Gay Monopoly (1983) and Representation in Board Game Collecting

In 1983, the "Parker Sisters," a subsidiary of Fire Island Games, published the unlicensed board game Gay Monopoly (1983). A parody of the ubiquitous Parker Brothers board game Monopoly, Gay Monopoly both adopts and subverts the traditional structure. Instead of top hats, race cars, Scottie dogs, and battleships, the tokens in this game include a stiletto heel, leather cap, a jeep, and handcuffs. The houses and hotels are shifted to bathhouses and bars, and the properties and currency feature locations and icons important to the 1980s gay community.

Yet this game is much more than a superficial parody. Gay Monopoly was clearly created with deep affection for its intended audience, with "Family Pride" and "Camp" cards that emphasize togetherness and belonging. First developed as a fundraiser in response to the AIDS crisis, Gay Monopoly is full of humor and joy, inside jokes and handkerchief codes, and it has much to tell us about LGBTQIA+ identity in the 1980s.

This presentation will also explore the challenges of building a representative board game collection at an academic library--including the definition of LGBTQAI+ board games, the question of identities and who gets to define a board game as "LGBTQAI+," how identities and communities change over time, and what representation means in the context of library, archival, and personal collections.