GTA 5 and Transphobia: Exploring Rockstars Troubling Imagery

It's not a huge part of the game, or even an essential part of the story. But within the adolescent gags of Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA5) lies enormous issues with transphobia.  It's been a year since the release of the original, and as the re-release on Xbox One and PS4 approaches, it’s worth exposing these tropes as the game reaches its second wave audience. 

As one would expect from Rockstar's open-world crime simulator, the series is certainly no stranger to stereotypes, from depictions of gangs to various  ethnicities; as it’s been said in the past, GTA is an "equal opportunity offender". That being said, I haven't seen something quite as distressing as GTA5 in a while.

Trigger Warning: transphobia-related imagery and language.

Let’s begin by taking a look at the most noticeable imagery, one that players are most likely to encounter during their escapades in Los Santos -- the logos and slogans seen on the sides of delivery trucks across the game world. 

While this may be the most frequent and visible example of transphobic "humour" seen throughout Grand Theft Auto 5, it's also the most subtle. We can see that the truck’s logos are facsimiles of the UPS logo - a similar shape, font, colour scheme, etc. However upon closer inspection we can see that the name of the delivery service is "Post Op" - an obvious reference to the term used to describe people after certain surgeries; in particular, it's also closely associated with trans people. 

 

However, that isn't where the majority of the bile lies. A larger problem lies in the Slogans. There are two, as you can see: "Your package is safe in our hands" and "No Longer Just Mail". It's obvious that these are meant to be puns, playing off the fact that many gender nonconforming individuals go through painful operations to alter their body to reflect their gender identity. However, while the puns may seem clever to some, they reveal their ignorance of the procedure  and the people that choose to have it. Not only do they reflect the casual assumption that gender confirmation surgery is primarily a  MtF (Male to Female) experience, they also dangerously ignore the fact that not everyone that undergoes the operation is MtF. Despite the fact that transgender awareness is increasing, awareness of FtM (Female to Male) individuals is still quite low; and that’s not mentioning the many intersex, genderqueer, non-binary and asexual people who may choose to undergo this surgery, which doesn’t just include what is typically perceived (as it is here) as "male" genitalia.

This illustrates the greater problem of their casual transphobia - they link the idea of having penises to being male. While it’s true that many trans women choose to undergo the operation to change their genitalia, many don't. After all, it's not genitals that decide what gender a person is. The idea that the definition of gender is limited to genitalia is an outdated belief, and one that even in 2013, when this game was first released, was wrong.

Another piece of transphobic imagery in the game is the sign pictured above, which can be seen on the window of "Pitcher's", Los Santos' local gay bar. To be blunt, it is one of the most shocking and blatantly disgusting examples in the entire game. It serves no purpose outside of using a slur for the sake of using a slur, and I doubt we'd see similar words of hate against other marginalized groups openly plastered on buildings in an unchallenged context. Another factor to consider is that even within the LGBT community, transgender people have faced discrimination. most recently, drag queen RuPaul was criticised for his use of the term "Tr***y" on his show, RuPaul's Drag Race, a criticism that garnered widespread acclaim. However, as the event took place in 2014 and not when GTAV was still in development,it's safe to assume that the developers were unaware of the terms widespread acceptability within the LGBT community, and thus was still the use of a slur for the sake of using one.

The harmful stereotypes are not limited to the writing. Above is the the most abhorrent transphobic imagery seen within Grand Theft Auto V, going beyond simply "poking fun" at transgender people. It specifically sets out to mock trans women based on their appearance, from skimpy clothing, visible underwear bulges (in the shot above, showing through a skirt), flamboyancy (note the  shoulder pauldrons), and excessive makeup. Some models even have very obvious facial hair. The player character can interact with them, too, often relaying transphobic dialogue. While this can somewhat be expected, perhaps as a characteristic of criminals, the trans women’s lines include  "I Just wish he’d let me untuck more… I dunno if I wanna lose it forever, and he needs to understand that!", driving the hateful point home.

It is difficult to emphasize just how dangerous this is for trans women. Transgender people across the world face a disproportionately high rate of murder and assault and suicide. Deliberately misgendered representations are incredibly toxic and place stigmatizing pressure and emphasis on “passing”. There is absolutely no humour to be found in specifically mocking a marginalised group based on appearance, especially when it so frequently results in death. Trans women face enough problems in their life, from depression to dysphoria to diminished quality of life, without the fire being fed for the sake of a laugh.

As I’ve called attention to this issue, the reactions I've seen from the games community have been extremely disappointing. t Most commonly brought up is the idea that GTA "mocks everyone equally", that no group of individuals escapes their wrath. While yes, GTA is known for its satire amongst different groups of people, there's a difference between satire and outright attacking people. It’s not “equal opportunity mocking” when some will suffer no social repercussions from a casual joke, while others may lose their lives. It’ s not “satire”  if it lacks criticism, it’s not “humor” when harmful power structures are reinforced. Rockstar should be ashamed.

And it isn't just the transphobia people have lashed out about. Carolyn Petit, previously of Gamespot, mentioned in her 2013 review of GTA5 the numerous examples of sexism she found within the game. Despite giving the game a 9 out of ten, a near perfect, she received misogynistic and transphobic harassment and even a petition to get her fired because of the review. It’s no longer “just a game” when attitudes reflected in-game mirror real-world persecution. It is important that we do not relent in bringing up issues of racism or transphobia or sexism, if we're to prove to the community that these issues have to go. And not just within the gamer community, but within the press. It's important that we take GTA5 to task not just on the socially progressive blogs who take an interest in social issues,, but on other sites too. After all, it's not just transphobia that GTA contains - critics have been attacked for discussing racism and sexism within the game too. If the community as a whole is to ever improve, Triple A games like this need to be taken to task for their content.