First ever gay couple NPC's

[Elusana_Celah]

There is a difference between a topic being treated as "no big deal" and a topic that no one talks about because they don't want to have to think about it and wish those queers would just shut up and stay in the closet.

A lot of people still fall into the latter category.

Ahh sorry. I had no idea this post on the FFXIV forum was going to combat homosexual hatred. Carry on then.

[KodiHivaer]

Edit: Why was ZoraLink's first post deleted?

Well Zoralink said he was gay, but didn't agree with the way others of his demographic made it a huge deal as if being gay was something to get excited over and a brand new thing, it embarrassed him.
But I'm assuming because of his opinion on the "attention whoring", he was flagged for stating it and called a "bigot" by others just because of it.

I personally agree with him, people will get tired of it after the millionth thread about "OMGGAYCOUPLEADJKS@(#$*!()!!!" and making it out to be some huge thing when it actually isn't.

Plenty other gay players agreed with him too, and another player pretty much echoed his sentiments.

I must be the only one on the planet who treats homosexuality as no big deal. Like love is love who cares who it's between. If you create a big emotional scene every time to 'recognize' someone is openly gay/lesbian it just starts to make you look like you are attention whoring and that will create more hate towards the subject.

What I didn't know was that gays could be "Bigots and homophobic" for having differing views on things like this, and just for stating so, I think it's a shame he got reported.

[Cynfael]

I must be the only one on the planet who treats homosexuality as no big deal. Like love is love who cares who it's between. If you create a big emotional scene every time to 'recognize' someone is openly gay/lesbian it just starts to make you look like you are attention whoring and that will create more hate towards the subject. I am personally bisexual and don't really run around talking about it to everyone cuz it is what it is and I am who I am. I just want to see the topic of homosexuality become 'no big deal' because once it isn't a big deal to the majority of people, it will no longer feel like you are being 'oppressed' by feeling this way.

Having people stop caring so much about this aspect of each other's business is definitely the ideal to aim for. The challenge is that, arguably, you sometimes have to heighten awareness of existing issues before you can honestly move toward that ideal.

A lot of people will actually adopt this "no big deal" attitude even if they can't quite overcome their private prejudices if they're presented with information that helps them realize that others really aren't as different from them as they imagine.

All that aside, yes, it's nice that SE is including same-gender couples in Eorzea and also nice that they aren't accompanied by banners or their own theme music. Gay Aesop trappings are so 1990s :P

[Elusana_Celah]

lalala

Perhaps my ideal is too optimistic. I agree that the issue needed to be pressed because of all the haters and many 'haters' are simply misinformed and needed to be enlightened to the truth. I just look towards a future where gays and straight people mix together comfortably without the need for prejudices or it being considered a big deal by anyone. I apologize for those who have somehow assumed I'm some sort of bigot. It's astounding to me really.

[Cynfael]

Perhaps my ideal is too optimistic. I agree that the issue needed to be pressed because of all the haters and many 'haters' are simply misinformed and needed to be enlightened to the truth. I just look towards a future where gays and straight people mix together comfortably without the need for prejudices or it being considered a big deal by anyone. I apologize for those who have somehow assumed I'm some sort of bigot. It's astounding to me really.

I have no idea how anyone could have taken your comments to mean that you were bigoted. I thought they were obviously well-intentioned.

[TouchandFeel]

Anyways, I just wish people stop getting sensitive and just let people love who they love.
At the end of the day, we're all human so who cares who likes who.

Pretty much exactly this. It is the love in of itself that people should care more about and be the focus, not necessarily who the love is between.

Awareness and responsible and respectful representation of groups such as homosexuals, bisexuals, etc. is a good thing and I felt the way that these characters were portrayed was done exceptionally well. They were both strong individuals who loved each other and were made better and stronger by that love, and they just happened to both be men.

The issue that myself and some others have with threads like this is not that they are acknowledging the representation of homosexuals in media, its that they are not doing it in a very constructive manner.

If the thread was something like " These two gay characters were in game and I thought the portrayal of them as gay individuals was really well done because they were shown to be strong and caring individuals that were made better through their love for each other", I would have been 100% supportive of it because it broached the subject in a positive and respectful manner.

Instead we got "OMG! Gays! So cute!"
While intentions may have been in the right place, or not ... I couldn't say, the handling of it could have been done way better.

When gay people are singled out in such a way, as I stated before, it separates them from the rest of society and emphasizes that they are "different" and in a way somewhat dehumanizes them because they are being classified not so much as people, but as "gays".

So, while people's intensions may be for the good, the way those intentions are acted out often times can unwittingly have the unintentional opposite effect of dividing people, not bringing them together.

When trying to spread awareness and bring about acceptance, it is the similarities between groups of people that should be emphasized so that a foundation of mutual understanding can be achieved. Once people understand how they are the same, they can then begin to appreciate how they are different.

In the end we are all just people and we are all the same and we are all different and that is okay.

[Eul]

There are no racist in Gridania. Gelmorra and later Gridania were also the first multi-race cities in the 6th astral era.
Every race is welcome in Gridania, so long you know and accept the pact of Gelmorra between the Gridanians and the Elemental

Well if you do archer quest, you'll see Elezen that act like "omg archer stuff is only for elezen blablabla"

[Kiroh]

Well if you do archer quest, you'll see Elezen that act like "omg archer stuff is only for elezen blablabla"

Heck the entirety of the lancer story was about Duskwights being treated like thieves and criminals, even among elezen in Gridania there's racism.

[TheWaywardWind]

As a gay man, I thought it was really sweet. It was quick, short, and to the point. It wasn't about their plight so much as it was them sympathizing with the tonberries.

I understand others may feel it would be best if there was no attention drawn much to it at all, and while I reason with that, I agree with what others have said; there needs to be attention before any progress can be made at all. You cannot isolate a problem and keep it on the downlow/hush hush until a solution ultimately comes into fruition. That's not how progress is made, unfortunately.

[Elusana_Celah]

...

Wouldn't time be better spent finding, identifying and debunking the hater's arguments against us bisexual/homosexual people than making posts on MMO forums celebrating a couple NPCs who are gay? I mean if they already have hate towards us then a post about how happy you are that someone is gay isn't going to do anything to change their minds... it'll just annoy them and make things worse.

I ain't trying to be argumentative but I am a highly logical person who looks at things from realistic perspectives and cannot really grasp how this is helping our cause. Perhaps you can clarify a little your point so that I may see things from your perspective a little better?

Perhaps the idea is that maybe if some people see how happy we really are with our lovers that they will see that it's not 'bad' at all? That is actually true and is one of the primary reasons that homosexual people needed to start spreading the happiness around like this but I'm looking to debunk and change these REAL haters. The real haters are the ones who dedicate their lives to trying to convince the world how terrible we are for our sexual preferences. Those haters would look at a post like this and accuse us all of attention whoring by 'claiming' to be gay and when I hear these haters say things like that I turn near violent. I like to present facts that prove everything they say to be complete and total garbage and, the more people see how these people's trash talk is garbage, the better. I see a post like this as giving them fuel against us.

God it's all so complicated...