Yet it still genders voice, hairstyles, makeup, and clothes, while offering no they/them option altogether. However, like The Last Of Us bookshop scene, she’s let down by the world around her.Ĭyberpunk 2077 features a character creator with genital choice not tied to gender. Claire is voiced by a trans woman, discusses her transition in realistic ways, and is generally a bright spot in the game’s representation of queer people. Cyberpunk 2077 features a transgender character, Claire, who has a trans flag decal on her truck. The Last Of Us Part II is not alone in giving the Pride flag prominent screen time while stripping away its essence. With context, it steals away queer identities, history, iconography, and pride, all while specifically centering homophobia as a storytelling device instead. It’s cute to see Ellie and Dina so free, thumbing through queer literature from the first time in their lives, especially when Dina holds up a lesbian novella and jokes “It’s us.” At the same time, it’s a scene in a vacuum. People remember Pearl Jam and Jurassic Park, but the rainbow flag has been erased from existence? In 2039, when the game is set, I’ll be 46 it’s ridiculous to think that the queer community will entirely disappear in any recognizable form, especially not in large, diverse communities which still have access to even less ubiquitous movies, literature, music, and porn. So this is a world where homophobia clearly still exists. Except Dina is also hatefully called a dyke early on - something implied at the start and demonstrated with ferocity in the epilogue. Dina even inquires “What’s with all the rainbows?” At first it’s a nice glimpse of a world without labels. The best example being when Ellie and her girlfriend Dina stumble across the Pride flag in an abandoned, queer bookstore in post-apocalyptic Seattle.Įllie and Dina don’t recognize the flags in the store. Unfortunately, it often does so through a cishet, voyeuristic lens. While the game’s presentation of these queer identities is not perfect, it does center queerness more than most games. Bisexual and transgender characters also feature prominently. Ellie, the game’s first lead, is a lesbian. The Last Of Us Part II offers a strong example of this.
I Would Die For the Cast of A Long Journey to an Uncertain End.They look at the flag and see a piece of cloth. They only know the colors, the stripes, and the vague idea that “this flag = gay.” Games as individual works aren’t necessarily as cynical as the corporations who often make them - though that’s part of it - but they are inspired by the Twitter logo allies. We’re seeing an increased presence of Pride flags in video games, but not the kind you see around someone’s shoulders at their first march it’s the Coke can Pride flag. Now video games are getting in on the act. Then it’s just as easily discarded for the rest of the year.
SHOW ME THE GAY FLAG FREE
It belongs to the LGBTQ+ community, but not in any legal sense, so corporations are free to use it as a convenient fashion statement during Pride month. That’s the problem with the flag’s current iconic status: it’s so recognizable that it can be instantly stripped of its meaning, voice, and history, to be slapped on soda cans. During Pride Month, you’ll also find it on Coca-Cola cans, mouthwash, and on the Twitter logo of almost every major brand. You can find the flag on pins, wristbands, or draped over the shoulders of a young queer person embracing their identity. It’s a symbol of identity, of rebellion, and a tribute to the activists who fought so hard for LGBTQ+ people to be able to openly show their Pride today. The Pride flag is more than a piece of cloth.