Some pre-made characters in The Sims series are gay, lesbian, or bisexual, although those orientations are rarely implied beyond the mechanics of their gender preference and are largely up to players to interpret as they will.

In The Sims 2, Circe Beaker, Ariel Capp, and Titania Summerdream have the same level of attraction for males and females, so their characters start out with bisexual preferences. Other characters with bisexual preferences are Kent Capp who has a slight preference for males (still neutral for females) and Jason Cleveland (in The Sims 2: Apartment Life) who is married to Marissa Cleveland but also has a slight preference for males with neutral preference for females. Additionally, Nervous Subject has a slight disaste for females, so this could be interpreted as having gay preferences initially.

In The Sims 2: University Life, Mitch Indie and Max Flexor (both playable characters), are college roommates whose bios indicate they are ready to discover new things about their friendship now that they are living together.

In The Urbz: Sims in the City, Kiki Blunt is intertextually implied to be a lesbian, as the Urbz Comix for Central Station shows her as Anna Kissed’s “Dream Punk”.

In The Sims 3, Jeffrey and Leonard Ryan are two gay characters. Leonard’s bio mentions a deceased partner and Jeffrey’s grave can be found at the Spector Family Mausoleum. Additionally, Gobias Koffi is noted in his game bio as preferring the company of men though his homosexuality is less obvious if his story line is not played. He is a reference to the character Tobias in the show Arrested Development, who is also coded as possibly gay.

In The Sims 3: Ambitions, Alma Drill and Blaise Kindle are implied to be lesbians. Their beds are pushed together and their household description says the following:

• Blaise and Alma are new roommates, but they have been close friends for a long time. Alma likes her career in education but Blaise would like to start working with the local fire department. Will their friendship be strengthened by the fact that they are living together or will it lead to things they never could have expected?

In The Sims 3: Aurora Skies, cohabitating friends Viktor Valquist and Jesper Sandstrom (also playable characters) live with Viktor’s adopted daughter Linn Valstrom, whose surname (a mesh of the two men’s names) implies that both men are her parents.

In The Sims 3: Roaring Heights, Michael Dandy is in a secret relationship with Mark Davis-Welles who is married to Rita Davis-Welles. Michael can be interpreted as gay while Mark can be interpreted as bi. Marks’ wife, Rita, is also in a secret relationship, but with a woman named Virginia Supine. Rita can be interpreted as bi while Virginia can be interpreted as a lesbian. Rita and Virginia may be based off of the real-life relationship between Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. The first openly and explicitly same-sex couple in the series appears in this expansion with Audrey and Dylan Shear, who live with their son, Charlie. Unlike with Linn Valstrom, both Audrey and Dylan are listed as Charlie’s parents.

In The Sims 3: Supernatural, Rainflower Ivy is a male character married to Annalove Ivy, but has a preference for males over females, so he could be interpreted as bi.

In The Sims 4, Armand DiAggro and Bjorn Tu’Rock are portrayed as bisexual, as Armand and Bjorn were paired together as partners in promotional materials for Pride Month, but later on both were paired together with women. Mia Hayes and Dela Ostrow are dating in-game, so are portrayed as lesbians. Ross Valentin has a crush on Brent Hong which is unreciprocated, so Ross is portrayed as gay. Hunter Evans‘ bio describes him as an activist for the LGBTQIA community, but there are no specific indicators towards what his sexuality would be portrayed as. In The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs, Brant and Brent Hecking are married and portrayed as gay. In The Sims 4: Island Living, Leila Illes and Oliana Ngata are married and portrayed as lesbians. In The Sims 4: Vampires, Caleb Vatore is implied to be bi by a teaser video where he flirts with a male Sim and two female Sims.

These characters exemplify the subtle inclusion of gay characters in The Sims’ series, scripting imaginative space for gay desire, while leaving these coded relationships up to interpretation. Some characters are explicitly portrayed as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, but early representations are from gender preferences that can only be found using external tools and can change over time.

While virtually every character in the Sims’ world is romanceable with enough persistence, in The Sims 4, an early update rendered the Grim Reaper off-limits.

While some flirtatious actions are still available with the Grim Reaper, other actions such as “woohoo” are no longer options. In the patch notes that changed the Grim Reaper from a romanceable to an unromanceable character, Maxis wrote “The Reaper still loves ya baby, he is just too busy to go on a date with every lovelorn Sim that vies for his attention.” This opens up a potential reading of the Grim Reaper as an asexual and aromantic character. He is also considered a character of ambiguous gender.

While there are no explicitly trans characters, there are characters that deviate from the game’s normative attribution of sex and gender, such as having a conventionally feminine appearance and a masculine voice. Or they might be marked “male” in their character design, even as they otherwise behave and appear like Sims marked “female.”

These mostly appear in The Sims 2 and its expansions. The Sims 2 Hula Zombies and The Sims 2 Nightlife: Mrs. CrumpleBottom are both female presenting characters who, when viewed in The Sims Package Editor (SimPE), may have their gender listed as male. Other characters are also recognized by the game as male, even though they are female presenting, including Poehina Vaianu, Melissa Sims, and Hannah Keebles. In The Sims 2: Open for Buisness, Jeannie Chen and Elle Rodiek appears to be a female child but can act like an adult and sometimes has the voice of an adult male. A video of Jeannie can be seen here. Other characters come back with male voices if resurrected including Mary Delarosa, Lucy Gieke, Nicole Jeffress, Suzanne Jacquet, Lucy Mole, and Vicki Sims. Finally, The Sims 2 had a character who was not ultimately in the game but whose files were still shipped in the final release: The Big Boss. When summoned (after getting the files activated again) the character’s voice is the opposite of their gender presentation (i.e. a female presenting Big Boss will have a male voice and vice versa).

The occurrence of these characters is typically attributed to a coding error or glitch, particularly given that they are all female presenting characters who may be recognized by the game as male (presuming male as the default assumption of the game. Yet, whether by design or accident, these characters’ existence creates more variability in terms of sex and gender in a world that is otherwise cis and binaristic by default.

LGBTQ references in this game series: 

LGB Romance options

LGBTQ Characters

Joined Unions and Marriages Between Same-Sex Couples

Queer Pregnancies and Reproduction

Gender Customization

Citations:

1. Alma Drill. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Alma_Drill
2. Ariel Capp. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Ariel_Capp
3. Armand DiAggro. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Armand_DiAggro
4. Audrey Shear. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Audrey_Shear
5. Big Boss. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Boss
6. Bjorn Tu’Rock. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Bjorn_Tu’Rock
7. Blaise Kindle. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Blaise_Kindle
8. Bracken. (2014, September 2). The Grim Reaper Is No Longer Dating In The Sims 4. #egmr. retrieved From http://egmr.net/2014/09/grim-reaper-market-sims-4s-latest-patch/
9. Brant Hecking. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Brant_Hecking
10. Brent Hecking. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Brent_Hecking
11. Caleb Vatore. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Caleb_Vatore
12. Circe Beaker. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Circe_Beaker
13. Dela Ostrow. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Dela_Ostrow
14. Dennis, A. (2008, August 26). Sims 2 Child-acts like a adult. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3tFm7nH2Eo
15. Dylan Shear. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Dylan_Shear
16. Elle Rodiek. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Elle_Rodiek
17. Gobias Koffi. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Gobias_Koffi.
18. Grim Reaper. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Grim_Reaper.
19. Haynes, S. (2019, August 23). The True Story of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Retrieved from https://time.com/5655270/virginia-woolf-vita-sackville-west-relationship/
20. Hunter Evans. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Hunter_Evans
21. Jason Cleveland. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Jason_Cleveland
22. Jeannie Chen. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Jeannie_Chen
23. Jeffrey Ryan. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Jeffrey_Ryan
24. Jesper Sandstrom. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Jesper_Sandstrom.
25. Kent Capp. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Kent_Capp
26. Kiki Blunt. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Kiki_Blunt
27. Langshaw, M. (2014, June 24). The Sims 4 pledges support for Gay Pride. Retrieved from https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/the-sims/a581036/the-sims-4-pledges-support-for-gay-pride-month-be-proud-in-the-sims/
28. Leila Illes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Leila_Illes
29. Leonard Ryan. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Leonard_Ryan
30. Lucy Gieke. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Lucy_Gieke
31. Lucy Mole. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Lucy_Mole
32. Mark Davis-Welles. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Mark_Davis-Welles
33. Mary Delarosa. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from  http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Mary_Delarosa
34. Max Flexor. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Max_Flexor.
35. Melissa Sims.  (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Melissa_Sims
36. Mia Hayes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Mia_Hayes
37. Michael Dandy. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Michael_Dandy
38. Mitch Indie. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Mitch_Indie.
39. Ms. Crumplebottom. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Mrs._CrumpleBottom
40. Nervous Subject. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Nervous_Subject
41. Nicole Jeffress. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Nicole_Jeffress
42. Oliana Ngata. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Oliana_Ngata
43. Poehina Vaianu. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Poehina_Vaianu
44. Rainflower Ivy. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Rainflower_Ivy
45. Rita Davis-Welles. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Rita_Davis-Welles
46. Roommates household. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Roommates_household
47. Ross Valentin. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Ross_Valentin
48. Same-Sex Relationship. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Same-sex_relationship.
49. Sims with an Ambiguous Gender. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Sims_with_an_ambiguous_gender.
50. Suzanne Jacquet. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Suzanne_Jacquet
51. Titania Summerdream. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Titania_Summerdream
52. Urbz Comics: Central Station. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.simsnetwork.com/simpedia/console-games/the-urbz/artworks/urbz-comics-central-station
53. Vicki Sims. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Vicki_Sims
54. Viktor Valquist. (n.d.). The Sims Wiki. Retrieved from http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Viktor_Valquist.
55. Virginia Supine. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2020, from https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Virginia_Supine