10 Best LGBT+ Characters In Gaming History

There's a lot of romance choices out in Mass Effect's galaxy but players shouldn't overlook Steve. Lieutenant Cortez is a pleasant-mannered and smart man who is easy to fall for. Having suffered his loss of his first husband at the hands of the Collectors, Steve is a tender soul. As such, for all the flirty fun of many romancing options in gaming, this one is a tad more touching.

But Steve Cortez holds a special place in this list for being one of the first major, romanceable gay, male characters in gaming.

That might seem a ridiculous notion, after all titles like The Sims and Fable let you able to marry whoever you wanted with no discernible difference. But, aside from the fact that these weren't real characters, that's the problem. There are still many games today that make everyone bisexual as a blanket, with no nuance.

Steve Cortez is different because not only does his inclusion in ME3 (alongside a few others) denote the first time the series lets you have gay relations and sex, he is exclusively romanceable by a male Commander Shepherd. He's also a person of colour, so he sits at an intersection of very marginalised people.

As much as queer representation needs to expand to show all walks of life, we can't lose characters like Steve.