The LGBT+ community has always had a strenuous relationship with media, particularly TV and Video Games, for a long time in how they are represented. There are good times:

(From Left to Right, Scorpia from She-ra the Princess of Power, Dorian from Dragon Age Inquisition, and Ruby and Sapphire from Steven Universe)

These three are recent examples of good representation that celebrate LGBT identity proudly in both grand and understated ways. All characters shown here are gay and their respective shows/games make this fact clear from early on, however, refreshingly, their “gayness” is far from their only or even important personality trait. Dorian may have an important scene regarding his father’s homophobia, but other than that he is clever, insightful, and an all around fully realized character outside of this, just like Scorpia and the couple of Ruby and Sapphire. Here their sexuality is made comfortable parts of their characters but don’t monopolize them. They are independent yet comfortable with this part of themselves.

And also bad ones:

(From left to right. Erica from Catherine, Dumbledore from Harry Potter, and Tracer from Overwatch)

Now these three, these three aren’t as great for varying reasons. Tracer is weak representation because of how nonexistent their identity as being gay is within her media (Overwatch) the only showing of this part of her was in a side comic released online for Christmas, completely independent from the game proper. This is a problem because it is representation that is largely toothless. There is no risk of the game getting banned in certain counties for something that happens outside of it. Her sexuality is used not as a facet of her characterization but as a bit of trivia to stir up some largely risk free news for the game. Dumbledore occupies a similar space as Tracer, but is even worse. While Tracer’s sexuality was left trivial, it was brought to light while the game was at peak popularity and while it was being regularly updated, meanwhile the only indication Dumbledore was gay came from an interview with the writer nearly three years after the last book in the series was released. There was no benefit to be gained for the LGBT community to have rep. from a character retro-actively and only through the off hand mouth of the creator, it is again a bit of risk free, plausibly deniable representation that doesn’t actually portray gay characters.

We then have Erica, a trans woman, who, in the game Catherine is portrayed as if her gender identification is a lie, as if she is tricking the men she dates by being a “Trap” (A slur name meaning a man that pretends to be a woman).

I hadn’t knowingly met a gay person until I was 13 in middle school and I learned my older sister was getting married to a woman. They say the best way to learn about a group of people is to talk to them, be around them, and befriend them. With modern technology, namely the internet and social media, I’ve tried to learn as much as I could about the LGBTQ+ community from their own mouths. Subreddits, you-tube channels, and even twitter accounts on the topic by people of the community introduced me to the concepts of being bi, trans, and non-binary before I knowingly met and befriended these groups in person. The connection provided by the internet grants me the tools and information needed to learn about people who, living in rural America, I might not meet often or in large quantities.