Rainbow Six Siege Tournament Planned In Country Where LGBTQ+ Operators Like Flores Would Be Imprisoned
Ubisoft has announced the Rainbow Six Siege esports roadmap for 2022, and fans are in an uproar over the chosen location of this year's Summer Major.
The Stage 2 Major of the 2022 season will take place in the United Arab Emirates, a country with notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Players, casters, and fans have expressed outrage that Ubisoft would bring the Summer Major to a country where many would face persecution due to the UAE's federal laws that prohibit same-sex relationships, sex reassignment surgery, and cross-dressing, with punishments ranging from imprisonment to execution.
Related: 18 Games To Play If You Like Rainbow Six Siege
It's also a strange twist for a game that has been trying to broaden its representation in recent years. Rainbow Six Siege now has two openly LGBTQ+ operators in Flores and Osa, making it somewhat strange that Ubisoft would host a tournament in a country where both of these characters would be arrested.
But the real concern is from players and casters who would rightfully fear for their safety just for attending the Rainbow Six Siege Summer Major. Public outcry has already resulted in a Change.org petition demanding Ubisoft change the location of the Tournament.
"UAE or United Arab Emirates has documented serious LGBTQ+ right issues in the past year, criminalizing homosexuality resulting in floggings, fines, deportation, chemical castration, forced conversion therapy, honor killings, vigilante execution, and more,” reads the Change.org petition, which was started by British Rainbow Six Siege fan Ellie Chapman, and which has also been reported on by Esports News UK.
"With the inclusion of LGBTQ+ members of R6:S talent, we believe as a collective that this decision is short-sighted,
Read more on thegamer.com
