Queer characters in media have come a long way since Ellen DeGeneres’ career was temporarily ruined because she, and her eponymous sitcom character, came out as a lesbian in 1997. But while the music industry and TV shows are now queerer than ever before, how do video games compare?
Jessica Zammit is a director of Queerly Represent Me, an organisation that works with video game developers to improve queer representation in their games. She is also a freelance games journalist and tutor at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia.
Elise Baldwin, Joseph Staten, and Livvy Hall all worked on the Xbox game Tell Me Why, which features Tyler, a trans man. It’s the first major game to feature a trans protagonist. The three answered collaboratively so their quotes will be attributed to the Tell Me Why team.
Katy Jo Wright is the director of Gaming For Everyone at Xbox. Gaming For Everyone’s mission is to “cultivate an inclusive gaming culture where everyone is empowered to bring all voices to our every day.
Alice Clarke is an award-winning journalist, producer, presenter, and script writer from Melbourne, Australia. She specialises in games, technology, TV, music, opinion, and general pop culture.
