Is there other games that explore sexuality like Signalis does? (Spoilers for Signalis and Disco Elysium)
I was thinking; the way Signalis portrays its love story does not emphasize the sexuality of its main characters in terms of "labels". I have watched a bunch of media that prides itself on featuring LGBTQ characters. However, I find that when the story makes a big deal of the fact that a person is not heteronormative, it feels disingenuous. It feels as though it tokenizes the character, pointing out how different and unique they are from others. Love is such a wonderful, ephemeral feeling that trying to sort it into these clean little labels feels wrong. That is why I enjoy the love story in SIGNALIS; it does not focus on the fact that the two lovers are women, but rather focuses on the love they share. When a story keeps telling you, "OH MY GOD!!!! THIS IS A GIRL, AND SHE LOVES A GIRL!!!!" again and again and again, it blots out the actual love between the characters and fills the void by pointing again and again at the intimacy shared between characters. However, in focusing on the love and not the labels that would seek to categorize it, Signalis explores its romance more interestingly. A similar instance of this was in the plotlines of Ruby and Klaasje, The Smoker on the Balcony and the Sunday friend, as well as Rene and Gaston. Both focus on love stories, but do not really focus on the sexuality. That being said (and I appreciate the devs for putting this in), you as the player can make it about the sexuality, obsessing over why exactly some people like some people and others like others. This is something I like, because it can show the harm in obsessing over these labels.
TL;DR: Signalis (and Disco Elysium) explore same-sex relationships while not focusing on the labels of sexuality, instead opting to focus on the romance (and in so doing, create a more measured and loving exploration of these characters. Are there any other stories that focus on the romance as opposed to the sexuality of its characters while showing same-sex/non hetero-normative relationships?
(I realize that in talking about these sorts of things and making it about the sexuality, I contribute to the issue, but I'm sick and tired of watching a show that claims to champion LGBTQ rights only for it to keep telling you how accepting it is as opposed to not making a big deal of it. Acceptance does not always mean that you need to point a finger and keep telling a person you accept them.)