^This is one bit of complexity involved in homosexual relationships. Out of all of my gay friends and family, none of them have typical heterosexual relationships, just with a gender changed. Ls Gs Bs and Ts, although we clump them into a LGBT tag, often live in vastly different cultures from each other and from heterosexuals.

Considering Nintendo's likely target audience (they tend to go more for family-friendly fun -- and most families are husband, wife and kids), they may have intended to go the conservative route. But they may have wanted to leave the multitude of homosexual lifestyles out of the game. (they have also likely excluded several heterosexual lifestyles) I haven't played the game, but I'd imagine they're going for the classic, typical nuclear family.

There is a component of commentary from those who complain, defend and the substance of the game itself. But I think it's silly to simply this into a simple black and white view: they're haters, they're conservatives, they're ignorant. All may be true, but I'd imagine that a lot of things were considered before making a decision to exclude homosexual relationships besides how much they hated a people group. And I'd imagine it had more to do with expense (programming, animations) and expected revenue (what $ is lost or gained with homosexual relationships included or excluded). And I'd imagine revenue would be small from the gay community if they did a simple gender swap and didn't make anything feel authentic. Heck, it may have been more insulting than doing it right. And doing it right might make the game not family-friendly (basing the identity of a group based off of their sexual desires is often going to make for a non-family-friendly game -- example: I let my kids play Putt-Putt. He's not gay. Or straight. He's a car. But they can identify with a mom and a dad outside of their mom and dad's sexual relationship. It's recognizable to them b/c it's what they're used to. It's a relationship that can exist outside of sexual identity b/c there is also a familial identity that most children can recognize.)

If the gay community wants a gay life sim, by all means, go and build it. The LGBT community, who knows itself better than anyone else, could build something that best represents how they see themselves. They could include the persecution, the outlying cultures and the uniqueness of the groups.