Games Featuring Honest Representations of LGBTQ+ Characters
LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) Pride Month is celebrated in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals raises funds to ensure all kids receive the best care. During Pride Month we are celebrating the efforts of those who help kids and families in the LGBTQ community have the care they need when they need it most.
Video games are in a weird place where representation of LGBTQ+ people lags far behind the perception many might have. While there are many games these days that allow players to choose their identities, those often are the only games in which we see diverse genders and sexualities explicitly depicted. If you are looking for games with intriguing and thought-provoking LGBTQ+ characters who play major roles in their stories, here are three you should consider:
Parvati Holcomb – The Outer Worlds
Easily one of the most endearing characters of 2019, Parvati plays a supporting role in The Outer Worlds, a role-playing game from Obsidian Entertainment. She joins the player near the beginning of the game, bringing with her a great deal of insight and engineering skill. Ms. Holcomb also suffers from extreme social anxiety, something that slowly eases up around the player throughout the course of the game. There are multiple courses her path can take her throughout The Outer Worlds, but in one of them she manages to reveal to the player that she is asexual and finds love with a fellow engineer and woman named Junlei Tennyson. There are very few explicitly asexual characters in gaming, making Parvati stand out as a wonderful point of LGBTQ+ diversity.
day 1 – parvati holcomb, the outer worlds#PRIDE2020 pic.twitter.com/nv21nt7erG
— domi ??? (@domirine) June 1, 2020
J.J. Macfield – The Missing
Some of the best representations of LGBTQ+ people start from a place grounded in our reality. In The Missing, J.J Macfield is a 19-year-old attending college in Maine. While her family is well off, her mother has placed a great deal of pressure on her to excel in her studies and secure a place among the wealthy elite. Her love interest Emily takes J.J. on a camping trip only to suddenly go missing. While searching for Emily, J.J. experiences getting struck by lightning that seemingly curses her with immortality. In order to figure out what happened, players use that immortality to solve gruesome puzzles and find answers – answers that openly and honestly explore issues related to the LGBTQ+ experience.
"One of the most emotionally affecting and innovative action platformers on the market." @Swery65 @ArcSystemWorksU @NOLAnerdcast
The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories Review https://t.co/qS3Pz0s2t7 pic.twitter.com/aNAe09eWtc
— PlayStation Universe (@PSUdotcom) November 12, 2018
Kian Alvane – Dreamfall Chapters
There are very few gay men protagonists in video games outside of role-playing games that allow players to choose their own sexuality. Kian Alvane serves as one of three playable adventure game protagonists that swap out as Dreamfall Chapters progresses. Without going into the full cosmology of the Dreamfall universe, Kian lives on Arcadia, a planet where magic exists. He works as an elite operative for the Azadi Empire, accidentally uncovering evidence of a plot that could threaten to unravel the multiverse. Armed with the evidence necessary to take down the high-level government conspirators, his enemies imprison him and attempt an execution without trial. Rebels save Kian, sending him on a fugitive journey where he experiences the hardships of those marginalized by the Azadi Empire. Players eventually experience a conversation in which Kian is accused of having a relationship with a woman, something he emphatically denies before going on to essentially explain that he is gay and how Azadi society views LGBTQ+ folk. He finishes by saying, “I am who I am, and no one has ever thought less of me because of it.”
So to begin with, this is Kian Alvane. Notable notables: gay, yam aficionado, Azadi apostle, co-protagonist of both "Dreamfall" games. pic.twitter.com/LEcoHJhxzR
— Ian Pérez (@DoKnowButchie) April 21, 2017
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals are a safe place for LGBTQ youth to find healing from whatever medical issue they are facing. Check out this recap of our hospitals who earned HRC’s highest honor for LGBTQ equality in 2019. Join Extra Life in celebrating Pride in June (and year-round). Check out our Pride stream overlays to plan your Pride-themed stream today.
We know that the challenges of recent months may be taking a toll on the mental health of our community. Mental wellness is something we hope everyone can access. Here are some resources if you need them from our friends a TakeThis.org.
Don’t forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!