LGBTQ+ Premade Couples

I'm very happy to see this thread. More gay dads! More diversity of all kinds, please.

"Bronwin2;c-17556309" wrote:
Please correct me if I am wrong but I thought there is no difference? If gender/sex is subjective then how can any Sim be one way or the other?

Again, it's about the message. (How many times, have I said it now? *rolls eyes* ) It is not about how you actually play the game.

I hope we'll keep seeing more variety in families added as premades in upcoming packs: gay couples, single parents, multi-generation families, etc.
Though I'm sure we won't get families with both pets and children in packs that aren't C&D. Or any possible other packs that might include other pets.

For me, including *any* LGBT Sims and families is the message and it's a good one. Is it uneven right now? Yeah. That doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. And even if it does, I don't believe keeping count is helpful.

(also hey, if we could set attraction for individual Sims, that would be great)

Guys in general need more attention even in CAS. I would love more attention for older and younger male Sims too for gameplay and CAS. I found out researching into MAC more they are one of the first LGBTQIA+ friendly makeup brands for guys, so makes sense with the timing when it was released. There are quite a lot of male Simmers that stream on Twitch, so premades for them I think would help. I would really like more elder premades, because that age group is really rare for premades.

I don't know, I'm a straight female and I play gay male/female families all the time. I think that's the one of the things EA got right, I mean by giving us the ability to so easily make the sims we want to play, was absolutely brilliant. CAS is Everything. But, I do understand that each person wants to be represented, it's only fair, but I do think they've made major moves towards making the game more enjoyable for all.

"fallenangel66;c-17555966" wrote:
I don't really have a problem with a nonequal amount of same-sex couples. Here's why, if I'm in a restaurant, or at the gym, or anywhere else there are not an equal amount of any single demographic, so I don't feel the need to have them displayed equally. Sims for me is not a counting game, I like having the premades around because they add more diversity to my game mostly with traits I don't often use, but I don't feel the need to count off the demographics of each. That being said, I wouldn't mind more male couples, but that's the same as me saying I wouldn't mind more Hispanic couples.

Edit: Maybe it's because I add my own same-sex couples. I usually add in my own extended family, and adopted families, so it comes out to be a more fair representation, but that's just me maybe.

You're clearly not someone who has felt underrepresented in the media... so of course you "don't have a problem" with it. Meanwhile, you missed the actual point entirely.

"darrenfroggy;c-17556740" wrote:
I hope we'll keep seeing more variety in families added as premades in upcoming packs: gay couples, single parents, multi-generation families, etc.
Though I'm sure we won't get families with both pets and children in packs that aren't C&D. Or any possible other packs that might include other pets.

For me, including *any* LGBT Sims and families is the message and it's a good one. Is it uneven right now? Yeah. That doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. And even if it does, I don't believe keeping count is helpful.

(also hey, if we could set attraction for individual Sims, that would be great)

"For me, including *any* LGBT Sims and families is the message and it's a good one."

Not when there's a history of bias in the media when it comes to lesbian representation VS gay male representation. If lesbians and gay men were equally discriminated against, attacked, viewed as "disgusting", etc, then I *might* agree with your point... but that's not how it is. There's generally a bias in society that deems lesbians and female/female relationships as "more acceptable" than gay men and male/male couples... so when a company uses that bias itself and takes the safest route possible by representing a lesbian or female/female relationship and then go around claiming how "progressive" they are for doing so, it becomes extremely problematic. EA and Maxis literally profit off the LGBT community every chance they get... and it's often at the expense of gay men and even transgender women (like most other companies as well).

Companies do this A LOT... they'll throw in a lesbian character or couple (the most accepted members of the LGBT community) and then go around bragging about how "progressive" they are, while leaving out the more vulnerable and oppressed members of the community. That's not LGBT representation. That's lesbian representation. Again, lesbians generally aren't viewed the same way as gay men are in society.

The Sims has shown a very clear bias. It's not even debatable. We've had ONE gay male couple in the entire franchise... ONE! And they don't even have kids... they're a stereotypical "cute" gay couple with a dog as their "fur baby"... so, not only are they giving out the message that lesbians are seen as more acceptable, but they're also perpetrating a stereotype by doing this. If Brant and Brent had a kid AND a dog, it wouldn't be bad... but this was clearly meant to be a negative thing. Especially when you have several lesbian couples (all with children) that have been represented in the series.

Two female Sims were shown kissing when The Sims was first revealed back in the 1990's. In Sims 3, a lesbian couple (with a child) was represented in the 'Roaring Heights' DLC. In Sims 4, we have more lesbian couples... and each have a child. In Sims 4, we have ONE gay male couple throughout the entire franchise and they have a dog. Even during pride month a couple years ago, The Sims posted a picture on their social media accounts that showed a "rainbow" of LGBT Sims... and guess what? The lesbian couple was shown with a child, while the gay male couple wasn't... there was even a MALE/FEMALE couple in the pic that was shown holding a baby! What is that about!?

https://i.imgur.com/08cwPNG.jpg

I can't remember the exact year this was shown, but it was an official render by The Sims team... and yeah, they continue to show a very clear and explicit bias against gay men... especially when a male/female couple was shown in an LGBT image and even they have a baby, while the gay male couple doesn't.

This is either a really HUGE coincidence that EA and Maxis have simply overlooked (over and over and over and over again)... or they're showing an obviously bigoted bias. I highly doubt it's a coincidence...

To those of you who "don't understand" and think it's considered "whining" simply for pointing out the lack of representation for gay male Sims, it's about more than just the representation. It's about the subtle message EA is sending by creating several pre-made lesbian couples (again, all with children), while only have ONE gay male couple who only have a dog. That, along with all the other things (such as a lesbian couple being featured in the new logo and a gay male couple being the ONLY one without a child in the pride month image I showed prior), is a very concerning negative message.

EA has certainly proven themselves to be biased against gay men. They don't believe gay males are "acceptable enough" to be represented in the game... and they definitely don't seem to think gay men should be raising children either (since absolutely NONE of the very few representations for gay male Sims have had children).

The pride month image was beyond offensive when I first saw it (and yes, I made a big deal about it at the time too). The fact that the image featured a lesbian couple and a straight couple (for whatever reason) with children, while purposely making the ONLY gay male couple in the image without children, was deeply concerning... and still is. Especially when they won't even add more than one canon gay male couple in the game... and the only one we actually have doesn't have a child (while ALL lesbian couples do).

It's a form of homophobia and anti-gay male bias... no matter how you try spinning it. There's literally no reason EA can't simply add a pre-made gay male couple in the game with children. There's NO excuse for this... because they don't seem to have a problem with adding several lesbian and straight couples with kids... why can't we even have just ONE gay male couple with a child!? EA absolutely has explaining to do!

Also, again, this is a COMMON TREND in the media (especially video games). Lesbians are almost always the "safe" route companies take when it comes to showing LGBT representation... and it's because society generally has an easier time accepting the idea of two women being together VS two men. So yeah... you can't really blame someone like myself for feeling this way.

Personally, I don't see any message coming from EA through the game.

How many people count up the statistics for the type of sims added to the game? I would think that most people just open up the game and play it however they want to.

I still don’t understand why you just can’t represent lesbian/gays by making them in your own game. Why you think EA needs to provide the premade couples. Yes I know they need to be treated equal and they need not to be looked down on. But this is also a game and you are free to create whoever you want without restrictions. You can be whoever you want in the game. So to ask EA to provide more premade gay/lesbian couples in the game I would think you are restricting how the game is meant to be played. It’s only my opinion so you can take it with a grain of salt and agree or not.