Moira, in my opinion.
D.va! Her palette is the trans flag 
Mercy would also be a lovely choice.
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As much as I think this stuff should be kept out of the games and such (as well as religion, etc.) I see no problem having a discussion on the possible “What ifs?” So, on that note:
I kinda hope they leave Zarya and Moira as straight women for the sole reason of defying stereotypes.
Masculine / non-girly straight women exist. And I admit I’m a bit personally biased here (as I’m one of them XP), but that’s not the main reason; I think it’d be a bit of a lazy cop out to use those two.
Soldier’s reveal seemed kinda random to me, but I at least like that it wasn’t derived from stereotypes. If the goal of the LGBT community is to normalize this type of thing in society, then making sexuality have nothing to do with personality or body type, or particular quirks, etc is the way to go.
It sets the notion that “anyone can be gay,” and not just flamboyant cross dressing men or muscular tomboy girls (as has been the case in media since the 90s).
TL:DR: If you’re gonna do it, Blizzard, at least break stereotypes and don’t be lazy about it.
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That’s not really effective foreshadowing.
Foreshadowing is like hinting at a character changing allegiance.
Not showing a incredibly not specific picture and then years later confirming that they are lovers.
Also, you should not have to “foreshadow” someone’s romantic life, and if you do, it should NOT TAKE YOU 2 YEARS TO GET TO IT.
But all that is besides the point.
The thing is, butch lesbians are not commonly depicted as far as fiction goes. Nor are feminine gay men.
The only feminine gay fictional character I can think of is Iceman from X-men, and I cannot think of any explicitly butch lesbian fictional characters outside of OITNB, but they are based on real people, I think.
Like, its almost become a reversal, where creative culture has largely ignored members of the LGBT community because otherwise they would be seen as stereotypes.
Like, you are right, but the fact is that most lesbian/gay characters are not designed as stereotypes.
Pretty much exactly. Actually be brave, not some cop-out.
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True. Bit off topic, but In case you’re interested, Magnus Bane from the Shadowhunters series is probably the most badass flamboyant gay character ever created. XD You should check it out if you’re looking for something like that.
I don’t know how the TV series depicted him - never bothered to watch it. But he was my favorite character in the books.
I was surprised someone actually managed to write a character like that successfully without making it feel really forced. I mean, I guess his sexuality “is” kinda thrown in our face throughout the series, but the character is so freaking funny and awesome that you just don’t care. lol And there was far more to him than “token gay guy.”
So it can be done, but … yeah, I guess most authors / directors / etc just don’t want to risk breaking the mold.
It took that long because of the pace of releases, not pace of the lore.
Foreshadowing can be applied to any important information about a character. His relationship is important to understanding his character.
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Ive always thought of genji as trans. The whole “accepting of his body” journey kinda reflects a lot of trans people’s experiences. Yes he was said to be a “womanizer” in his youth, what if he just thought he was a lesbian? But yeah
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The issue there is Magnus he is not gay, he’s bi. Flamboyant bi men are probably the most common depiction of bi men.
That or psychopaths. Or flamboyant psychopath.
Like, he’s a good character, but effectively he’s the “free love” bi trope, which is hardly rare.
True, but the way this was done was very poorly. Also, it feels like they choose Jack specifically because they could avoid depicting a actual relationship, unlike pretty much any of the other male cast members.
Sure. I’m not arguing that they couldn’t have done a better job. Altough I feel a lot of that comes from how slowly we get releases moreso than the pacing of that particular story. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a reason they chose him.
I am only saying it was not sudden and they didn’t turn him gay. It was hinted from the beginning.
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Moria is trans
Zarya obvious choice
I dont want Zarya or Moira to be straight, though, mainly because especially with Moira she just exudes lesbian energy.
Furthermore, its not a matter of “leaving” characters straight, its a matter of leaving them as blank slates. As they are they could be anything, they’ve never been confirmed one way or the other. The only characters with confirmed sexualities are 76 and tracer. Even torb could still be bi and into men as much as he’s into women.
the issue is with this world view is that its ignoring a few different variables, the first of which is signaling to other gay people, the second is how straight people have portrayed us. I’ll start with the heavier topic.
Queer coding, ie flamboyant cross dressing men and muscular tomboy girls do have some historical place in media, you’re right. And it goes further back since the 90s. However, one has to recall the Hays code, which was essentially the film moral guidelines that were put in place…i think the 60s? A lot of films still follow them. They said it was OK to display this sort of “behavior” as long as it was portrayed as immoral, evil, and they were punished for it. Its why gay men (especially flamboyant or ‘cross-dressing’ gay men) in films are usually villains, and even in romance films they’re portrayed as much older men with younger men or other ‘bad’ relationships. It’s also the historical basis for the “bury your gays” trope. Gays don’t “deserve” happy endings, they “need” explicitly sad ‘just’ ones according the Hays Code.
What’s also key is to note how many of them actually ever did truly ‘gay’ things…or if they were just insinuated based off how they acted. Did they ever kiss men or did they ever say they liked men, or did we as the audience pick it up from the stereotyping/queer-coding?
Then there’s part 2. Signaling. Any gay person who’s ever been closeted can tell you its a pain in the butt to find other gay people. Any gay person who’s older than 21 can tell you how hard it can be growing up or living as an adult in a time where being gay was immoral, evil, shameful. Adults older than 21 grew up when dont ask dont tell was big, and those older than 25, 30 years old grew up after DOMA.
So how do gay people find each other? Through signaling. Sometimes its something innocuous like fashion choice or hair style, other times its coded like a handkerchief in the back pocket for gay men. When you can’t just ask every person you meet in public if theyre gay, its important to have some ability to see other gay people in public. It doesn’t always work ofc, and that’s naturally because “gay-dar” doesn’t exist. However gay-dar does have some basis in real life. How well versed someone is in picking up any potential signals someone else is putting out, and what symbols they’re using, is key.
So tl;dr ‘stereotypes’ are things like flamboyant gay man is evil and preys on young boys, or masculine butch woman hates men and is a predator to women. being flamboyant and being butch by themselves are ways that gay people have learned to signal to other gay people that they are gay in a world where being gay has been illegal and dangerous for a very long time, and are now a way to express that in a proud way that in spite of all the nonsense we’ve gone through we’re still here.
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Which is why Zarya and Moira won’t be trans. Especially not Zarya.
It’s too early for my mind to be that blown from all the stuff in that post. XD But honestly, thank you for that information. I never thought about or even knew about some of those things.
And this is why I like reading these topics - to find hidden viewpoints that I hadn’t considered before.
If I might poke your brain a bit more, though, I have a couple of questions:
Would those things logically still exist in OW’s time? I’m not trying to argue against Zarya / Moira being gay btw. I’m just wondering if like … that type of thing would be phased out by that time? I mean I noticed Tracer has the earrings in the one ear (that was a common gay signal at one time, if I recall), but I wonder if that would be needed in that day and age when it’s more accepted? Or if the writers just did that as kind of a hint or a homage to current gay culture?
Really? She actually strikes me as more asexual, if I had to guess. Can I ask what makes you feel that way? Again, not arguing, just curious.
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Of course, no need to worry about offending me, youre being very respectful buddy. I’m glad this information is interesting!
I dont know if they’d exist out of necessity, but I do think that people in general enjoy both celebrating things and sometimes they’re just cute callbacks. Look at Butch/femme fashion- originally a specific moment in history that continues to echo in lesbian fashion. It’s very lovely to remember things we’ve done in the past and to celebrate them in the modern day. It could also definitely be a homage to current gay culture too!
I suppose in Moira’s case it’s because I as a lesbian just really think she’s neat, partly. then there’s her very butch style, the short hair and suit and tie look… that all reads to me as butch woman style. there’s also the fact that being ace doesn’t mean you cant be a lesbian. While I personally think Moira isnt ace, you can not want sex or be interested and still be attracted to people.
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High key wish for an aroace character so that people recognize the ace identity instead of saying “well they’re actually gay, really”. I know what you mean, but it’s such a pet peeve of mine.
completely, i absolutely respect and support my ace and aro ace buds. I just dont want moira to be aroace because it seems like such a copout to make a woman men consider unattractive asexual and therefore non-sexual. Gimme my butch lesbian blizz, I wanna see her in a suit.
I do wish that there were more #confirmed characters LGBTQ+ characters in general so that we didn’t have to squabble for scraps with each other. Additionally, excuse me if I’m wrong here or being irritating about it, but technically aren’t they gay ? if they’re wlw and asexual they’re still ace, they just have romantic attraction to women and therefore they’re still gay. It’d be as bad to write off their asexuality as it would be to mke tracer or jack bisexual. Then again, i also know that ace identities struggle because of exclusion in the community and lack of recognition outside of it, same with NB identities. On the other hand, it’s like how NB people want a person with they/them pronouns, not another robot.
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Oh yeah. technically speaking we already have 2 gnc characters who would be considered NB. Unfortunately, neither are humans. Lynx 17 uses they/them, and Bastion uses it/its pronouns.
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It depends on how they want to identify. I just don’t like it when asexuality is dismissed as some sort of sub label. I personally would not call myself gay based on my dating preference if I have no sexual attraction to anyone. So I feel like this label (to me!) is more important. Other people can identify as they want, but it’d be neat to have a character who is ace first and foremost, without anyone being able to conveniently forget about it.
Respectable. It has to be annoying as hell to have folks forgetting about your sexuality, I imagine. two of my closest best friends have been ace and one of them is aroace, so I’ve discussed things, but ofc as a lesbian Idk everything.