No, it's a 'waste of space' because it's a product that people can choose to pay for, or to not pay for, and this article addresses it as though there's some serious reason why they should.

Hey, I live a stone's throw from Capitol Hill, the very gayest neighborhood in Seattle. Some of the very coolest people I know are gay. My girlfriend's fetish troupe performs in the downstairs section of a gay nightclub (and until recently the sign on the front of it did bill it as a 'gay nightclub'. But I digress!)

I have no problem with gay people or gayness or anything like that, but let's accept 2 things, K?

If there was one instance of something in the books, then it's in the game. This insipid whining about how something didn't happen very often so it shouldn't be included is a judgement call that some writers may make. That's fine. And when they make their Tolkien-based MMO, they can exclude those things. That's not the call Turbine made, so suck it up, or don't play. I know there are a lot of mathematical illiterates here, so let me explain. 1 (the number of times something happened in the books) times ∞ (an infinite number of potential players) equals ∞. With me so far? Cool. Now, 0 (the number of gay marriages in the books) times ∞ equals . . . 0. That's the call they made, and that's the way it is. Whine all you like, that's just how it's going to be.

Secondly (though primarily, for me) this is ostensibly a ROLE-PLAYING game. Now, I realize that the role-playing aspect in any MMO is pretty weak, but nevertheless. People are whining in this section as though a role-playing game owes the player the ability to do whatever they like, but that is backwards. It requires you to take on a role, not create your personal Middle-Earth analog avatar, OK? Role-playing means you accept the world, pick a role, and play it. If that role is in a world where gay marriage doesn't exist, you don't get your little dwarf to make a little picket sign, then head down to the mead hall with his life partner to try and change the 'old dwarfs club' that runs the mine, alright? Why the hell are people too thick-headed to get this?

In the meantime, you can try to force the issue and make a loud show of 'voting with your dollar', but I'm pretty sure that you'll lose that one. So the best bet is to just start complaining online about how other people aren't as open-minded as you because they won't twist some dead writer's legacy to suit your particular political causes, K?

...it's no more silly than getting into a snit fit over Don Imus and HE got fired. C'mon, if the company wrote the software to include only white characters (just like in Tolkien's books, after all!) then we'd have Jackson and Sharpton leading the protest.

Face it, it's "a waste of space" because it only affects gays & lesbians and something as "silly" as gay marriage.

Rich

This has got to be the stupidest article in the history of Salon, which is saying something. Don't you people have something better to do than PC muckraking in a frickin' video game? You might as well complain about the game not referring to dwarves as the "vertically challenged".

It must have been the slowest news day of the year.

I'm amused (and proud!) that this question originated from a fellow resident of Massachusetts, the only state which has legal marriage for gay couples!

Aside from the obvious question, that perhaps Gay Dwarves can be confused with female Dwarves (Aragorn says they look almost identical, beards & all), let's face it: Tolkien was a devout Catholic! If his proclivities might have been favorable towards homosexuality (his own or others') he would most likely have repressed this strenuously!

I must say that it DOES appear in the book (Lord of the Rings) as well as the film, that Sam and Frodo, at least, could be bi-sexual (Sam marries a female). There are also strong homo-emotional tones (if you will) in the friendship between Gimli, the Dwarf and Legolas, the Elf (who WOULDN'T be attracted to an Elf, especially one played by Orlando Bloom?!).

I say that it doesn't MATTER what Tolkien thought, or the video game companies think. If your version of Middle Earth includes homosexuality (and why wouldn't it?), just as it includes Frodo's (AND Bilbo's) bizarre CELIBACY, then go for it!

My burning question is how Aragorn and Arwen could wait until he was in his mid-50's before consummating their passion! It's even worse than Mulder and Scully's frustrating romance.

Fantastic article.

Really, really fascinating.

Thanks.

OK, look.

I'm about as gay-friendly as you get.

I was the best man in my gay best friend's wedding, and tonight I'm going to bring dinner to the home of my lesbian friend of 15 years, and totally unironically mourn the death of her cat.

I was a theatre major, for Christ's sake.

I'm practically gay myself.

I'm like, a gay wannabe.

BUT:

I was a kid in the 80's, and I will always and forever use the phrase "that's totally gay" in a gently pejorative fashion.

Yes, language creates reality.

Yes, ugly language can be horribly wounding.

If someone wants to fire me from my national morning radio show for saying that my co-worker's feelings for New Order are Super Duper Extra Gay, so be it.

But my GAY FRIENDS also do this!

Could we all carry around National ID cards or something stating our real life no-bullshit positions on certain issues?

So we could then presume that others understand the context if we say certain things?

I can put up a slide show filled with emotional moments from my long history of support for gay rights.

But sometimes, when your friend likes Celine Dion just that little extra bit too much...

I know this is a serious issue.

I know that young gamers are probably often actually homophobic.

I live in a place with a huge gay community, and I don't want to belittle the sensitivities of those who face real homophobia all day every day.

But no gay person I know would ever think I "hated" gays if I called Dancing With the Stars totally freaking gay.

To me, it would be sad to "outlaw" that language anywhere.