2 Jun 2000
Gay Sims.
Steve beat me to posting about gay sims in THE SIMS. After I bought the game last week, I was dismayed to read in the instruction manual that only sims of the opposite sex could fall in love and get married. Before writing an angry letter to Maxis, I did a little research and found that sims CAN be in gay relationships if you build their relationship points to above 100. But you have to force them to start kissing each other and be in love.
I found this information on the chat board on THE SIMS site, which was filled with tons of homophobic messages from players who were offended that gay relationships were possible. I guess it’s no surprise then that Maxis didn’t put it into the instruction manual, but I’m still upset about it for that very reason.
Why am I angry? I don’t care about seeing the sims kiss or get into bed together. I just want to be able to see reflected in the game the reality of real life – of MY life – where there are people in same-sex relationships. I think that many players try to reproduce their own relationships and life in the game, and saying in the instruction manual that only sims of the opposite sex can fall in love and get married denies the reality of millions of Americans who do not fall into that cookie cutter mold.
Is there a lower number for straight couples? For some reason I had the impression that 100 was the standard.. (who reads manuals, right?)
Freakho | 7 Jun 2000