Persona 5 gets LGBT representation very wrong. [Homophobic content is quoted below]

Persona 5 has a single depiction of gay people: they are predators who attack straight youth. This dangerous and familiar trope comes at a time when LGBT worldwide face mounting, violent backlash. The betrayal of the game's themes of (yes) social justice cuts especially deep since Persona 5 has relatively good characterization otherwise and since the portrayal could easily have been avoided.

The predictable apologia for this decision is worth dismantling.

First let's look at the portrayal itself. Persona 5 features exactly two gay men who appear (together) twice. In the first scene the pair encounter our Main Character (MC) and best bud Ryuji in an adult oriented district. Ryuji calls for help as the pair hit on him aggressively, but MC jokes about the situation and abandons his friend who we're left to understand is dragged off against his will. A concerned "Umm... come back alive..." from the game's guide character, Morgana, is followed shortly by a callback to the gag -- Ryuji is not answering his texts.

In the second scene, MC and Ryuji are at the beech. The unnamed gay gay duo appear, say they want to strip the guys naked, and chase both characters (this time MC doesn't abandon Ryuji) off scene. (Yikes, that "Get them!" voice line sounds angry)

The roughly two minutes of gay screen time out of 100 hours of gameplay directly propagates a "violent predator" myth. Fans work hard to rationalize such unjust treatment, which itself is a harm of the design as it normalizes hateful, dangerous propaganda. The Persona 5 subreddit had a discussion full of predictable apologia, exacerbated by the "new" suggested sorting of the subreddit, until ultimately their moderators deleted the original concern (but left up all the awful replies).

    Seriously fuck off to hell you fucking SJW shit suckers. No one cares about your special snowflake feelings.

    I now see why they localize their own games. Because they don't want to deal with some studio telling them "that's too offensive!". Thank fucking god they don't bow down to idiots like you.

    sorry but i dont wan't to get butt fucked. maybe if they did a female persona character and a male persona character it would of been better but tbh, i dont want any yaoi crap in my games.

On to the boring excuses.

1. "... but Persona 5 is kind of mean to straight people too (or everybody)."

    I'm loving the game but if I absolutely had to nitpick about the sexualization of characters in the story it'd have to be with how heterosexuals are represented if anything. ...

    The game seems to go out of its way to remind you that female characters are constantly threatened by heterosexual men; after all that I have a hard time being upset about two unnamed joke characters.

P5's villains represent humanity's worst traits, with main villains working through the 7 Deadly Sins in turn. The first villain (representing Lust) does depict predatory heterosexuality.

This is alongside countless other, healthier presentations. Notably MC can date any of the game's confidants who are women (arbitrarily, none of the men can be dated). Multiple examples of strong parenting are also held up. Even the game's punchline "gentleman" aka niceguy character is a pretty healthy role model. There are no positive gay role models. This reinforces the idea that this depiction fits all gay people.

Unsurprisingly the game seeks to bring its villains to a just end. Never are its other (straight) monsters met with nonchalance, instead MC will frequently say they are "unforgivable" and "cannot be ignored." Villains ultimately face a change of heart, giving them each a short redemption arc and showing some depth. They are given growth instead of one-dimensional villainy. No justice or redemption for the game's gay predators, whom MC actively ignores.

None of those depictions are historical models of oppression either. In contrast the recent backlash against LGBT has included rising violence and crime, increasing attempts to legalize discrimination in the US, and even concentration camps in Chechnya. (Straight, abusive) Gym teachers have no such history of being sent to camps or facing discriminatory legislation, violence. As if written for irony, it's LGBT people who continue to be violently preyed upon.

2. "... but it's Japan."

    Look, there's quite a gap of difference in culture between the west and Japan. You gotta accept that. They view homosexuals in a completely different light. Persona 5 wasn't made with the western public in mind, so Atlus doesn't bother trying to not offend anyone with their jokes.

    The reasoning behind this is cultural differences. Creepy gay men are a popular joke there, and it's not the first time in the series that Atlus has made it. It's a tricky topic each time it comes up. Where does culture stop and universal human rights begin? You see similar disagreements in regards to the way women are supposed to behave in the Middle East.

    It's Japan. This kind of stuff is in all their games and anime with gay people. For them, it's not offensive, but part of their culture, they see it as actually a positive thing for gay culture.

If it were true that this hateful propaganda held more sway in Japanese culture, and that predatory behavior were normalized there, that would be proof of its harm and yet another argument against it, not a defense. It would also be an argument in favor of localization teams making minor changes to their game; these characters could be cut entirely without negative impact.

3. "... but game developers have FREE SPEECH."

    Game developers have the right to do what they want with their game, in order to portray a story.Cut the drama and man up. When I see gay centered stories in movies,books or games I don't go whining about the fact that heterosexuals are misrepresented or kept away from the story.

Their audiences likewise have FREE SPEECH, and are compelled to use it when developers' speech harms minorities (and creates a bad product).

4. "... JK HAHA."

    Who cares. Honestly? It's a gay joke...the horror. Out of all the things to complain about, you choose a couple of gay guys that are in the game for a grand total of less than a minute. The only people who will get offended over this are uptight sjw crybabies.

    I'm trying to find the humor in two guys dragging Ryuji off and trying to rape him?

        Really? I thought it was hilarious, personally.

Oh, well, in that case.