Ok but,,, the way so many cishet man BG3 players hate Astarion is so hilariously telling.
Ooohh, no, you're scared of the obviously queer man who has zero shame in his sexuality and calls you darling? You're scared of the man who was victimised by another man and has to actively fight back and process the trauma? You're scared of the man with a trauma enduced, warped view of sex and intimacy who has to process and heal from that?
They hate him not JUST because hes the most obvious fruit in the party, but because they've never seen an accurate portrayal of a MALE SA victim before. And the idea that all that trauma and baggage could happen to them, a man, is scary. They've never had to confront the fact that men in their life, people they care about, could be a victim too and end up with all that trauma.
Because cishet men CAN be victims, it's just nowhere near as common as women and queer people. So cishet men just never have to confront the issue. They never have to think about it. So when they see a male character who's been SO deeply affected by the abuse, it holds up a mirror. This could be you or your loved ones. You aren't immune to it. It could happen to you. And that's scary, terrifying to them.
And you know what? While I'm at it let's also mention the fact theres a bunch of cishets that are weird about Halsin too. Again, not just because the man is queer but because hes POLY and challenges the monogamous view of the world they have. Not only poly, but RESPECTS WOMEN. He's not poly just to have kinky threesomes, but because he ACTUALLY loves and respects both partners. Cishet men view polyamoury as either a weird gay thing, or an excuse to have two girlfriends they don't actually respect and just want sex from. They've never seen real, healthy, genuine polyamoury before. And here's Halsin, this big as fuck, tough as fuck man who has total respect and genuine love for both partners, doesn't see them as sex objects and dates both women and men. It shatters their monogamous, cishet world view.
So yeah, BG3 is for the gays not just because you can date all the characters regardless of gender, but because there is zero cishet monogamous structure to the world. Anyone can date any gender, the male characters respect their female partners, you can be in healthy poly relationships and no one is immune to being taken advantage of regardless of sex, gender or sexuality.