Polygon: All Posts by Jessica Janiukhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/42931/favicon.ico2014-03-05T09:15:01-05:00https://www.polygon.com/authors/jessica-janiuk/rss2014-03-05T09:15:01-05:002014-03-05T09:15:01-05:00Gaming is my safe space: Gender options are important for the transgender community
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<p>Gaming and the virtual world were really my only outlets to be myself before I came out as a transgender woman. </p>
<p>There were fewer games with female protagonists or the option to play as a female character a decade ago, but I took what I could get.</p>
<p>I know I spent a lot of time playing the original Tomb Raider series, <i>Knights of the Old Republic</i>, <i>Metroid Prime</i>, <i>Beyond Good and Evil </i>and others. I’m by no means alone in the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pdxqcenter.org/bridging-the-gap-trans-what-does-the-asterisk-mean-and-why-is-it-used/">trans*</a> community for escaping to the virtual world. The virtual world is one of very few places we can safely escape to be ourselves. It’s where we can create an avatar that represents how we see ourselves.</p>
<p>I’ve played since the original NES days and have owned almost every console since. I started with the original <i>S...</i></p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2014/3/5/5462578/gaming-is-my-safe-space-gender-options-are-important-for-theJessica Janiuk