March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility – a time to celebrate the achievements of trans people, and to acknowledge the discrimination they still face in all corners of the world. Even as prominent voices stand up for trans rights, lawmakers in places like Texas continue to alienate and discriminate against vulnerable trans people – including children. In an effort to better support trans people in this region, tabletop game developers recently teamed up to form an itch.io bundle for charity – and it’s well worth donating to.
The TTRPGs for Trans Rights in Texas! bundle, organised by advocate Rue with the help of HuetopiaTV, was created in direct response to anti-trans declarations made by Texas governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Attorney General Office.
Abbott called for ‘abuse investigations‘ to be carried out against parents who allowed their children to receive gender-affirming care – and was later sued by civil rights organisations who rightfully recognised the extreme harm these orders would cause.
While this directive was stopped before it could begin, it’s horrifying that it was issued at all.
The itch.io charity bundle aims to raise awareness of the vulnerability of transgender people, particularly children, with proceeds going towards advocacy and aid organisations Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and Organización Latina de Trans en Texas (OLTT).
TENT supports gender equality in Texas through education and community, and provides emergency relief for trans people needing support, including relocation. OLTT works to create safe spaces for trans, gender non-conforming and intersex people in Texas via shelter, legal aid and other community services.
Read: Representation in video games starts offscreen
The itch.io bundle includes 493 tabletop RPG games, all developed by a diverse range of people.
In Cyber Companion Cemetery, you can journey through a tale of lost digital pets. In The Glass Dream Game, you’ll forge a utopia built on the scars of war and apocalypse. In You, an Astronaut, you’ll be sent adrift into the realm of space.
Damn the Man is a tabletop odyssey where you’ll need to run a record store, all while paying off your debt, promoting shows and accomplishing your personal goals.
Each tabletop game included in this bundle represents a diverse and unique story – there’s so much creativity and joy to be found in indie games like these. That purchasing the bundle goes directly towards supporting trans rights is just an added bonus.
You can purchase all 493 games in the bundle for the extremely low price of US $5.00 (AU $6.60).
So far, the bundle has raised US $388,789 of its total US $420,000 goal.
