PAX East: Trans Joy in the Gaming World

PAX East is hosting the Boston Gaymers at this year’s annual convention to discuss the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in the world of video games. Today’s panel is titled “Seeing Ourselves Before Understanding Ourselves: Trans Joy in the Gaming World,” and it focuses on the importance of trans representation in an increasingly divided world.

Representation at PAX East

PAX East is hosting several panels dedicated to representation this year, and the Boston Gaymers are playing a large part in many of those panels. According to their Facebook page, the Boston Gaymers are “a social group for LGBTQ+ gamers in the Boston area to help find and make new friends in a safe and welcoming environment.” They believe in helping LGBTQ+ gamers to feel welcome in the gaming world.

Trans Joy in the Gaming World

The panel, “Seeing Ourselves Before Understanding Ourselves: Trans Joy in the Gaming World” focuses on the art of video games. As the PAX East official site says about video games, “Through customizable characters, they let us craft stories, explore identities, and even discover parts of ourselves we didn’t know existed. For many of us these games have been a lifeline helping us embrace our trans identities and live out identities we once only dreamed of.”

The Importance of Representation

Prejudice against transgender people has built up in recent years as transgender people have fought to become more visible. This makes it more important to show trans people as visible and normal in our media. While there are many indie games that include trans representation, a lot of mainstream games still shy away from including trans characters. PAX East hosting the Boston Gaymers to talk about trans representation in gaming is an important step towards more visibility. Being trans doesn’t make someone insane, a pervert, or a rapist. Trans people are simply humans.