Help LGBTQ+children stay safe while playing games
Explore tips on helping LGBTQ+ children make safer, smarter choices while gaming online.
Quick safety tips
Read these tips to learn strategies to keep your LGBT+ child as safe as possible when gaming.
Set parental controls
Customise your child's gaming experience across consoles, stores and games to keep them safe and happy.
Play together
Spend time together playing games they enjoy as well as new games to learn about their interests and model positive behaviour.
Review online risks
Regularly reviewing online risks and how to navigate them can help your child develop digital resilience and online safety skills.
Inside this guide
- Challenges for LGBTQ+ children
- Benefits and risks
- How to prevent potential harm
- How to deal with harmful issues
- Activities to do together
Challenges for LGBT+ children
Online multiplayer games are a key part of many children’s lives, and they can be very beneficial for children, offering them a space to play and socialize. However, games with chat functions can expose them to cyberbullying, abuse, and exploitation.
This is especially concerning for LGBTQ+ children, who could face homophobic abuse. Additionally, as gaming is historically strongly male-oriented, girls regularly face gendered abuse and sexist/misogynistic remarks and behaviours, that can be sexual in nature.
They might:
- hesitate to report hate speech for fear of losing community
- struggle to manage personal information, even potentially being outed
- begin spending more time gaming than they should, to spend time with community
Benefits and risks for LGBTQ+ children
Gaming has become increasingly common and inclusive among children, and it can offer a social experience and sense community.
There are many benefits to gaming for LGBT+ children, but they must be aware of the risks too.
Benefits of playing video games
Developing skills
Finding a hobby that your child enjoys, especially if they are LGBTQ+, can be empowering for them. It helps them develop their skills, express themselves, and interact with others confidently.
Maintaining relationships
It can strengthen their relationships with friends who share their gaming interests, helping them feel safer to come out or embrace who they are amongst friends.
Finding community
Some children may develop friendships with those they meet in games. Though this does involve them conversing with strangers, there is evidence these friendships can be meaningful.
Risks of gaming online
Remaining aware of the risks that come with online gaming, especially for LGBTQ+ children who could be the victims of abuse, can help minimise the danger.
With online gaming, there are several types of risks to consider.
Content risks
There are a wide range of video games available, catering for players of all ages and fans of all genres. Most popular consoles now have options for game passes which allow users to purchase a subscription that gives access to a vast library of games.
Unfortunately, some of these games might contain content risks.
If no parental controls or filters are set, your child might come across adult content. This might be intentional or by mistake. Some games might seem perfectly appropriate for a child, but unexpectedly include scenes that are not.
In multiplayer games with open chats, other gamers might make inappropriate comments that a child might not understand and be confused by.
Children will often mimic things they see or hear, so this could cause problems with offline socialising.
Contact risks
If your child plays multiplayer video games with chat functions, they are at a greater risk of the following contact risks.
Bullying is a cause for concern within online gaming, with most children experiencing it. This can have a considerable impact on a young person’s mental health.
Witnessing hate speech is also a risk, especially if an LGBTQ+ child or young person is openly out within the online gaming arena.
Almost half of young people have received unwanted sexual contact in an online game.
Conduct risks
Playing games meant for people above their age range or participating in potentially harmful activities are examples of conduct risks. The below conduct risks might impact LGBTQ+ children and young people more.
Children are likely to use online gaming to connect with friends and peers outside of school.
Going online for gaming is social, and they might have a community of friends there that they are unwilling to give up, especially if they are connecting with those people solely online. This can lead to them playing more than they should.
Having personal information shared in an online game is another general risk for children and young people, and some children may share their own information without understanding the risks.
Being outed in an online gaming environment is something that LGBTQ+ children and young people are at risk of that others are not.
LGBTQ+ children may hesitate to report hate speech in online games for fear of losing their hobby or community. Those who aren’t out yet may find it intimidating to discuss such issues, fearing it could reveal their LGBTQ+ identity.
How to prevent potential harm
Use these tools and strategies to help your LGBTQ+ child get the most out of their gaming experience and prevent potential harm.
Actions to take
Create an agreement
To help develop good gaming habits, agree on a set of boundaries to help them understand who they can play with online, what games they can play and how long they can play. Display these rules near their gaming device to make it easier for them to become habitual.
Check PEGI age ratings
PEGI ratings can help you learn what kind of content a game might contain along with suitability by age. Reviewing these ratings can help you and your child choose video games that are suitable for their needs and abilities for a safe and positive gaming experience.
Teach how to report
Talk to your child about their favourite games and research how to report abuse in those games. Knowing the reporting processes for each platform will give you peace of mind and prepare you to take action if needed.
Use parental controls
Most consoles and platforms have parental controls or safety settings that you can apply to children’s accounts to manage their safety.
Play together
To understand why your child might risk harassment in a game, try playing it with them. This helps you see what they enjoy—whether it’s strategy, competition, or social interaction. It’s a great bonding opportunity and gives you insight into the risks that occur in a regular session, including inappropriate language and interactions.
Try different games
Encourage them to try new games and games that help them learn. Some games can teach children to code, problem-solve or even read. A new game might even ignite a new passion.
Conversations to have
Engage in conversation with your child about gaming, to greater understand what they are doing when playing online, and so that they feel comfortable coming to you if they have a concern.
Here are some conversations to have for safe online gaming.
What do they enjoy? What would they change if they could? Who do they communicate with the most when they play?
Asking them directly if they have been bullied or have perpetrated bullying is not likely to elicit a truthful answer as they might be fearful that access to the game will be taken away. Instead, asking if they have ever witnessed it generally will help you gauge if it is happening where they play.
When they game – do they use their real name? Real age? Gender identity or sexual orientation? Remind them it’s up to them what they feel comfortable sharing with others online.
Discuss with your child the risks of oversharing their sexuality in online games, including potential abuse or hate speech. The goal is to protect them against abuse, not to make them feel ashamed of their sexuality. However, even if they keep their identity private, such insults might still occur.
How to deal with harmful issues
If your child does experience a harm while playing video games online, there are things you can do to help them deal with it:
- Report and block users. Before playing any games, read through the game’s rules through the Terms of Service or Community Guidelines. Then teach your child how to use the reporting or blocking tools if they think a user breaks those rules. Remind your child that this is an anonymous process, and no one will know they did the reporting.
- Get support. If someone is bullying or giving hate to your child in a game, get support. If the perpetrator attends your child’s school, report it to the school. Give them support through conversation or guiding them towards helplines like Childline. Parents can also find support for themselves through Kidscape or Family Lives parent helplines.
- Seek out single-player options. Banning games completely can result in children missing out on important benefits. Instead, see if there are any appealing single-player options to remove contact risks that come with playing against strangers online. You can also more closely supervise play time, set additional parental controls or play together.
Activities to do with your LGBTQ+ child
Help your child develop safe online gaming habits with these activities that you can do together.

Get personalised advice and ongoing support
The first step to ensure your child’s online safety is getting the right guidance. We’ve made it easy with our ‘My Family’s Digital Toolkit.’