More Mass Effect Romance Details

According to BioWare's Bob McCabe, Mass Effect will not feature a male-male romance option even though it's already been made public that the game will support female-female romances. It's also surprising to read that the quality assurance lead (who's been around since the BG2 days) isn't with the company anymore:
For the next ME development cycle (i.e. the sequel), there will be more time, more understanding of the engine, less restrictions in general, and so on. In other words, with the restrictions loosened, it's easier to imagine that we can write a more open story, that we can create more romance characters, and that we can spend more time fleshing out those stories.

But for this one? Well, I can't say with authority. I left the company in June and things could have theoretically changed. But I believe that a male-male romance wasn't intended as a part of the game. Again, that's not because of politics or external pressures but, as I have tried to explain, because of this specific story and because of our scope.