Sociology Spring 2025 Final

The goal of this project was to create a game in the style of an issue brief, where the problems, solutions, direction, and recommendations were portrayed through the game itself, instead of explicitly. The primary goal of the project was to make the information entertaining to receive, and while I think that I somewhat met that goal, in doing so the main purpose of my paper was diluted. Given the chance to redo this paper, I would probably either choose to do it as a paper, or start this project much much earlier than I did. While a fair amount of the time with this project was research and writing, the majority of it was developing and troubleshooting, which ended up adding a huge amount of unnecessary time to the project. 

Here is a brief overview of the parts of the game and their corresponding sections of the paper:

The beginning (with Goo McGee) 

This point is entirely the problem statement. While it should probably also include the abstract in some way, I couldn’t find a way to make the dialogue flow when including it

The library (with Green Gary)

This point is a proposed solution. The proposed solution is to provide educators with Professional Development for trans issues. This would expose educators who might not know anything about trans right to become supporters, and overall would allow educators to better support trans youth through their knowledge on the matter.

The void (with The Orb)

This point is also a proposed solution. The proposed solution is the creation of specific school level policies to support inclusion, with the example being used policies regarding bathrooms. This idea is further solidified through the use of a small minigame section, which portrays what it’s like to be in the position of a trans person looking for a bathroom to use. 

The ending (with Goo McGee again)

The ending is a mix of future direction and recommendations. 

GLSEN. (2020). The 2019 National School Climate Survey executive summary: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in our nation’s schools. Retrieved from https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/NSCS-2019-Executive-Summary-En... 

Statista. (n.d.). Trans students reporting supportive school policies in the United States. Retrieved May 10, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1557286/trans-students-reporting-supportive-school-policies-us/

Lin, L., Horowitz, J. M., Hurst, K., & Braga, D. (2024, February 22). Race and LGBTQ issues in K‑12 schools: What teachers, teens and the U.S. public say about current curriculum debates. Pew Research Center. Retrieved May 10, 2025, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/02/22/race-and-lgbtq-issues-in-k-12-schools/

Francis, J., Sachan, P., Waters, Z., Trapp, G., Pearce, N., Burns, S., Lin, A., & Cross, D. (2022). Gender‑neutral toilets: A qualitative exploration of inclusive school environments for sexuality and gender diverse youth in Western Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10089. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610089 

GLSEN. (2022, September). Educating educators: The state of LGBTQ+-inclusive teaching in teacher education programs. Retrieved May 10, 2025, from https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/GLSEN_Educating_Educators_092022.pdf

Movement Advancement Project. (n.d.). Bans on transgender people using bathrooms and facilities [Equality Maps]. Retrieved May 10, 2025, from https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/nondiscrimination/bathroom_bans