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Let's Discuss the Gay Elephant in the Room

TheySeeMeWardin·12/18/2018, 4:40:42 PM·9 votes·5,710 views

Thanks to AFilthyCaitMain for starting this discussion but I wanted to take it in a new direction. Let's talk about gay characters in League and all the baggage that comes with that. Full disclaimer, I am gay (I know I'm so brave, hold your applause) but I want everyone to know my bias and I'm interested in what other people may have to say who aren't gay. That's assuming anyone reads this.. So let's begin!

Relationships -

I'ma start with some backstory but I'll be as concise as possible. For a long time RIOT hasn't commented on how they handle relationships, much less gay ones, and so the community "decided" that RIOT just doesn't include relationships in their lore because it's a game, not a romance novel. Then, April of 2017 came around and two champions were released, Xayah and Rakan. These two love birds were the first actively romantic champions in league. There have been ships throughout the years that have actually made it into game quotes (ie. Garen & Katarina) and there have been champions who've had significant others but lost them (R.I.P. Senna) but this was the first time champions were full head over heals and romance was the theme of their release. So, a straight couple? Cool. Who would object to that? Well the two's lore definitely received some mixed views. There were many reasons for this (some people even compared Xayah's liberation movement to elitism) but what most people didn't like was that, at face value, they were just a clingy teen romance. Don't get me wrong, their release wasn't met with pitchforks and a call for blood. The relationship concept was new though (maybe not well executed) and it rocked the boat a bit.

Gay Characters -

Now, let's talk about gay relationships in lore. So the first gay characters in league were not even champions, just characters in color pieces. The earlier that year (2017) two side stories: Progress Day & Deep Breath, were released and both featured gay characters. The response? Extremely positive! Many people were happy with the stories and it seemed like a normal RIOT narrative with just a few pronouns changed here and there. I know what you're thinking "Does this guy have a point? It seems like everyone is cool with the whole gay thing." but there's more to it. Yes, these characters were well received and I personally loved their stories, but they're just characters in a sea of lore. Not everyone reads these stories and the game wouldn't be lesser if you ignored them entirely, this played into why they were successful IMO. Those who wanted representation got it, those who didn't care for it could just gloss over it and read something else.

Varus.. -

Okay, this is were things get a little controversial, if they haven't already. Varus. I know, you're tired of hearing about this but I think it's important because there's an issue here that I think we're just glossing over. So, that very same year (2017, a good year for the gays of League) Varus had a massive lore rework that not only tied him with the lore of Runeterra but... made him gay. It did not go well. MANY people hated the new Varus because it was a completely different champion from a story perspective. This, I get. If you connect with a champion's story only to have it completely ripped out from under you, you'd be angry and that's completely understandable. However, there were other elements that came into play. Characters are changed drastically all the time, I mean ALL the time, and it's usually because they're stale and offer nothing unique to the table. Just during the time I've played league I've seen Evelynn, Akali, Galio, Karma, Maokai, Nautilus, Orianna, and MANY more have lore updates that changes something core to a champion that I loved. It happens, I will survive (Ohhh as long as I know how t..) This is why I think other forces were at play with Varus because reworks truly are a common issue in League's lore but we quickly get over it. Varus' lore may have spoken to you on a deep and personal level, a man who lost everything throws himself into abyss with his only goal as revenge on those who killed his family. Alright, I get that but we kinda had a story very similar to that that I've mentioned in this post cough Lucian cough. Not saying that every story needs to be a special snowflake, being different doesn't mean being good. But Varus' story had been done countless of times, a small blurb could quickly summarize him and those who NEEDED a revert back to his old lore "which was fine to begin with" are just talking out of their asses. There were other ways to modernize Varus' lore, I agree, but the constant posts and comments I saw about how his old lore had show much character and emotion is just false.

EDIT: lol I didn't even post my main argument. The reason I think that Varus was so hated was that he was a playable champion. It wasn't something that could be overlooked but instead brought to the forefront and along with his large changes in the lore his rework was a failure to many. The gay aspect definitely adds to the backlash and while others may think RIOT just slapped on a gay champ in hopes of getting the SJW vote, I think there was more to the story and the writers had a direction that they wanted to go with (two lovers who are Kai and Val who's love conquers over hate which was Varus). The lovers being gay seemed more of a convinces for story telling than RIOT pandering to an audience and the massive hate for the story (I think) shows the presence of homophobia in the community.

Comment -

Honestly I had A LOT more stuff to add and I'd love to respond to people down in the comments but I'm pretty sure this wont be as successful as I'd hope and I'd rather not spend another 30 minutes writing something that's just gonna get downvoted. So. If you have rebuttals, questions, or anything you'd like to add jut comment down bellow.

58 Comments

ARE YOU PC BRO12/18/2018, 5:14:44 PM11 votes

NO this game is doing much better with representation, you need to stop thinking of YOU and start thinking of the young dudes/dude-ettes with no LGBTQ role-models in the HETERO games/stories they are over-saturated with daily. The countries with explicit anti-gay rhetoric aren't worth parroting, Riot is doing amazing and Neeko is the latest cherry on top

The Iceborn12/18/2018, 4:53:43 PM6 votes

This is still just a game its not a novell, a relationship or sexuality preferences are a nice touch but you all give it waaaaaay too much importance... Who cares? Nobody does.. Do you think people play Varus while wondering what this champions sexuality is? No they dont all they care about is who has stronger abilities.. Yall need to drop this topic of sexuality because its annoying and extremely irrelevant to MOST players as most players dont care about Lore

RyzeTheSmurfMage12/18/2018, 4:50:03 PM6 votes

Xayah and Rakan are also annoying asf (and I'm straight). Who the fuck flirts during battles that hard? That being said, I don't want oversaturation in showing the gay characters. Why? Cause after a while it gets annoying. Same thing would happen if every champ started flirting, but at the gay champs it would be a little more annoying because, like it or not, they are still a minority under 5%. That's just my point of view, call me whatever you want and downvote the shit out of me if you want.

Infernape12/18/2018, 5:18:44 PM4 votes

The reason why varus got so much backlash is that they retconned a champion that already had an established background.

Hotarµ12/18/2018, 5:01:42 PM2 votes

But Varus' story had been done countless of times,

Yeah, but the whole sacrificial-tool of vengeance was an interesting take on it that made him a unique prospect, similar in a way to Kalista, but ultimately unique nonetheless. Riot easily could have just modernized his story and fleshed it out more, but they changed a fundamental aspect of it and I'm still indecisive about how I feel about it.

For the most part, there isn't an elephant in the room. I think the majority of players just geniunely don't care about the sexuality of characters as long as it isn't shoehorned in or alters an already existing character in any way. That's my take on it, at least.

I think Xayah & Rakan's relationship is interesting although somewhat dull on the surface, Neeko's addition of being lesbian just doesn't really add any weight to her story (not that it's a particularly bad thing, per say), and interestingly enough I couldn't find official confirmation of Taric being gay. That's odd, I always assumed Riot confirmed he was homosexual but I guess not. Either way, I think he's gay, but again, doesn't really add much to the story.

I'd personally like to see more fleshed out backstories instead of sexualities being tacked on, you know?

Falrein12/18/2018, 5:56:42 PM2 votes

Mmh... Might as well tell now: I am someone that doesn't care about Varus. Like, really. His lore, both pre and post update, never really appealed to me. I personally don't share this whole Darkin love everyone has, I think they are a bit overrated but hey, personal opinion. My point is: I couldn't care less about his lore update. I think it is okay, even good, but I am not interested in it. BUT I understand why people were mad at it. I don't view LGBTQ+ representation as a must, even though it's nice. The reason why people were mad is, I think, because of the shift of focus in Varus's story (for the most part, not talking about the homophobic comments in disguise, as I'm sure there were a lot of them too). Varus's old lore still exists (kinda) back when he was an Ascended, sure. But the focus on it is different. The fact that Kai & Valmar are gay shouldn't be a big deal. Of course there would've been less complaints, but as I said, those were the homophobic comments in disguise. True Varus lovers/lore-followers would've been mad anyway, no matter the couple imo.

I think, maybe the gay inclusion would've been better with another character, completely detached from any sexual identity, but that's just my opinion.

On another note, my view on the matter is... Why do people care? I think most LGBTQ+ people care too much. And I also think that non-LGBTQ+ people care too much (not talking about homophobic people). I've never considered sexuality a big thing, and you shouldn't too. Varus's example is bad because [read the textwall above]. Neeko would've been a better example: many people were upset for no real reason. As I said, everyone should try to care less about that kind of stuff.

Champions' sexualities aren't a big deal. This is not what defines them. It is a part of them, yes, sometimes it's a bigger part (Darius, for example), but in the end, they are not just gay/straight/bi/whatever. If Syndra was a lesbian, I would still like her as a character. Because ultimately, the reason why I like her isn't her sexuality, it's her power, her potential, etc. (I wanted to say so many things and ended up rambling, hopefully you'll get my point :'))

Butterwood12/18/2018, 5:57:55 PM2 votes

I don't care if Ivern is gay or not - can someone be gay for trees/mushrooms? I'll hang up and listen

Terozu12/18/2018, 9:32:01 PM2 votes

Actually Kat x Garen started off in Garens lore not as a player ship.