LGBTQIA+ Inclusivity in TTRPG and RP Spaces - aka Happy Pride!
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As Pride month begins to wind down, I want to take a moment to talk about LGBTQIA+ in role-playing spaces.
Role-play for many queer and trans people can be an incredible resource for us to find safe communities where we can express ourselves and meet others like us. It's sometimes even the first step on a long road of self-discovery and identity. It can be a safe space to live out lives inaccessible to us in reality due to safety issues or fear of discrimination and ostracization within our real-life communities. Many of my first experiences with queer identity were done in play-by-post role-play threads on forums.
With games like Thirsty Sword Lesbians (Evil Hat Productions), Women Are Werewolves (9th Level Games), and Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast (Possum Creek Games), it is clear there are now more narratives written with people like us in mind. Queer-centered game publishers like Possum Creek Games and Balsamic Moon Games are designing games for people like us to create spaces for ourselves. This is not restricted to private game spaces. Many queer ttrpg communities are popping up on Discord and Reddit, and various public actual plays feature partial or full casts of LGBTQ+ players, like The Unexplored Places and Witches of Midnight (an actual play of a game created by BMG). Even Dimension 20, one of the most currently popular actual plays, has been working hard to include queer storylines and characters.
The self-expression, inclusivity, and discovery that role-play allows is something that is very important to us at Unplay, and something we look forward to nurturing within LiveTale as it
grows. We hope that we can be a community and resource for many people, including those who are marginalized, and those who are looking for a safe space to play, discover, and grow.-K.O. (she/they, pan/demi)
https://linktr.ee/livetale (Links to the above mentioned) -
@K-O Thank you so much for the thoughtful post! Speaking as a queer gamer, I am so proud to be involved with LiveTale. I truly couldn’t ask for a safer, kinder, more accepting community. Thank you to everyone for all that you do to make LiveTale so accepting.
