A Framework for Meaningful LGBTQ Representation in Video Games

Jackson McLaren

Abstract

This work considers the concept of meaningful representation of LGBTQ content in digital video games. I first explore how the complex concept of representation in media has been dealt with across multiple disciplines, highlighting threads of similarity and contention between discourse happening within the fields of media and communication, game studies, and trans studies. Building off of a foundation of conversations that are already happening around issues of representation in general, and the representation of LGBTQ people in digital video games, I offer a framework for meaningful LGBTQ representation in video games. This framework offers a way to interrogate whether representations are meaningful, and how video games can improve the quality and impact of LGBTQ content that they incorporate into their games.

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