Electronic Arts (EA), the video company that created the popular simulation game The Sims 4, released a new update allowing players to include top surgery scars in their characters and let them wear chest binders, shapewear, and medical wearables.
A base game update is here with new content including medical wearables, binders, shapewear, a light switch & more including bug fixes & console gameplay improvements
Read more about today’s update in the latest patch notes! https://t.co/4c4vZdfWBY pic.twitter.com/GYbQYijIIm— The Sims (@TheSims) January 31, 2023
LGBTQIA+ fans of the famous game rejoiced at the announcement since the new features and updates would allow them to play the game based on their life experiences. But not everyone was pleased with the addition, with religious radicals even claiming that it could bring a total apocalypse.
Christian fundamentalist and anti-LGBTQIA+ group American Family Association (AFA) released a statement condemning the Sims game for the update. To them, the new trans-inclusive features would “promote an anti-biblical worldview of creation and reality” and urged its followers to denounce the game “for the sake of our very souls.”
According to the organization’s executive vice president, Ed Vitagliano, gender-affirmation surgery is a “new expression of ancient paganism in its everlasting war against absolute truth and decency.”
Vitagliano aired his concerns and added: “We continue to warn parents that our culture is not a place of moral neutrality.”
“The false prophets of sexual anarchy and gender confusion are modern-day manifestations of Ahab and Jezebel –– determined to lead the nation in rebellion against God and His word,” Vitagliano argued.
“The Bible says we should choose this day whom we will serve. For the sake of our very souls, we should be resolute in our faithfulness to Jesus Christ,” he added.
The group also attempted to spread misinformation when AFA claimed in their statement that there is a “growing outcry from those who regret transitioning,” even though evidence suggests that de-transition rates are low.
This is not the first time the AFA took issue with anything related to the LGBTQIA+ community in the entertainment industry, saying that Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s performance at the 2023 Grammy’s brought “debauchery and Satanic worship” to the world.
The AFA has been notorious for spreading propaganda against the LGBTQIA+ community and COVID misinformation. They have been labeled as anti-LGBTQIA+ by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Although the new trans-inclusive features bring joy to many Sims fans, the video game has always been known for pioneering LGBTQIA+ representation since it was first released in the early 2000s.
