The role-playing game Mass Effect 3 by Bioware was released in the UK on March 9th, and sold almost one million copies on its very first day. Undoubtedly one of the biggest releases of the year, Mass Effect 3 distinguishes itself in another way – its representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual characters.

Playing as the heroic Commander Shepard fighting a war across the galaxy, you have the choice to play as either a man or a woman. You’ll find that your ship carries at least one gay and one lesbian crew member, both of whom are out. Depending on the gender you chose for Shepard, he or she will be able to pursue a homosexual romance storyline with one of these characters – the pilot, Cortez, or the specialist, Traynor. There are also other members of your crew who will be open to a romantic storyline with player characters of either gender.

This isn’t the first time a game has allowed players to explore a gay romance. A previous Bioware release, Dragon Age II, did the same, as did Fable II, another successful role-playing game from a different studio. But Mass Effect 3 is arguably the most prominent example to date, the successful conclusion to a trilogy which has been rolling in critical acclaim and commercial success since its first installment.

It’s also refreshing to see LGB characters and relationships as part of a game that plays like a high-octane sci-fi blockbuster, complete with epic space battles and compelling twists and turns. Even in Hollywood today it can be difficult to find prominent LGB characters in major releases, and I can’t think of a blockbuster equivalent to the Mass Effect games that features this kind of content.

Bioware have been attacked by some gamers, as they were back in 2010 upon the release of Dragon Age II. At that time game designer David Gaider was defiant in his response:

“The romances in the game are not for “the straight male gamer”. They’re for everyone. We have a lot of fans, many of whom are neither straight nor male, and they deserve no less attention. [...] And the person who says that the only way to please them is to restrict options for others is, if you ask me, the one who deserves it least. And that’s my opinion, expressed as politely as possible.”

Games remain a very young art form, and it’s heartening to note how many gamers and gaming websites have been singing Bioware’s praises over this issue. Regardless of the reaction of some fans, this is a welcome sign that the world of games is keeping up with progress in the real world.

Patrick Harvie MSP said of the run, “As someone who used to work in the gay men’s health field before I was in politics, a lot of what we did was focused on illness rather than health. To have an event that’s actually celebrating LGBT people getting healthy out in the rare sunshine in Glasgow is a fantastic part of the History Month programme.”

Glasgow FrontRunners have been working alongside LGBT Youth Scotland for some time, and we hope this event will be the first of many Rainbow Runs! You can follow Glasgow FrontRunners on Facebook to hear what they’ve got planned for the future, and check out this great video about the run below:

Russell (Tom Cullen) arrives at his straight friends dinner party late and leaves early, excusing himself on the grounds that he has to work early the next day. It’s Friday night and on his way home he stops off at a gay bar where he meets, Glen (Chris New). What starts out as a one-night-stand becomes a meaningful, intense and fleeting romance, cut short by Glen’s departure two days later to Portland, Oregon.

With unflinching realism, shot on a shoestring in Nottingham over 16 days, the film follows Russell and Glen hanging out in bars and bedrooms, drinking and taking drugs, telling stories and having sex. Tom Cullen and Chris New perform superbly, with utterly convincing push-pull chemistry, conveying a real sense of the excitement and awkwardness of getting to know someone new. Long takes and static camera shots allow the audience to witness the subtleties of body language, gaps in conversation and unfinished sentences.

Weekend was the final film to be screened as part of LGBT history month programmed alongside films that deal with the big issues affecting the gay community, such as We Were Here and The Times of Harvey Milk. Weekend’s director Andrew Haigh, an adolescent in the 1980’s, says that in a climate that is perceived as more tolerant fresh challenges emerge; “People don’t think the struggles gay people have are worth talking about because everyone’s decided were all equals now. Those struggles are more subtle now. Society is changing but you still have to fit in with a straight world”.

The gap between public and private identity is addressed in the film through the individual struggles Russell and Glen have as gay men living in a straight world. Russell, out to his close friends and not to his colleagues, downplays his sexuality, giving very little away as he attempts to assimilate into straight society. On the other hand Glen constantly challenges what he perceives as the heterosexist “boy meets girl hegemony” and is working on an art project that will bring gay narratives that reflect elements of personal life experience and identity into the public sphere.

Central to the film is the notion that the chance encounter, especially when intimate, opens up the possibility to rethink and redefine who you are, allowing a blank canvas for the self you want to project. Such opportunities ring true for everyone, regardless of perceived gender or sexuality, and for this reason the film has been successful in transcending any gay niche market that it might otherwise have been pigeonholed in.

Weekend is out on Blu-Ray and DVD on the 19th March 2012.

We’re celebrating the launch of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) History Month, 2012 and we’re doing it in style at the Blythswood Square Hotel.

High Tea, Music and Historical Hijinks. Raffle with lots of indulgent prizes.

Read more here

We’ll be blogging on the run up to and throughout February so check back here to see what we’re up to.

We’ll also be inviting guest bloggers to tell us what History Month means to them and let everyone know what they’re doing to mark the occasion. If you’d like to share your History Month musings get in touch!