The official Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer has only been out for a few hours, and the internet’s greatest gaming minds are already asking the most important question: Is there a trans person in GTA 6? That’s right, a bunch of gamers are worried that Rockstar Games made its first 3D female player character transgender.
In case it isn’t painfully obvious, this question isn’t being asked in good faith. A random tweet took the gaming world by storm this week, kicking up a panic over GTA going “woke.” Media Matters’ Ari Drennen highlighted the conundrum succinctly in a now-viral tweet, saying “they’re transvestigating GTA 6 characters now.”
So, how did this come to be? It all goes back to a very strange and bizarre rumor shared by YouTuber Keemstar’s DramaAlert, and how a lie travels across the internet faster than the truth could ever muster.
So, uh, why do all these gamers think GTA 6’s protagonist is transgender?
The great GTA 6 transvestigation began after the first official GTA 6 trailer dropped on December 4. DramaAlert tweeted that Lucia, the first 3D GTA female player character, was “rumored to be transgender” (and that the author behind the account “would,” presumably, hook up with her). The DramaAlert Twitter page cited an r/GrandTheftAutoV Reddit post for the claim, titled: “Grand Theft Auto 6, 1st ever female protagonist is a trans woman!?!?”
For the record, there’s no proof in the Reddit post that GTA 6’s Lucia is trans. In July 2022, a Redditor said that “rumors are circling that Rockstar made the female protagonist a trans woman,” asking if players would still buy the game if the claim were true. The poster provided no proof, nor did they show any evidence that rumors were even circulating. In short, DramaAlert’s tweet is based on a nothingburger of a post.
Nonetheless, DramaAlert’s tweet quickly went viral, sparking fear from gamers that, uh oh, Lucia could be trans! Barstool’s Jack McGuire panicked, tweeting, “Damn they got GTA too?” Another gamer said “if the main character of GTA is transgender they can keep it.”
Luckily, most Twitter users are riffing on DramaAlert for the claim, especially given it has no evidence. Some argued that DramaAlert is just kicking up negative reactions that will result in hatred toward trans people. Others pointed out that the transvestigation conspiracy theory mindset, where people try to “prove” people are hiding their transgender status, has “done irreparable damage to people’s brains.”
To be clear, it would be super cool if Lucia were a trans woman. As a trans woman who’s very excited for GTA 6, I would love to see myself represented front and center in one of the biggest games of our generation. But these gamers are worried about Lucia being transgender because they don’t want to play as a trans woman in the video game. They see it as demeaning, insulting, and “forcing” diversity on their hobby. Their curiosity, in other words, comes from a place of negativity, bigotry, and anxiety. They hope beyond belief that Lucia is a cisgender woman.
So no, there’s no proof that Lucia is trans. I would eagerly welcome it if she was, of course. But any “rumors” circulating about her gender are completely unfounded—just like the claim GTA 6 will cost $150.
(featured image: Rockstar Games)
