I’ve never really understood all of the anger Republicans have focused on the LGBTQ+ community or the fascination with oppressing transgender people. You would think they would focus on things that can make people’s lives better.
But here we are. This hatred and rush to dismiss everything else is so ingrained in conservative dogma that it has reached the video game industry and is quickly taking over. It seems that players used to playing as elves, ogres and all sorts of creatures have suddenly decided that people of color and LGBTQ+ characters will now be hated as “woke”.
With all that frustration in my players mind, I decided to reach out to the person who designed and played for the first non-binary character in the Call of Duty series, arguably the biggest franchise in the world’s biggest entertainment industry. Estimated global gaming revenue last year is expected to be almost $500 billion. By comparison, the global cinema industry is expected to reach $86 billion in 2025.
So meet Kimber London, the actress from California who is the model for the character Volta Rossi. The character became available as soon as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launched in October. Call of Duty players can use Ross for online play after first unlocking the character by ranking up.
I spoke to London about what this moment in gaming means to them, the LGBTQ+ community, and the haters they’ve been addressing directly online.
We spoke a week before President Donald Trump was inaugurated and news of his intention to target transgender and non-binary people broke. Of course, that’s a ridiculous thing for a president to obsess over. But that means people like London will have more of that hatred that Republicans seem to enjoy.
Here are my questions and London’s answers:
What was it like to finally see yourself in Call of Duty?
I don’t think I was really prepared for how good it would be. I started filming this two years ago, so it was something that was just going to appear at some point and then all of a sudden at the end of October 2024, it’s here.
I made the mistake of going to X to see the reactions when it was revealed a few days before launch, and I saw the character and people were saying how ugly he is and all these very transphobic and homophobic comments about the character and how “woke” the game was.
So I initially thought, “Wow, this is not going to go at all like I thought.” I anticipated there would be backlash. I just wasn’t prepared.
Did the reaction surprise you, given that you expected it?
I was ready for it on the level of backlash against being non-binary. I wasn’t ready for the personal attacks on how my character looked.
So there were comparisons of the character looking like Quasimodo or Sloth from The Goonies or some of those disabled characters, which was another thing that really bothered me – the ability that’s going on, you know? Quasimodo has a heart of gold.
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These are great characters, but the visual comparisons are definitely not the most physically beautiful by our standards of beauty. So it was, it was a little rough, but it also gave me a taste of what a lot of people deal with online when it comes to teasing about physical characteristics and all.
You talked about messages of support. How was that?
It was really encouraging to see how many queer players there are out there and how many ally players there are, too, who are like, “We don’t really care that, you know, we like the fact that there’s more diversity in games.”
I think this is great. It is a very positive thing. So like I said, the toxic fanbase is not the whole fanbase, and I think that’s really important to be aware of because there’s another side to the fanbase. It was nice to see so many people commenting and saying how much the character meant to them, how they love running the character and being able to shine a light on this side of the fanbase that is really passionate and loves the game.
What do you think about the ongoing conversation about gender?
If you’re kind of informed at all, you know that LGBTQ+, trans people, non-binary individuals are the current scapegoat, um, for a certain party, and that’s something that’s by design, and I think it’s very much meant to be. a unifying point, which is a tragic thing.
But it also makes sense strategically for people who have nothing else to bring to the table. If that’s what you’re going for, picking a minority group and rallying around that, I think that should be very enlightening.
I deal with it in my daily life. I’m a little numb to it, but I understand that a lot of people aren’t, and it’s very shocking and it’s very terrible to see these things perpetuated, especially at a legislative level, because nobody deserves to go through having the rights own. undressed
What message do you have for children who experience hate?
Our LGBTQ2IA+ youth are seeing the passage of all this legislation. They are aware of what is happening online.
They are aware of people who are now brave enough to make more statements against their identity and who they are and it can be a scary time for them. So I think it’s important to show them that there is hope and that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that we’re not going to back down from that.
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They have a supportive community. There are influencers who will take a stand on this kind of thing, create safe spaces online, and continue to be that light and leadership they can look to.
What is your message to parents? ‘Why would you want to be your child’s first bully?’
I would say first of all, listen to your child, you know, as much as you can trust. Why would you want to be your child’s first bully?
You know, why would you want to be like that? If your first reaction is to say, “I’m cutting you off, you know, you can’t be this way,” forcing them to be someone they’re not will only drive them away from you, and this will be a lifelong separation that will be very difficult to mend.
So even if the parent doesn’t necessarily agree or think this is something that’s right for their child, your child is going through this. So no matter what you think about it, they are getting through it. So I think first of all, it’s important to listen and be that listening ear.
If your child doesn’t feel like they can come to you … like all these rules in schools, like, oh, counselors have to tell parents about these things … maybe you should ask why you’re not the type of parent with whom your child wants to talk about these kinds of things.
Louie Villalobos is the director of Opinion for Gannett. You might find yourself playing Call of Duty’s Warzone as a non-binary character, because imagine being a snowflake for something like that.
