LGBT Media Personalities in Grand Theft Auto IV

There are several media personalities in Grand Theft Auto IV who are implicitly represented as LGBT characters.

Marcel LeMuir is a co-host of the in-game radio show Fizz! and is noted for being “fat, gay, and bitchy!” He is voiced by former radio personality Fez Whatley, who publicly announced that he is gay in 2012 following years of playing what he felt were overly flamboyant character on radio shows. A video with this show is available here (video description includes a link to the correct time stamp).

Jeremy St. Ives appears on the television show The Men’s Room. His LCPD database record indicates he was arrested playing a naked game of Ultimate Disk with 11 other men (it also indicates he has been arrested for hiring sex workers, but the sex workers’ genders are not mentioned). Wiki authors describe him as passive and effeminate, and he makes several references implying he is homosexual. A video of one episode of the Men’s Room is available here (content warning: extreme references to violence, transphobia, and domestic violence). A commercial for the game narrated by St. Ives appears below.

Rick Bastion’s Show is a conservative radio show featuring a large amount of homophobic, transphobic, racist, and ableist content. Bastion accuses Jeremy St. Ives (see above) of “filling women’s heads with all these irrational expectations about masculinity!” Wiki authors and some of the show dialogue imply that Bastion is a closeted homosexual or bisexual man. The full recording of the show is available here.

Lisa Lynn is a secondary character on The Martin Serious Show. She is described by Martin as a “Black transvestite” (see this video around 1:45), a but might be more accurately described as a trans woman.

LGBTQ references in this game series:

Grand Theft Auto (1997): El Burro

Grand Theft Auto II (1999): Tetsuo

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 (1999): Pretty Charlie

Grand Theft Auto III (2001): Gay Pedestrian; LGBTQ References

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002): The Psycho; LGBTQ References

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004): LGBTQ References; LGB Characters; Queens; OG Loc Mission

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005): Kazuki Kasen; LGBTQ References

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006): Reni Wassulmaier; LGBTQ References

Grand Theft Auto IV (2008): Brucie Kibbutz; Tom “French Tom” Rivas; Bernie Crane/Florian Cravic; Bryce Dawkins; LGB Love-meet.net users; Elizabeta Torres; Talbot Daniels; Marcus; The Hater; Eddie Low;  Unnamed Homosexual NPCs; LGBT NPCs in LCPD Database; LGBT Media Personalities; LGBTQ References 

Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned (2009): Trans Man

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (2010): Anthony “Gay Tony” Prince; Clay “Pain Giver” Jackson; Jacob; The Celebinator; Evan Moss; LGBTQ References

Grand Theft Auto V (2013): Trevor Philips; Peter Dreyfuss; Transgender Sex Workers; Locations; LGBTQ References

Citations: 

  1. GamerSpawn. (2009, November 30). Grand Theft Auto IV- Commercial with Jeremy St. Ives. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muHKSEbwQIw
  2. Jeremy St. Ives. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Jeremy_St._Ives
  3. Jeremy St. Ives. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Jeremy_St._Ives
  4. Lisa Lynn. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Lisa_Lynn
  5. Marcel LeMuir. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://misc.thefullwiki.org/Marcel_LeMuir
  6. Marcel LeMuir. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Marcel_LeMuir
  7. Marcel LeMuir. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Marcel_LeMuir
  8. MrZomgkitteh. (2011, July 7). GTA tbogt wktt the martin serious show part 1. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bk4n6vPdfo
  9. Fez Whatley. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fez_Whatley
  10. Rick Bastion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_Bastion
  11. Rick Bastion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Richard_Bastion
  12. Superblaq. (2011, February 26). The Men’s Room with Bas and Jeremy. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BVxq0FNzLQ
  13. The Martin Serious Show. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Martin_Serious_Show&redirect=no
  14. The Martin Serious Show. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Martin_Serious_Show
  15. The Rick Bastion Show. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Richard_Bastion_Show
  16. The Rick Bastion Show. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/The_Richard_Bastion_Show
  17. Wealthhand Abundance. (2012, June 26). All GTA Talk Stations Ever! Every Grand Theft Auto Talk Radio. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlxkG-rkdS4
  18. Working on new stuff. (2011, April 11). GTA IV: Richard bastion Show. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH-CHjmR4ss