Katherine Glover at Salon.com has written a very interesting article on the subject of same sex and inter species marriages in the new Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. When the subject came up during the development phase of the game, it caused quite a debate amongst the team. But, gay marriage isn't the only type of union that is frowned upon in Middle Earth, inter-species marriages were also a hot topic. Eventually, the decision was made to pull the entire marriage option all together.

Were there gays in Tolkien's LOTR? No. Tolkien was a Christian and I'm sure that wasn't even something that entered his mind much less jived with his religious beliefs. Although the relationship between Frodo and Samwise, at least in the movie, is certainly up for debate. I wish that it would have been possible to include all types of unions in LOTR Online as in Fable and The Sims, sadly though, in games as in life, we still have a long way to go before the idea of same sex marriages finds a place in mainstream society. Sorry, Frodo, it's back in the closet for you. Flynn De Marco

Why can't gay dwarves get married in Middle-earth? [Salon.com]

Contact information for this author is not available.