X

Pride Month: The Sims 4 is hosting a virtual Pride Parade on Twitch

Celebrate the LGBTQI community with The Sims on Twitch.

Shelby Brown Editor II
Shelby Brown (she/her/hers) is an editor for CNET's services team. She covers tips and tricks for apps, operating systems and devices, as well as mobile gaming and Apple Arcade news. Shelby also oversees Tech Tips coverage. Before joining CNET, she covered app news for Download.com and served as a freelancer for Louisville.com.
Credentials
  • She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
Shelby Brown
2 min read
sims-4-pride

The Sims 4 is having its first virtual Pride Parade on Twitch.

EA Games

In honor of Pride Month, YouTuber EnglishSimmer will host a Virtual Pride Parade livestream on The Sims' Twitch channel Tuesday at 11am PT/2pm ET. Players submitted their best Sims from the life simulation game styled for Pride to potentially be featured in the parade. Get an early look at some of the submissions on social media under the hashtag #SimsPride2020.

June marks the 50th anniversary of LGBTQI Pride Month, and during a global pandemic, many traditional in-person celebrations are moving online. 

Read more: Celebrate Pride 2020 with LGBTQI-themed movies and TV shows streaming now

"We want you to show your full expression of self," according to a release in The Sims 4 section of studio EA's website. "Be you. Embrace your fabulousness. Honor our history; honor each other. Whoever and however you love, whoever you are -- whether you're a woman, a man, neither, or both -- be proud."

From its start in 2000, The Sims offered players the option to pursue same-sex relationships in the game, without boxing the character into any gender stereotype. In the real world, the US Supreme Court wouldn't legalize same-sex marriage for another 15 years. On Monday, however, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of LBGTQI worker protections

The game's first premade LGBTQI couple, Dylan and Audrey Shear, made their debut in 2009 in The Sims 3, along with their son Charlie. The Hecking and Ngata families were also LGBTQI, introduced in later expansion packs through The Sims 4. The trailer for The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs expansion pack featured the wedding of Brent and Brant Hecking. The Sims 4: Island Living, which included the Ngata family, also introduced the first premade nonbinary Sim, Lia Huata.

Read more: Pride Month: Celebrate the LGBTQ community at these online events