Male gamers preferring straight male protagonists isn’t automatically misogynistic or homophobic

As a brown gamer, I personally prefer playing straight male protagonists. I enjoy those straight male characters because they’re portrayed as badass, straight and masculine heroes with interesting stories and relationships. It’s just a preference in the type of character I like to play. In my own gaming experience, most of the protagonists I’ve played have been white males (around 85%), followed by non-white males (about 13%) and a small percentage of female protagonists (around 2%).

I played games with male protagonists for 8 years before I tried my first female-led game called Tomb Raider in 2017. I enjoyed playing it with Lara Croft but my general preference still leans toward male protagonists.

At the end of the day, gamers should be allowed to have preferences. Just like some people prefer female protagonists or L-G-B-T protagonists, others prefer male protagonists. Having that preference doesn’t automatically make someone a bigot.