LGBT*I*QA+ workshop recap: Revising the Code - Gender and Sexual Diversity in the context of Gaming

We strive for our culture at GameDuell to allow everyone to express who they are, which enables us to apply our talents, broaden our horizons, and ensure the acceptance and promotion of diversity.

Therefore, and in honor of this year's Pride Month in June, we decided to run a workshop to help us learn, grow, and offer a workplace culture that benefits everyone.

The interactive workshop taught us about gender and sexual identity, and how to apply our skills to practice to understand the role that they play in the field of game development. No previous knowledge, but rather curiosity and willingness to learn, was required.

The topics covered included the Genderbread Person, a tool for breaking the big concept of gender down into bite-sized, digestible pieces. This tool explains vividly why gender isn't binary. Also, we listened to interviews with queer people who talked about impactful video games and discussed this topic further. In small breakout groups we reflected on gender (roles), and how gender norms affect our own experiences in life. We talked about who is represented in the letters LGBTIQA, what the concept of heteronormativity means and brainstormed how we as a team can further support the diversity and inclusion of team members:

• The importance of being mindful of others' preferred pronoun(s)
• Allyship: Standing up for equality
• How to make the workplace/space more inclusive for everyone

The workshop was conducted by Jarred Kennedy-Loving, a Boston-born educator who facilitates various professional development workshops and consultations for teachers, social workers, and organizations seeking to understand the importance of anti-discrimination work. Jarred has an M.A. in Gender Studies and currently resides in Berlin.

From my side, it’s extremely important to work in a place that is welcoming and accepting of everyone, and that makes an active effort towards diversity. So thank you to the People & Culture team for organizing the workshop.

GameDuell Team Member

We received feedback that the team enjoyed the workshop a lot and it brought clarity to a couple of concepts that the team were not totally sure about. We especially enjoyed chatting with our team about this topic in an intimate, small round and getting to know everyone's perspective.

We would like to follow up on ideas we collected during the workshop such as:

• introduce formats such as panel discussions with expert speakers in relation to gaming
• host an information desk together with a relevant organization
• make our support more visible by hanging up posters with information on organizations that work on queer topics and signs that we support the community
• how to provide information about preferred pronouns

Read next: Welcome to GameDuell! Great to have you with us!

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