How Persona 5 lets down s gay players

Contents:

• WOULD YOU PLAY PERSONA 6 WH A STRICTLY GAY MALE CHARACTER?
• HOW PERSONA 5 LETS DOWN S GAY PLAYERS
• PERSONA 6 NEEDS A GAY ROMANCE OPTN
• PERSONA 6 NEEDS A GAY ROMANCE OPTN

WOULD YOU PLAY PERSONA 6 WH A STRICTLY GAY MALE CHARACTER?

Inially, Kanji appears gay and Naoto seems to be transgenr. By clearly raisg the ia the player's md that Kanji is gay and then rejectg that ia, Persona 4 sends the msage that homosexualy is shameful and should not be 's start wh Kanji. Here, I hoped, I would get a plex portrayal of a gay character, one who has sadly but unrstandably reprsed his sexualy rponse to societal prsure, who felt that he uld not be accepted as a tough guy if people knew he was also gay.

HOW PERSONA 5 LETS DOWN S GAY PLAYERS

By clearly raisg the ia the player's md that Kanji is gay and then rejectg that ia, Persona 4 sends the msage that homosexualy is shameful and should not be accepted. Yose's attus about Kanji are problematic, and so is the game's way of handlg the story progrs, we're perdilly remd that, had he been gay, Kanji would not have been fully accepted by the other members of the vtigatn team, and, fact, some anxiety lgers later on about whether or not Kanji is tly straight. " suggtg that Yose's md, if Kanji had been gay, he would also be prone to behave appropriately.

Rather than addrsg Yose's negative perceptns of homosexualy, perhaps wh a character arc which his prejudic are challenged and he be more open-md over time, Persona 4 lets his view of homosexualy as somethg to be feared stand unchallenged and unremarked upon, treatg as normal and acceptable. " he says, suggtg that if he were gay, he would not really be a man. By troducg the ia that Kanji is gay and that Naoto is transgenr and then backg away om embracg those characterizatns, Persona 4 reprents a betrayal of s central theme about people learng to accept themselv and each other for who they are, and sends the msage that such sexual orientatns and genr inti are too sry to accept.

The two unnamed men are the only explicly gay characters the game:.

PERSONA 6 NEEDS A GAY ROMANCE OPTN

They are effemative gay men, who are basilly preyg on the nocent straight mor Ryuji. The game lets you rpond wh a joke rponse to Ryuji that he has to basilly ’man up’ agast the unmanly gay men.

So the scene starts wh the two gay men makg their entrance. The scene is amed as beg reflectn to the boy’s attempts to h on women earlier, so ’s more or ls meant as a ”punishment” towards them wh the st of showg the gay men aga an offensive light. And then the gay men nng after them, sce they are gog to forcibly harass them.

PERSONA 6 NEEDS A GAY ROMANCE OPTN

The boys manage to pe, and the two gay men are never referenced directly the game aga, unls you go out of your way to talk to them Shju, where they make remarks about another male character who is still a mor. This is basilly yet another example of a very troublome trope wily known as "All Gays are Pedophil". This showg this game is pecially bad due to the two characters beg the only two fely gay men Tokyo Protagonist will teract wh.

The ia that ”All gay men are sexual predators, huntg for pecially mors/children” is pecially troublg due to how this stereotype about gay men is actively ed as a reason to abe and hunt Gay mory Rsia pecially. The group is said to equate homosexualy to pedophilia, and is also alleged to target gay men and subject them to siar abive treatment. So is worryg and harmful to see the game e this very damagg stereotype towards gay men, pecially this se where the two characters are the only explicly gay men the whole game.

But the game giv you explicly no gay romance choic, which is unfortunate, although not exactly a surprise, given how Persona 3 (Outsi of P3P where Female Protagonist uld romance Elizabeth and Aigis) and 4 were absolutely no-no to gay choic, even when would have been the most logil ncln wrg wise (Persona 4 for example removed Yose’s romance optn pletely, even though there are signs that he was origally gog to be one. At the end of the scene, the people the boat next to you and Ye thk you two are a gay uple. It’s also a scene where the ma protagonist shows some distrs of beg even labeled gay, and you are not given any other optn about .