Somebody get Fox News on the horn, they’ll want to hear this: Following the trend it set in the Dragon Age series, Bioware’s Mass Effect 3 will allow same-sex romantic pairings for game hero Commander Shepard.

Depending on player choice, Shepard can be male or female. Female Shepards were able to have same-sex romances in the first two games but this will be the first time a male Shepard can do so, too. Mass Effect Executive Producer Casey Hudson tweeted the news to his faithful followers. As with previous games, your relationships will develop through conversations and storyline choices.

One of the main intentions that are made clear through the creations such as Second Life is the hope that individuals will have the opportunity to escape reality and engage in activities that could either not be possible in the real world or be regarded with a high degree of skepticism otherwise.

Unfortunately, reality can rear its ugly head in even these alternate universes, a lesson that Michael Marsh, an 18-year-old from Norwalk, CT (USA)., became aware of during his time in Sony’s Home service…

In a recent post at AfterElton.com entitled “The Week in Gay Geek”, writer LyleMasaki takes on the recent controversies surrounding the UK re-release of Bully and Fox News’ coverage of Mass Effect. LyleMasaki writes that the issues taken with Bully (thankfully) have nothing to do with the same-sex kissing in the game, but notes that the Fox News/Mass Effect fiasco was prompted by the (optional) queer content.

From the post:

“the lesbian-inclusive Mass Effect has become a target for conservative pundits. It started when one conservative news site claimed the game had “explicitly graphic” love scenes, with another columnist saying the game “can be customized to sodomize whatever, whoever, however the game player wishes”. Bastion of journalistic credibility, Fox News picked up the story, prompting (Mass Effect publisher) EA Games to demand a correction.”