“Our villagers also have queer energy,” Sam told Supermaker, “like Pietro, the sweet gay rainbow clown, and Gayle and Merengue, who we spotted together on a date to the museum once.”įor Polygon, Patricia Hernandez dives into the relationship between characters C.J. Sam,* 26, and Alex*, 26, a couple based in New Jersey, sense queerness in their town, which they share.
In ACNH, the stereotypical, traditionally harsh lines of gender are blurred. It’s not hard to see why: Ditto is an amorphous blob that literally shape-shifts its identity at will, Jynx is arguably the fiercest animated drag queen of all time and Gyarados and Machoke are the muscle daddies that baby gays worldwide never knew they needed.” In a piece for i-D, “gay for play: how video games became a space to virtually explore queerness,” Jake Hall explains this phenomenon, writing: “Animals and fantasy characters have long been embraced by queer gamers, most notably Pokémon.
Instead, it blurs the lines between fiction and reality, bringing anthropomorphized beings into their own tiny digital universes where gender doesn’t play the role it does in our offline contexts. Too, ACNH is notably not a game based in real life, or really even in human life. Because of this, users can grab it and bring it into their personal spaces, rather than in main living spaces, so that they don’t have to worry about people they live with who may be homophobic watching as they decorate their tag with rainbows. The Nintendo Switch can be handheld and played away from prying eyes, and the fact that Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH for short) is playable both hand-held and on television screens. Rainbows are a symbol of pride I get to show off.”Īnimal Crossing: New Horizons is inherently blurring boundaries It’s much safer to cover my fictional video game island in rainbows and gayness than to do it in my real life. “I have a pride flag as my town flag, and all of my flowers on paths and in gardens are organized into rainbows,” shares Morgan, 23, a social worker based in Michigan. And I’m far from the only one turning their island into a queer haven. But my island, Honey, is openly and vividly queer: I regularly gift Marshal, my favorite villager (who for sure has strong femme energy) lacy tank tops I’ve decided that Isabelle is gay and that her television-watching is limited to The L Word reruns I buy into the idea that Tom Nook and Redd are going through a gay divorce I mentally assign all of my soft, “sister” villagers lesbian cottage-core vibes by planting little gardens outside of their homes and gifting them dried flowers to hang by their windows. But in the real world, I haven’t had a pride flag displayed in my own living space since I moved from Southern California to North Carolina in 2016 it just doesn’t safe to hang it from my balcony or even leave in my bedroom. In the Animal Crossing universe, both my sister and I have pride flags flying on our islands (we’re both queer). Now, my girlfriend and I share an island, and our houses are side by side with a shared backyard: My vibrant home is surrounded by plants, flowers, and garden rocks, while hers is nice and neat, complete with a barbecue and a basketball hoop. Released this spring, the new Animal Crossing series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, has become a safe space for players to publicly display queerness. Source: ctvnews.ca Source: Source: ĭo your part and support the right cause.I’ve been playing Animal Crossing since I stumbled upon it at a Blockbuster when I was in middle school, and have adored it since. Source: Source: Source: 10. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family, join the others in support of the Pride parade in Toronto. People hit the streets of Dublin in large numbers to support the Gay Pride march. Enthusiastic people come out in support of the rainbow colours in Amsterdam. Marchers fill the streets of San Francisco in support of the Gay Pride month. People come out in support of the LGBTQ community in Delhi, India during Gay Pride month. People gather in large numbers to support the Gay Pride March in Rio De Janerio. People carry the rainbow flag and show support during the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade in Sydney. Here is a glimpse of the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride event held in Shibuya. Marchers hit the streets in large numbers, in Australia, to celebrate Gay Pride Month. Here is a glimpse of how New York City celebrates Gay Pride month in a big way.