Hello! All this week we'll be celebrating Pride and the power of positive representations in games. Every day we'll be bringing you stories and insights from different parts of the LGBT+ community. You can also help support Pride with Eurogamer's newly redesigned t-shirt - all profits from which will be going to charity.
Spend any amount of time on any popular gaming message board when the issue of LGBT+ representation raises its head, and you can guarantee there'll be someone waiting in the wings to, at the very least, remind LGBT+ players that it's 2020 and 'nobody cares they're gay anymore' - oh, and 'would you mind keeping your sexuality out of my video games?'. It's not exactly surprising then that countless LGBT+ gamers around the world are still seeking the comfort of like-minded individuals and social spaces, both in-game and in real-life, where they're free to be themselves without abuse, judgement, or fear of repercussions - and to simply enjoy the games they want to play.
"I think in mainstream culture there is this wishful idea that because we've had too many seasons of Will & Grace...things are just fine and dandy for the queers in our society," Benjamin Bon Temps, founder of the long-running Rough Trade Gaming Community tells me, "Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. While things are better, and the average Bubba Beercan Gamer might be more open-minded and respectful, there is still the same slew of tired asshats firing off verbal fag bombs and 'this stupid dungeon is gay' type bullshit."