Video game allows players to shoot gays
Gay groups are outraged over a video game where the object is to shoot gay men before they ‘rape’ the player.
The game, called ‘Watch out behind you, Hunter’ and created by Frenchman Stéphane Aguie, is hosted by a Georgian website called Uzinagaz and was actually launched in 2002.
It is banned in France, but it is not banned in the ex-Soviet country where it is hosted, or in the UK. It involves going through the jungle and shooting any nudists who come out of the bushes. If they are to reach you before you shoot them then they rape you, an act which is shown on the game.
The gay group Gay Armenia said it was “completely disgusted” by the game, adding that it was created by “those religious-minded people in Tbilisi, Georgia… who constantly cite Bible to ‘justify’ their homophobia and hatred.
A post on the gay group’s blog added: “Is this their ‘orthodox’ way of bringing up children by creating an image of an enemy and teaching them how to deal with it?”
The website’s owner, Jean Christophe Calvet, has rebuked claims of prejudice, saying that he “really didn’t understand why the association was attacking us” . He told news site France24.com: “The guy who came up with the game, Stéphane Aguie, wanted to mock hunters and rednecks, not gay men”.
He continued: “Our games are not politically correct. They’re aimed at teenagers and it’s true that they’re of a juvenile humour”.
Mr Calvet said that while the game was removed from French websites after legal action from gay rights groups, it is “impossible to wipe it from all foreign sites too”.
He added: “Incidentally, not everyone in the gay community was supportive of banning the game.
“I realise now that this one in particular could be found shocking, but I believe that you should be able to make this kind of joke in the name of freedom of speech.”
The site has faced backlash for its games before. In 2001 it was criticised by American groups for a game entitled ‘New York Defender’ where the object was to protect the Twin Towers from plane attacks.
Mr Calvet also commented that the site was attacked over its depiction of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front. He took the creators to court after the game involved users throwing axes at his face. He was not the only celebrity depicted in the game, but for him, the axes were changed to swastikas.
He added: “In the end, its all a bit of fun.”
