Feminist
Pro-Queer
Anti-Racist
Gaming

It often feels to me that while the racism of today, that modern racism where people only use derogatory epithets in private, in whispered jokes, or start a statement with "I'm not racist, but....," is engulfed in attempts to hide it, the heterosexism and homophobia of today is still something which people feel entitled to. No, racism is certainly not dead, and perhaps attempts to brush it under the proverbial rug simply means that we have less ground from which to resist it, that people can more easily deny it, and that it isn't a concern for today. This being the case, I often wonder, though, if gay "is the new Black."

Of course, I don't mean by saying this that racism is always subtle, nor do I mean to imply that it is somehow "better" than heterosexism. What I do mean, is that heterosexism is more accepted and its manifestations happen to manifest more boldly, with more venom, and tend to have the 'backing of God' according to some, such as the "God Hates Fags" group.

And the way that I'm looking at this is in the la-la land of video games.

Under-representation in games is not news. At least, it shouldn't be. Neither is stereotypical representation. Web and Flash games have been the basis for much argument over free speech and video games and on Video Game laws springing up in Louisiana. Games like Ethnic Cleansing and Border Patrol are at the center of this debate (discourse has also focused on Rapelay).A search for "Ethnic Cleansing game" returns your standard fare of racist (insert expletive of choice) websites as does a search for Border Patrol, but both are mostly relegated to the racist websites. Border Patrol is slightly more prevalent in "non-racist" sites under the guise of anti-immigration commentary. Both searches at least return a number of sites, at the front of the search, which express outrage and concern.

There is another game, however, that has recently drawn my attention: Watch Out Behind You, Hunter!. In this game, you play a camouflage-wearin', gun-totin' hunter who is "under attack". Naked men crawl out from under bushes, tall grass, and trees and amble toward you in a zombie-esque fashion. These aren't zombies, though. They're gay men. If you let them catch up to you without shooting them, rather than trying to eat your brains, they rape you - thus the title informing you to "watch your back". Like all gay men, apparently, these men are attracted to unfashionably dressed straight men to such an extent that they simply can't control their sick, animalistic urges. You must then protect your man-hood in the only way you know how - to kill them. It's "smear the queer" with guns and a purpose.

Follow up:

Unlike Border Patrol and Ethnic Cleansing, a search for Watch Out Behind You, Hunter returns a virtual cornucopia of hosting sites for you to play the game on. The implications of this game, that non-heterosexuals are animals unable to control their depraved urges, evidenced by the crawling out from under bushes naked and the ensuing scream-accompanied rape are not as widely discussed as the other two. Killing 'fags' is a God-given duty - you're simply showing your patriotism and faith. The reason that I mention this relative to other 'Others' is because I feel that heterosexism is more publicly allowed than racism. I don't believe that this means other minority status people have it easier - particularly those who are queer and 'non-white' or women, or any combination of marginalization. In fact, even in this atrocious game, the 'fags' are notably white. What bothers me is that a search for this particular gem returns a plethora of host sites. This says to me that it is more acceptable to hate 'fags' - at least publicly. With debates going on regarding same-sex marriage rights, hate crime protection for sexual orientation, etc, games like this stand out. And it's bothersome, to say the least, that nobody seems to mind. Perhaps it is the relative subtlety of the message. I think, however, it is the public acceptance of heterosexism. After all, "God Hates Fags" and the overall message is "we're okay with that."

Hate the sin, not the sinner? How about we just stop the hate?