Well, we’ve come to the end of another one. Pride Month 2023 is over this week, and what a wild ride it’s been. Here at ToughPigs, we shared a ton of articles with you all. We interviewed and profiled four amazing queer puppeteers: Morgana Ignis, Stoph Scheer, Kira Hall, and Ali J. Eisner. We shared our queer reads on The Dark Crystal and the Muppets as a whole. And of course, we implored you to take media bans seriously, especially given the equality-minded nature of Henson’s work.
However, the most important thing we’ve been doing this month is raising money for charities. As you know, we’ve been selling t-shirts, pins, and conducting a contest to raise money for two LGBTQ organizations in the Southern US: Equality Florida and the Campaign for Southern Equality. We finished everything off with a fundraising livestream, which featured some silly Muppet art and special guests nonbinary Back to the Rock puppeteer Ali J. Eisner and Muppet replica builder Emily Engel. Plus, we were all surprised by a special chat appearance from Rachel Hunt, the sister of queer Muppet icon Richard Hunt.
We also announced the winners of our fundraiser prizes: Becca’s Richard Hunt magnets, Emily’s Janice replica, and a surprise bonus gift: some set-used Doozer sticks graciously donated by Ali J. Eisner.
The full video is currently available on our YouTube if you want to see our fun games and hear a little from some cool people!
So how much did we raise? All together, from your donations to our contest plus the pride merch we sold, we raised $2,500, divided between the two charities.
Truly, we couldn’t be happier with all our help and contributions. This is a phenomenal donation we’re able to make, and it’s all because of you.
As I’ve written time and time again, things are rough right now for queer people in the United States. Some things have gotten better this month. The courts are declaring many bans on gender affirming care unconstitutional. My home state of NY enhanced its protections for trans youth, something I’m incredibly grateful for. Other states have followed suit.
However, many things have stayed the same, or even gotten worse, especially in the South.
Still, one thing that gives me hope is the kindness of all of you. When we work together, we truly can accomplish great things. The money we raised will help queer kids like me who are just trying to be themselves in an increasingly hostile world. It makes me feel so much better about the world to know how many generous and compassionate people still live in it.
So from the bottom of my heart, I truly thank you all for joining us for this Pride Month.
Contest winners, you’ve been alerted via email! Take a look!
Click here to take pride in your work on the ToughPigs forum!
by Becca Petunia
