We Need To Stop Pitting Queer Characters Against Each Other

Summary

Video game representation of non-binary characters like Venture and Clove is a positive step towards inclusivity in the LGBTQ+ community.
Comparing non-binary characters only serves to perpetuate division and toxic behavior in gaming communities. Each character is valid in their portrayal.
Embracing the diverse ways in which non-binary characters are represented in games helps to broaden understanding of the fluidity of gender identities.

Queer representation is only getting better and better in video games.💎 While we still have a long way to go in the real world when it comes to universal rights in the LGBTQ+ community, it at least feels nice that gaming allows us to be fruity and feel seen in our favourite characters.

This month saw Venture added to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Overwatch, a non-binary hero with a drill that can dig deep underground before bursting through the surface to get the drop on their enemies. I’m a big fan of their design, and so is the community, judging by the oodles of fan art and discussions which have 💛w🍸arranted more fanfare than the past three heroes combined.

My favourite part of the whole situation is how the community has immediately made Venture into a non-binary gremlin who loves nothinﷺg more than to explore caves and eat rocks. If that isn’t an absolute mood, I don’t know what is. Better yet, Venture is authentically cast with the talented Valeria Rodriguez providing their voice. And, , they go by all pronouns and have been a passionate follower of tꦑhe game since its launch back in 2016. I’m yet to give Venture a proper spin (dig?) in game, but from their identity alone I can quickly see them becoming a firm favourite, not to mention how I see myself in them, too.

However, recent weeks also saw another non-binary character debut♑ as a playable hero in a popular shooter - V𒁏alorant.

Clove is a Scottish troublemaker wit꧃h a luscious design and queer identity that isn’t dissimilar to that of Venture, so, of course, .

Days afte🌜r their respective releases, I’ve seen folks debating who “won” or can be labelled the best queer character. But this idea flies in the face of the fluidity that non-binary identities are supposed to represent.

Overwatch 2 Is Finally Starting To Do Right By Its Queer Heroes 🗹

Venture, Lifeweaver, Phᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚarah, Tracer, and so ൩many more are changing things for the better.

Posts 168澳洲幸运5开奖网: 🏅

It can be difficult to pin down what exactly non-binary means, because the term deliberately rejects being too tied to masculinity or femininity. People who decide to use this term to describe their identity often feel like they just don’t fit squarely into either of the boxes that society has demanded all peop𒊎le cram themselves into. But whether an individual decides to show themselves in a masculine or feminine light, they s♕hould never discount their non-binary identity.

It feels like as non-binary identification has become more commonplace in queer spaces, cis and queer people alike have inadvertently begun to try and define the term with parameters it's intended to deliberately subvert in the first place. There is no right way to present as non-binary, only a right way for society to respect those who do, regardless of how they’ve chosen to look or ✱act. How non-binary people present themselves is none of your business, and we shouldn’t project weird expec💜tations onto fictional characters either, since it only serves to highlight our own bias.

Overwatch 2 - Venture Digging A Hole In Anubis

Regardless of which character design you prefer or if you have more fun playing as one or the other, this evaluation shouldn’t factor in their queer identity and have it unfairly used as some sort of slight against them. You can’t do non-binary identity better or worse than anyone else, and claiming you ꦚcan only further cement internal prejudice from within queer circles that we could really do without.

While repreꦫsentation in video games is still progressing in significant ways, there is value to be found in depictions we view as flawed, or even problematic, as we figure out the right path forward. Pitting us against one another serves to widen this divide, and a♋llows toxicity that permeates so much of gaming to slip into spaces which should otherwise be inclusive and welcoming.

Venture and Clove are both strong, fully-fledged, non-binary characters that represent the queer identity they stand for in dramatically different ways, but that doesn’t make one less or superior, purely because we might have a🐭 preferen𝔍ce. If anything,

I love it when characters of this ilk aren’t afraid to lean into a feminine or masculine direction, or avoid it altogether, as it helps outsiders realise how big an umbrella non-binary identity can be. It doesn’t need to fit inside a strict box. No queer identities should, so sto🐼p turning Venture and Clove into enemies.