[Pride 2022] Gayly Helpful 2022 Begins

Well, it’s been a year since the last time we began the Gayly Helpful fundraiser and, honestly, I was hoping that things would be different around the country. The first two years we ran Gayly Helpful, we focused on the Trevor Project but swapped to the Transgender Law Center in 2021 because of the anti-trans bills making their way across the country. This year, the world doesn’t look a whole lot different, unfortunately. We’re still seeing threats to women, POC, queer and other marginalized communities. It’s hard sometimes to see the positive in anything when the world seems poised to crush you.

But we’re still here.

And we can still do some good.

Donation Link is Live

Because while things are dark, I can see pinpoints of light. I’m not going to lie. This year has been hard on me, as I’m sure it’s been hard on a lot of people. I’ve been struggling to find motivation. There was a moment when I thought maybe I wouldn’t have the mental capacity or bandwidth to put Gayly Helpful on this year, but as I looked back through the articles published since 2019 for the fundraising event, I felt inspired by my community.

Yes, “the horror community” is a crowd of various ideologies, interests and thoughts on horror and the world in general. But within those crowds, we can make little pockets of community. It’s what queer people have done since the beginning of time: find our people and hold onto them, no matter what. Regardless of whether or not we fight or hold grudges within our little community, we are a family of people who have been resilient in the face of oppression. And we share that, whether we want to admit it or not. So while I looked through the dozens upon dozens of articles published for the first three Gayly Helpfuls, I found energy to push through.

And, if you’re struggling, I hope these articles will do that for you.

For the month of June, we’ll be posting at least one article a day from a queer writer. Throughout the month of June, some podcasters will be releasing episodes dedicated to the fundraiser. We’ll also have a few events and hopefully some Twitch streaming. All while we try to raise funds for the Transgender Law Center.

From their site: Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation.

The fundraiser is now live and ready to take your donations. We are using Tiltify, which collects the funds and sends them directly to the Transgender Law Center. It also is streaming friendly and so if you are a Twitch streamer or know someone who is who wants to run events to raise funds, please get in touch with me or Graves and we can add you to the team.

The direct link to donate is right here.

Articles will post throughout June at 11 AM Central. On days where we may have a second article, they’ll post at 2 PM Central. Make sure to follow along on Twitter and Instagram with the #GaylyHelpful2022 hashtag. Please read, like and RT all of the social media posts with articles. And donate because, at the end of the day, that’s what makes this whole thing possible. If you tweet about something, tag me and/or use the #GaylyHelpful2022 hashtag.

Let’s break through the crowd and show what the queer horror community and our allies can do.

PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO THE GAYLY HELPFUL FUNDRAISER FOR THE TRANSGENDER LAW CENTER