Roll for Kinsey Scale: The Official Queering of D&D

Queer nerds, roll up your character sheets. Lead rules developer Jeremy Crawford told Kotaku that all of the new Dungeons & Dragons adventures published by Wizards of the Coast will include LGBTQ+ characters. Not only did we get an adorable easter egg of Crawford slipping his own family into a module, this is very good news from the official publisher.
There have been queer characters and same-sex couples in some D&D adventures throughout the years, but this announcement marks a shift toward a policy of inclusion. And this queer D&D player is really excited to hear it!
Nerds know what it’s like to feel excluded. Many of us deal with social stigma, outright bullying, and blank stares when we talk about our hobbies. On top of that, some of us live with extra layers of difference: gender, sexuality, race, disability, and more. Including queer characters in the D&D canon tells me that I am not just welcome in this universe; I am a part of it.
This is what we mean when we say that representation matters. So many environments are hostile to people like me that I have to assume I’m unwelcome until proven otherwise. Not actively discriminating against a given group isn’t enough — media makers must extend an invitation to those that have been excluded in the past. Including queer characters is that invitation. It’s proof that unlike so many nerdy conventions, books, clubs, and forums, D&D is a universe that welcomes people of all genders and sexualities.
Best of all, this policy change enhances the game. More options for character creation yield more interesting characters, and opening up new possibilities for relationships between characters gives Dungeon Masters and Game Masters more options for designing plots.
Queerness is all about creativity. When you don’t fit into traditional ways of being a person in the world, you have to design your own. Similarly, roleplaying allows us to live bigger, faster, and differently than we ever could in real life. Players can become heightened versions of themselves or someone totally different, trying out new ways of being as they build stories together.
Wizards of the Coast’s efforts to include all kinds of people in their fantasy world is good gameplay, good business, and good for the world. I hope more parties will include fascinating, badass, fully human queer characters in their games, and I hope that fellow queer nerds will give D&D a try!
If you’re not sure where to start, try the beginners’ episode of Join the Party. There are spells, crimes, explosions, and a gay wedding to save. It’s not a TLC show — it’s JTP. Join us.
— Amanda