I can't accurately express the bewilderment I feel when people actually object to threads about this. How many off-topic threads do we have by now? Music, life stories, dating advice, drunk stories... We are not mindless robots pushing buttons on a controller. We are people, all experiencing very different lives. Some of our community is gay. Some of those gay players have no place to express themselves sincerely other than this community. How dare we judge them?
I've had a few drinks so I'm going to type as much as I want, because I feel strongly about this, and I think some of our gay members like Mileena and Revolver are some of the most pleasant and friendly people in our scene and we should be grateful for them.
In high school I had a gay friend name Jared. He was also a goth kid, which just made things harder. He was very feminine, wore lots of makeup, single black glove on his hand Michael Jackson style. He suffered a lot of cruelty through those years, and I never understood why. I mean, I guess I did understand. The way your parents raise you, religion, whatever, can make you grow up with some pretty bigoted perspectives. But I suppose I was more taken aback by the lack of outrage from other people. How was this different than racism or sexism?
I ask that question to anyone here. If you have a problem with a gay MK player reaching out for friendship within our community, would you have the same problem if someone posted "I'm an Arabic man in an all white and black neighborhood, and I'm looking for people here with a common interest to accept me for who I am,"? LBSH, where is the difference?
There's no way I can truly empathize with your struggles, but I can try to liken them to my own. As a atheist, I've encountered similar hatred. We too have states with laws restricting our rights. We too have to stare into the face of judgement when we tell some believers about our lack of faith in their particular religion. It's hard growing up with the south when everyone wants you to pray, and not believing the same thing (or anything) creates a big lack of trust. My own mother, when telling her friends that my sister and I were non-believers, had to listen to their reactions of "Oh, I'm so sorry!" as if we had some kind of disease. I could probably say with confidence that just as many people have lost their families due to atheism as they have to homosexuality. I've read so many stories about both, and it's amazing how similarly they play out.
It's strange to note the different tactical paths we must take as two distinct minority groups (that tend to have a lot of cross-membership actually...). Gays have been more and more prominently portrayed positively in media. TV shows, movies.. You guys seem to have scored big in that area, but internally...at home and within circles of friends, it seems like such an uphill battle. On my side of things, it's way easier to come out as a non-believer amongst friends (and sometimes family), but it's really rare to ever be represented positively in a movie or tv show without also being portrayed as nihilistic, or as someone who "just needs to find the light". I'm looking at you Arnold, and you're damned End Of Days movie...
Now, I don't want to draw too big of a comparison. I just wanted to express how I understand you through my own lense. Yes we both have to lobby for rights under the government. Yes we both have to face the scorn of the bigoted. But you have the harder road, and I would never delude myself to believing otherwise. In a lot of places if you confess non-belief, people will judge you, but that will be it. When you come out as gay however, especially at a young age, the results can be catastrophic not just at the home but throughout the entire public. You guys have the harder battle these days. Though, I'm sure we would both have an equal chance of being burned alive just a few hundreds years ago.
So... you're an openly gay MK player. Maybe you see yourself that way because it's really important to you to have a community that loves and accepts you despite the secret you've held so close all this time. But you know what? And this goes for all of you... We don't see you that way. You aren't the gay players. You are players. You are friends. You are good human beings. We see you as nothing else, because that's what matters. Oh, and you're trolls too.
Times are changing. And you are immersed in a scene that is far unlike that of football, and country clubs, and church camps, and whatever. You're in a scene for gamers. Not just gamers, MK players. We are the outcasts. We have been since the first arcade cabinet. It's pretty hard to be a hardcore MK gamer and hold barbaric views towards people that are different. Consider yourselves lucky for that. But, you'll still run across "those" people, even here. People who think that talking about yourself and your struggles means you're trying to "convert" them, whatever that means. You have the right attitude. Ignore them. Hopefully we can foster a more accepting attitude around here. Something less trollish. Because every needs a place to express who they truly are. I like to think that this is one of those rare places.
And remind me to never speak to extortioner or arez god of war ever again.
*PS. We NEED more gays. Have you seen how bad traffic has become?
