

Lev has been kicked out of his religious community known as the Seraphites for shaving his head and identifying as male. How does deadnaming come up in TLOU 2? Lev is an adolescent who befriends Abby during her treacherous adventure in Seattle. This practice is harmful because it constitutes “an invasion of privacy that only serves to undermine the trans person’s true authentic identity, and can put them at risk for discrimination, even violence.”

What is deadnaming? GLAAD Director of Transgender Representation Nick Adams has defined deadnaming as “To reveal a transgender person’s birth name without their explicit permission,” to T he New York Times. This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II. In a game already dealing with fabricated controversy from the far-right corners of the gaming community and relative silence on why the developers chose to portray these issues in this manner, The Last of Us Part II’s actually legitimate deadnaming controversy reveals that even progressive developers have a long way to go. However, the game’s decision to deadname a transgender character - Lev, played by trans actor Ian Alexander - has also prompted condemnation from members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. The Last of Us Part II is a controversial game, and much of that controversy has been fueled by bigotry toward developer Naughty Dog’s foregrounding of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming characters.
