New PBS Game/Show asks Would it Matter if Master Chief Were Gay?

New PBS Game/Show asks Would it Matter if Master Chief Were Gay?

One of the biggest issues for any minority group is representation- are they being represented in popular media, and is that representation more than just sterotypes? Now that Gay Marriage has become an issue in the global discourse we’re seeing a whole lot more homosexual characters in other media such as television, and they’re way more than the minstril-show like parodies of gay people that used to be on the air.

That hasn’t happened so much in games though. There are still only a handful of homosexual characters in video games at all; even a fewer number those being playable, and then, only as a binary choice of sexual orientation. There still hasn’t been a game where the player character is gay for a reason other than player-choice- and thats a problem. It says that as a medium and a player-base we’re still not comfortable with empethising with a gay character in the way that games ask us to sometimes do with a non-white or non-male character. And that’s holding gaming back.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

Jamin Warren

Jamin Warren

Jamin Warren founded Killscreen. He produced the first VR arts festival with the New Museum, programmed the first Tribeca Games Festival, the first arcade at the Museum of Modern Art, won a Telly, and hosted Game/Show for PBS.
Los Angeles