Mass Effect 3 goes gay: Lesbian and gay sex scenes spark debate

BioWare released the third installment of the action role-playing game series Mass Effect on March 6. And this time around, there's an option to play gay or lesbian characters.

But not everyone's happy about it.

Like the world of sports, the gaming world has been slow and resistant to addressing homophobia or including gay content. Early efforts to include gay characters have often been deemed stereotypical or derogatory but there have been experimental efforts made to try and change that.

Now there's Mass Effect 3, which offers players the chance to play lead characters involved in same-sex relationships.

This scene depicts Commander Shepard in a physical intimate relationship with crewmember Cortez.

This scene portrays Shepard getting it on with human Sentinel Kaidan Alenko.

In this scene, specialist Samantha Traynor seduces FemShep (the female version of Commander Shepard) in the shower.

Explicit sexual acts aren't actually shown but same-sex flirtation, physical intimacy, and kissing are depicted.

In spite of some positive response, a backlash of negative and homophobic comments have been posted on several websites, particularly in response to the gay Commander Shepard video.

But as is the case whenever taboos are broached, there's bound to be resistance. The question is how this will affect any future developments in the gaming industry.

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig. You can also follow the Straight's LGBT coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/StraightLGBT.