In Grand Theft Auto V, an advertisement for Pump Buddy Magazine, a bodybuilding magazine, near the Muscle Sands Gym, has been altered to read “Bum Buddy” (a crude reference to male homosexuality).

The Los Santos Benders are a professional soccer team in GTA V. Their name may be a reference to the British slang term for homosexuals.

There is a video game featured in radio commercials in GTA V called Pride not Prejudice. It is a first-person shooter set in the Deep South. One commercial advertises the game by saying “Save the South against liberals and land prospectors and out homosexuals.” The full video of this commercial appears below.

The Lifeinvader social networking service and accompanying tablet and smart phone have the tag line “it is time to dock.” This is meant, according to wiki authors, to be a reference to the homosexual sex act of “docking,” an assumption strengthened by the table ad’s imagery . This video also features an image meme with the phrase “tranny pig is watching you poop.”

There is a “random event” that players can encounter near the RON Alternates Wind Farm, where two men are having sex inside a Journey (an RV). A video of that scene is available here (content warning: violence).

Kung Fu Rainbow Lazerforce is a animated TV show in GTA V, which features a team of Power Ranger-esque ultra conservative teens who fight for “family values,” including homophobia. The team’s mentor, “Mr. Hitzman,” is coded as a closeted gay man, and the “tomboy” of the team, Zoey, is coded as a closeted lesbian. One of the show’s episodes is available here. In contrast, the other in-game animated TV show Impotent Rage offers a parody of liberal politics. The game’s titular character is represented as hypocritical and easily angered. In the episode “Super Proletariat Party People,” he starts off fighting for union protesters outside of a factory. However, when he misunderstands the factory owners’ and protesters’ use of the term “fracking” (thinking the protesters are saying the owners should not be homosexual), he turns on the protesters. That video can be viewed here.

On the in-game reality talent show Fame or Shame, one of the competing dance troupes is called “She Male Bop.” They are only mentioned briefly on the show, but this site has collected additional shots of the in-game website’s transphobic descriptions of the group.

The Vinewood Star Tour takes players on a bus tour past celebrity homes and landmarks in the Vinewood and Richman areas of the game (based on Hollywood and Bel Air areas of Los Angeles). When passing Tequi-la-la, the tour guide states that the band Love Fist partied with a pair of “transgender twins” there.

The Classicvinewood.com description of the film Bullwhip Fury says this about the main actors in the film, Dutch London and Betsy O’Neil: “Note – London left his real wife at the time for O’Neil and his real wife later became transgender.”

The webpage for Warstock Cache and Carry lists a description for the Crusader vehicle: “it is a military-grade SUV popular with US armed forces in the Middle East and lesbians in the Pacific North West. Perfect for navigating hostile terrain like bombed-out villages and vegan craft fairs.”

The in-game website VinewoodLoglineGenerator.com allows players to create quick movie pitches from a variety of options for each factor in the pitch. Some of the options include for a crisis “is possessed by the ghost of a gay Confederate Soldier,” for a side kick “lesbian with a great rack,” or for goal “to win back the respect of his gay son.” A full list is available here.

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. Badtransjokes. (2013, October 1). GTA V presents She Male Bop! Bad Trans Jokes Tumblr. http://badtransjokes.tumblr.com/post/62792164589/gta-v-presents-she-male-bop
2. Bullwhip Fury. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Bullwhip_Fury
3. Bullwhip Fury. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Bullwhip_Fury
4. Crusader. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Crusader
5. Classicvinewood.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Classicvinewood.com
6. Fame or Shame. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Fame_or_Shame
7. Fame or Shame. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Fame_or_Shame
8. gtaclips46. (2013, September 15). Liveinvader GTA 5 commercial. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVNZxMEWRzI
9. GuestOfGregoryHouse. (2014, December 17). Importent Rage: The Liberal Superhero. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXoEd8IF0g
10. Impotent Rage. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Impotent_Rage
11. Impotent Rage. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Impotent_Rage
12. Kung Fu Rainbow Lazerforce. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Kung_Fu_Rainbow_Lazer_Force
13. Kung Fu Rainbow Lazerforce. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Kung_Fu_Rainbow_Lazerforce
14. Lifeinvader. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Lifeinvader
15. Lifeinvader. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Lifeinvader_Phone
16. Lifeinvader: social networking service in GTA V. GTA 5 TV. http://www.gta5tv.com/lifeinvader/
17. Los Santos Benders. (n.d.). Retrieved from  http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Los_Santos_Benders
18. LS Benders. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/LS_Benders
19. Pride not Prejudice. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Pride_not_Prejudice
20. Pride not Prejudice. (n.d.). Retrieved from
21. Pump Buddy Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Pump_Buddy_Magazine
22. Pump Buddy Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grandtheftwiki.com/Pump_Buddy_Magazine
23. SanitZombie1. (2013, November 11). GTA 5- Kung Fu Rainbow Lazer Force. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abq62YhW-G0
24. Sucozametti, R. (2014, October 8). Pride Not Prejudice- GTA V- Commercial 2. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CidNLJrSTAw
25. Vinewoodloglinegenerator.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Vinewoodloglinegenerator.com
26. Warstock Cache & Carry. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Warstock_Cache_%26_Carry