10 Most Powerful LGBT+ Moments In Gaming History
1. Tell Me Why - Lakeside With Michael
Tell Me Why continued Dontnod Entertainment’s exploration of LGBT characters by being the first AAA video game to put a trans man in its lead role, as performed by trans voice actor August Aiden Black.
After spending a decade apart, twins Tyler and Alyson return to their childhood home after the death of their Mother and discover they have a supernatural psychic link. That being said, what makes Tell Me Why so powerful is how it represents queerness in completely healthy and unremarkable ways. Despite Tyler having his own wealth of childhood trauma, this does not inform his gender identity and is treated entirely separately.
Moreover, allowing Tyler to spend time with Michael just being guys is incredibly refreshing and important. There is an unspoken, outdated idea that masculinity and queerness are diametrically opposed and the two men hanging out ice-fishing, drinking and talking about the wilderness is proof positive that this is not the case.
The scene is lovely whether you have elected to stay merely friends with Michael or entered a relationship with him, in which case it ends with a kiss at sunrise.
It may not seem like much, but considering that there is a sad, long history of portraying trans and homosexual characters as villains or jokes, there is something special about the understated-ness of queer people just living their lives.