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The issues of representation in the LGBTQ+ wargaming community have been stirring for years, but recent events, especially including a certain paragraph in Games Workshop’s Horus Heresy book, have brought them to a head.
We wanted to take a deep dive into LGBTQ+ wargaming issues, so this week I’m interviewing several members of that community.
Today, we’re interviewing Birdmarine Corva (@cheekyraveness) on Twitter and who is a queer, pansexual white woman. Pronouns are she/they.
How Did You Get Into the Wargaming Hobby?
I am going to preface my tale with a small funny story before I actually answer the question. When I was a freshman in high school, I used to be obsessed with Star Wars. Some friends of mine were talking about some other sci-fi universe with “Orks” and “Space Marines” and “The Emperor”. I laugh everytime I think about how I used to debate how a Jedi would defeat a Space Marine with my other friend. Oh, how I was wrong…
Now, it wasn’t until my senior year in high school that my now-ex and his friends got me interested in Warhammer 40k through exposure and many nights spent talking about lore on Ventrilo. Once I played through Dawn of War, I fell further down the rabbit hole. As I was a meme-loving teen, I found funny YouTube videos by a user named Alfabusa because of the Dawn of War game series. Once he opened up a fan community on Steam in early 2012, I joined up and was further indoctrinated captivated by 40K. Meanwhile, my ex was responsible for getting me into painting minis. I haven’t painted minis in a while, but I just stripped some Chaos Astartes. I also am thinking about redoing my Loyalist Astartes’ color scheme from Blood Ravens to my own chapter named The Azure Wings.
The Horus Heresy Statement
The Wargame Explorer: I want to talk about the recent Horus Heresy statement that Space Marines need “The hormonal and biological make-up of the human male”. What message do you think this sends to the community? How did you feel when you read it?
This statement infuriated me. It is a slap in the face to people who want more representation in the hobby. Not only that, but the statement reeks of sexism, misogyny, and transphobia. I do not feel like I should have to be herded towards the Sisters of Battle or the Astra Militarum for female representation, which many in the fandom have repeatedly done when I complained about the lack of support for female Space Marines. What if I don’t want to play the Eldar or the Dark Eldar either? Even if there are female models in 40K, some are sexualized to a point where I am not comfortable with the implication that female models are purely for the male gaze. To be fair, they were even more sexualized in the past than they are now. Furthermore, some female models are hard to acquire, and are often a limited time item.
The requirement that only males can take the geneseed due to hormonal and biological makeup is rendered redundant when you have the existence of everyday transgender individuals who take hormones to change their gender despite what biology says. Secondly, there are intersex conditions that naturally occur. Sex does not always translate neatly to gender either. The ‘XY’ theory of the geneseed is also bunk when in real life, your body can take a transplant from a cisgender male and not reject it. When you have a statement that gatekeeps women from your posterboy faction, it also sends a message that women and other gender minorities are not welcome. It also repeats a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) or Gender Critical talking point that your biological sex matters more than what gender you are in determination of who you are as a person. I have spent around a decade in this community and it can be a lonely experience when you are a feminist. You often have to dance around many subjects and it is very uncomfortable. The ‘boys-only’ nature of Warhammer 40K can be felt both at the gaming table and in the hobby. Finally, let’s talk about how sexist it is to say that women are weaker, therefore they would not be as effective as a soldier in an elite fighting force. If strength can be modified by the geneseed, then that point is rendered moot. I would love to say more, but my answer would become a thesis paper at this point.
Female Space Marines
The Wargame Explorer: We have long heard talk about better representation within the Space Marines. Why do you think we see female Stormcast Eternals and female Imperial Guard and female Leagues of Votann, but no female Space Marines?
I truly think there are a couple of reasons for this. For one, I think it was negligent oversight on the part of Games Workshop to not catch this grievous insult in the Horus Heresy core rulebook. Negligence does not absolve a company from compliance in discriminatory behavior. Two, I do believe there are writers within the company who are actively gatekeeping. After all, what person would be interested in the ideal of giant, genetically power-armored transhumans? According to the writers of the Horus Heresy rulebook: cisgender males.
Warhammer Is For Everyone
The Wargame Explorer: Games Workshop has famously said “Warhammer is for everyone”. Do you think that Games Workshop is being sincere, or is it a marketing message?
Never trust companies who make millions to truly care for diversity. It is a marketing message, so there will undoubtedly be negligence to follow through on their own statement. However, if enough of us make some good trouble, we can influence the company as a whole. There are good people inside a company who do care, but those people are often outgunned and dismissed by those who hold power and authority to make decisions. Now if the people who consume Games Workshop’s products say that the hobby is for everyone, then that is a different matter altogether. That is activism at work.
What Makes You Pessimistic About the Wargaming Hobby?
I want to address the elephant in the room. Warhammer 40k has attracted Nazis and White Supremacists to the hobby. Their outdated ideas about sexual diversity, gender roles, race, and ethnicity are antithetical to the noble idea that Warhammer is for everyone. Sometimes I do not have the energy to fight these people for space in something I enjoy. I am tired of the lack of support for something that could be fixed with an amended statement, and would promote ideas like the freedom to choose what heads you use to create your minis from the sprues in the box. Diversity does not dilute the fact that the setting of Warhammer 40k is grimdark and dire. Variety is the spice of life. If you do not want female and gender minorities to exist in your own chapter, then that is your choice. However, do not enforce your standards on my own army.
What Makes You Optimistic About the Wargaming Hobby?
For all of the muck we wade through, there are bright spots in the community. The fact we have as many voices speaking about how inane the statement in the Horus Heresy rulebook shows me that something is changing within the hobby. I have never seen so many voices cry out for something like this in my ten years within the community. I pioneered my own female Space Marine character, often to the chagrin of others, when I did 40k community roleplay. The criticism and lashback I would get was something very hard to experience. Luckily, I am a stubborn and resilient woman. It feels amazing to not be the only one in this community who is tired of the status quo. I cannot speak enough praise to the many out there who are absolutely kind and genuine to other hobbyists. The activists in the Warhammer community are also fantastic people who are trying to create a space that is inclusive for everyone. This really promotes a community that is welcome to all and cares about you as an individual.
What Message Would You Send to Games Workshop?
It is unacceptable that there are no female Space Marines. In fact, they used to exist. However the model quality at the time was not as good as they are today. The female models were not as popular and they were discontinued. As one insider at Games Workshop had mentioned: it was a matter of profitability and the retcon of the lore happened to explain the sudden loss of female Space Marines. You do not have to make a separate model and sexualize female Space Marines. All you need to do is add some heads to a sprue. The genetic process would turn them into living weapons. With the addition of Primaris marines, it is a great time to introduce female Space Marines. The Imperium of Mankind is in dire straits. If I were Cawl, I would be eyeing a way to take from the other half of the Imperium’s population and increase production yield. Things are getting desperate.
Secondly, what the writers of the Horus Heresy rulebook said about Space Marines is wrong. It is sexist, transphobic, and misogynistic. The sentence that I have a problem with has language that many use to denounce gender minorities, especially those who are transgender and/or non-binary. It also implies that women are the ‘weaker sex’ and thus, cannot be as effective nor as powerful in battle as those who are cisgender males. Please fix this and add sensitivity readers. With all the technology in the galaxy, hormones, and Cawl, there is no logical reason why you should exclude female Space Marines. Gender discrimination persists and you should be actively taking a stand against it.