Laura Kate Dale is an English

video game journalist Video game journalism (also called games journalism or video game criticism) is a specialized branch of journalism that covers various aspects of video games, including game reviews, industry news, and player culture, typically following a core ...

, author and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. She is known for writing about the

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

and

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

communities in relation to video games and for her video game industry leaks. Many of her topics tackle accessibility for

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

players and LGBTQ+ representation.

Game journalism

Dale has worked at gaming site ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...

''. Dale was also the news editor for gaming site ''

Kotaku UK ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' for almost two years. She left the position in June 2019 to pursue other projects. She has also written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Dale is known for her videogame leaks. She leaked the existence of '' Until Dawn: Rush of Blood'' in 2015 and the PlayStation 4 Slim in 2016. She also leaked details about the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and ''

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...

''. Dale was awarded inclusion in MCV's 30 Under 30 list in 2015. The same year she was a finalist for MCV's Games Media Awards 2015 Rising Star. In 2019 she was a finalist for the MCV Women in Games Awards.

Books

Dale has published five books. Her first book is ''Things I Learned from Mario's Butt: A Series of Gaming Butt Critiques'', which was funded on the crowdfunding website Unbound in 2018. Her second book, a memoir called ''Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman'', was published by

Jessica Kingsley Publishers Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP) is a multinational publishing house headquartered in London. It was founded as an independent publisher in 1987 by Jessica Kingsley. Since 2017, JKP operates as an imprint of John Murray Press. History Early ...

in 2019. Her third book, ''Gender Euphoria: Stories of Joy from Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex Writers'', which was crowdfunded through Unbound and exceeded its funding goal, was published in 2021. It was intended as a counterpoint to the focus so often placed on the negative aspects of being trans, such as

gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to inconsistency between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender i ...

, and was instead written "to show the world the sheer variety of ways being non

cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...

can be a beautiful, joyful experience". Dale's fourth book, ''Who Hunts the Whale'', is co-written by her wife Jane Magnet, and being funded through the crowdfunding publisher Unbound. ''Who Hunts the Whale'' is Dale's first work of fiction. The website summary reads, "''Who Hunts the Whale'' is a completely fictional, entirely made-up novel set in the imaginary world of the video gaming industry. Written with a

gamer A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...

's wit and an insider's precision, it holds the real-world business up to a carnival

house of mirrors A house of mirrors or hall of mirrors is a traditional attraction at funfairs (carnivals) and amusement parks. It is a maze-like puzzle (made out of a myriad of mirrors). In addition to the maze, participants are also given mirrors as obstacle ...

, to give a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

look at the human cost of a rapacious market that must constantly be fed new content." Dale's fifth book, '' Me and My Dysphoria Monster'', is an children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

about the experiences of gender dysphoria in childhood. The book was illustrated by Ang Hui Qing, and published by

in August 2022.

Activism

Dale collaborated with former founder of the Trans Rights Collective UK (disbanded in 2020), Felix Fern, in 2021 to co-organise a 'trans rights' protest outside

Downing Street Downing Street is a gated street in City of Westminster, Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a cul-de-sac situated off Whiteh ...

in London on 6 August 2021, calling on the government to implement better rights and equality for transgender and non-binary people in the United Kingdom. The protest featured a roster of speakers including prominent UK trans activists such as Fox Fisher and

Roz Kaveney Roz Kaveney (born 9 July 1949) is a British writer, critic, and poet, best known for her critical works about pop culture and for being a core member of the Midnight Rose collective. Kaveney's works include fiction and non-fiction, poetry, revi ...

as well as Dale herself, and was attended by the British human rights campaigner

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

. She has since been part of other activism projects such as writing an open letter to the BBC that was signed by over 20,000 people, calling for them to be held accountable for publishing the article originally titled

"We're being pressured into sex by some trans women" "We're being pressured into sex by some trans women" is the original title of a BBC News article written by Caroline Lowbridge and published on 26 October 2021. Produced by the BBC's BBC English Regions, regional service in Nottingham, the arti ...

, which the letter greatly criticized for, among other things, publishing the results of a study that the letter labelled as "deeply flawed".

Personal life

Dale is transgender and married to podcaster Jane Magnet. The couple, who are both train enthusiasts, married in August 2021 on board an

Avanti West Coast First Trenitalia West Coast Rail, trading name, trading as Avanti West Coast, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership. In November 2016, the Department for Tra ...

train after winning a competition for a train-based wedding. The couple had planned to marry sooner but had delayed their plans due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the requirement to obtain

Gender Recognition Certificate The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an Act of Parliament, act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows adults in the United Kingdom who have gender dysphoria to change their legal sex. It came into effect on 4 April 2005. Backgroun ...

s in order to marry as women. Dale has

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple con ...

and

aphantasia Aphantasia ( , ) is the inability to voluntarily visualize mental images. The phenomenon was first described by Francis Galton in 1880, but has remained relatively unstudied. Interest in the phenomenon renewed after the publication of a study ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, Laura Kate 1990s births Living people 21st-century English journalists 21st-century English memoirists 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers Transgender women writers Video game critics Women video game critics Autistic writers English writers with disabilities People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder English transgender writers Transgender journalists Transgender novelists Transgender memoirists British women memoirists English LGBTQ journalists English LGBTQ novelists English lesbian writers Lesbian journalists Lesbian novelists Lesbian memoirists The Guardian journalists English children's writers LGBTQ writers with disabilities Autistic LGBTQ people Transgender people with disabilities English transgender women