Is Mass Effect LGBTQ?
Mass Effect had the distinction of being one of the first video-games to become mired in the culture wars of the Bush years. The first game in the trilogy made waves because it allowed both male and female main characters to “romance” a bisexual, non-gender blue alien. Ashley will still be for Males only, but Kaidan will then be open for both Female and Male Shepards. Tali and Garrus become Romance options in Mass Effect 2, for Male and Female Shepards respectively. You cannot start a romance with them in Mass Effect 3; you must romance them in Mass Effect 2 first.Kaidan is unique among the Mass Effect 3 Romance options because he is one of only three who can both be Romanced for the first time in this game, or have a Romance from a previous game continued. While he was only available to Female Shepards in the original game, in Mass Effect 3 he’s open to Male Shepards as well.The Romance options available for a Male and Female Shepard are different: three bisexual flings are available to both, while three Serious Romances are exclusive to one or the other. Here are the characters exclusive to a particular gender: Male Shepard: Jack, Miranda Lawson or Tali’Zorah.Romance is possible in Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3 for both a male and female Commander Shepard.
Why is Mass Effect controversial?
When the series launched back in 2007, Mass Effect and EA faced a lot of backlash against the game’s nudity and romance scenes. By 2012, EA had taken a strong pro-LGBTQIA+ stance on their video games, and refused to adhere to anti-queer complaints that demanded that same-sex romance scenes be cut from the game. Mass Effect had the distinction of being one of the first video-games to become mired in the culture wars of the Bush years. The first game in the trilogy made waves because it allowed both male and female main characters to “romance” a bisexual, non-gender blue alien.