM19 votes

Hi there, I'm also on the LGBTQ spectrum, seeing that that B in there refers to Bisexual individuals just like myself.

The thing with homosexual characters, as already stated before, is that there's frankly not a very good way of actually confirming their sexuality without it either feeling tacked on, seen as just a PR move, or simply feel forced or unimportant to the character as a whole. Love is a very strong force, and one I think is the most important in this day and age, but sexual expression seems so utterly pointless and mundane nowadays.

I don't know how it's like in America, or other countries for that matter, seeing that I live in Switzerland, which is at the heart of Europe, but sexual orientation isn't a big deal here. The next step to gay acceptance isn't actually trying to aim for exposure, but rather for normalization, why should we even give a damn about who we like to sleep with and who we choose to love? It's given way too much weight, and I think that's the thing bothering a lot of people.

But if you ask me, sure! Give us some LGBTQ characters! As long as they're characters that can stand on their own and their sexuality isn't all of their character. Give their SO a strong role in their lore, flesh them out, don't just go, WELL X is X so they like to sleep with Y. No, gimme actual characters with relations to other people, that feels natural, that feels right.

Just my own silly two cents on the matter.

RiotRiot Yuujou5/22/2018, 10:32:54 PM15 votes

Hi there, Reimari!

I'm part of the IDAHOTB team and am really really happy that the Rainbow fluft icon is something you appreciate. It is something I'm personally very proud of and am always floored by how well people are receiving it.

As to your questions, I wish I had good answers. I don't work on League of Legends, so I can't speak to what our immediate/long-term plans are. Even if I could, it's not my place / I'd probably get in trouble for it haha.

What I do want to say is that we talk about diversity and representation a LOT with regards to our company culture, the narrative, and even characters. As an LGBTQ+ player myself, I totally get the sentiment of wanting something more concrete. I've had many passing discussions with fellow Rioters and tons of us are very passionate about this space. The flip side to this passion is that it's difficult to get an agreement. With a player base as diverse as ours, it is also tricky to do the right thing, whatever that is or will be.

Currently, I doubt that there's anything I could say that would feel good. Whether I said "We have something in progress, just wait" or "We've got absolutely nothing" it'll feel good to some and be received very critically by others.

Until we get to wherever we are supposed to be (or intend to be) with our values reflected in the work we produce, I at least wanted to pop by and give you a response. Even if the response isn't the most satisfying thing in the world, it's the very least we can do to let you know that we do read the boards and we do take the feedback to heart.

jamaal charles5/21/2018, 6:10:28 PM3 votes

You also have to think about the lore writers and character designers at riot. They are probably straight so creating a straight character would be much easier to them than a gay character.