Woo!

Are there any Hard Gay fans out there?



If you don't know Hard Gay is a Japanese sketch show character. He is a parody of gay people, overly flamboyant, and just pretty goofy. You can check out a lot of his skits on YouTube (I have one such sketch above).

He is a somewhat controversial figure. Naturally he is so over the top the gay community in Japan feels he is demeaning to homosexuals. No surprise Japan’s homosexual community is very concerned about discrimination. I don’t know how receptive the Japanese culture is to these folks, so I can’t really comment.

I do know he has a big enough fan base that Nintendo thinks he will help sell games. He recently made an appearance in “Tingles Magic Rupeeland” building a bridge. Hard Gay joins the ranks of characters with alternate sexual preferences. Of course many of us know about Birdo, the transgendered dinosaur, and there is of course speculation on Daisy, the tomboyish “friend” to Peach.

Now, Nintendo is not so cavalier as to have these characters appear in the "Girls of Gaming" magazines that frequent the IGN channels, but I think there is a touch of bravado in putting characters like Hard Gay and Birdo (who in a recent game was confirmed as being transgendered) in these games; I think its all about Nintendo's strategy to appeal to everyone, kids and adults.

Check out Hard Gay's wiki