Nintendo’s “Birdo” is NOT a Trans Icon

<p>The character &ldquo;Birdo&rdquo; premiered in the Mario-verse in 1988 in the Nintendo game&nbsp;<em>Super Mario Bros. 2</em>. She is a pink dinosaur-like creature of the same species as Yoshi, steed sidekick to protagonist Mario. Sources such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2018/2/02/25-lgbt-video-game-characters" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">The Advocate</a>&nbsp;have described her as one of the first trans characters in the video game industry, but there&rsquo;s an obvious problem with this characterization.</p> <p>While many fans identify with her, the Nintendo company has yet to fully embrace Birdo as trans. The company instead has waffled on how to treat her character &mdash; sometimes depicted using &ldquo;she&rdquo;; other times &ldquo;it&rdquo;; always unaccepted &mdash; her depiction underlines a contentious issue in both fandoms and media consumption alike:</p> <p>What types of representation are valid?</p> <p>Do you call out Nintendo&rsquo;s transphobic characterization for what it is, or do you accept the interpretation of her fans?</p> <p>And how does this rewriting of history shape the video game community&rsquo;s collective understanding of queer history?</p> <p><a href="https://alexhasopinions.medium.com/nintendos-birdo-is-not-a-trans-icon-326dd4c08f2c"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>