Bethesda.net mods

According to modder XilaMonstrr, “Two of the five words in LGBTQ are not allowed in mod descriptions or titles on Bethesda.net” and so they penned an in-game Skyrim letter calling on Bethesda to change this for Pride.

“I’m writing to you at the beginning of Pride Month to bring your attention to and demand that you change an outdated and homophobic policy regarding restricted language for mods on Bethesda.net,” XilaMonstrr wrote. “Specifically, the words ‘Lesbian’ and ‘Queer’ are restricted by your terms of service. As marginalized people, the language that we use to identify ourselves and to find each other is extremely important. To deny our usage of this language is to deny our very existence.”

XilaMonstrr claims that Bethesda has begun work on updating and addressing the issue already. But the mod page originally called on others to email complaints and raise awareness of the problem and, going beyond that, XilaMonstrr said that if their mod gets a “significant number of downloads”, they’ll donate any funds to Trans Lifeline, an LGBTQ+ organisation.

Dear Bethesda

“I am a queer lesbian modder,” XilaMonstrr continued. “The policy has directly impacted my ability to release content that speaks to queer people and allies. These mods are aimed at fixing the heterocentricity that Bethesda built into the very foundations of its games and should be supported by Bethesda, not suppressed.

“I demand that this policy of suppression of queer identities be changed immediately—the words lesbian nad queer should be allowed on all mod titles and descriptions.”

Searching Bethesda.net, you’ll find over 2,000 mods for ‘trans’, but zero mods under queer or lesbian, corroborating XilaMonstrr’s claims. However, XilaMonstrr does have a mod under the title ‘Lesbians in Skyrim’, seemingly working out a loophole by adding an ‘s’ to the end. They have several impressive mods throughout their page such as Dwemer motorbikes, gay immersion mods, cats with Daedric armour, and more.

The Dear Bethesda in-game letter was also posted to Bethesda.net and, although Bethesda hasn’t publicly responded, XilaMonstrr says that it is working toward addressing these complaints.