Nicely people, we’ve come to the tip of one other Delight Month. And as all the time, we have been very busy bringing you articles concerning the LGBTQ+ individuals in your neighborhood and the problems all of us face. We spoke with Charley Feldman about their profession and expertise writing “I’m Pogey” for Fraggle Rock: Again to the Rock. We talked about Something Muppets as a metaphor for nonbinary individuals. We mentioned why there aren’t extra queer Muppets. And lastly, we talked a few traditional Sesame Avenue episode that taught us about range and rainbows.
However in fact, as all the time, we’re proudest of the work all of us did to boost cash for charities. As we did final yr, this yr we supported True Colours United, The Trevor Venture, and Advocates for Trans Equality. We raised cash for these charities via gross sales of LGBTQ+ merch, but in addition via a donation contest. As you keep in mind, you may have donated to those charities to have the ability to win a ton of prizes, starting from Labyrinth prop replicas to prints to a penguin puppet!
We completed all the pieces off with a fundraising livestream, which featured foolish Muppet artwork, trivia, and particular visitor stars from across the Muppet fan artwork group, plus Stoph Scheer and Jacob Graham from The Creatures of Sure. On the stream, we additionally introduced the winners of all our prizes.
In case you missed the stream, or wish to relive it, you may test our the total video on our YouTube!
However right here’s the true thrilling information. This yr, because of your assist, we raised $5,410.81 for these three charities.
Let that sink in. Muppet followers raised nearly $5.5k to assist LGBTQ+ individuals. That’s greater than we raised in 2023 and 2024 mixed. At a time when LGBTQ+ persons are coping with an unprecedented degree of discriminatory laws on the federal degree, Muppet followers reminded us as soon as once more that compassion nonetheless exists, and that we are able to all the time be the helpers we want.
Let me let you know a bit story earlier than we wrap up.
Like I stated, proper now LGBTQ+ persons are dealing with a lot hatred. Take it from me, an out and proud transgender lady: it may be isolating to really feel like everybody within the nation is out to get you. However this yr, on June 29, I obtained two reminders that this isn’t the case. Firstly, I had the privilege of being invited to march with our buddies at Sesame Workshop within the New York Metropolis Delight Parade, courtesy of their great 123 Proud worker group.
The parade felt limitless. Block after block, miles of individuals of all ages, races, and genders screaming and waving flags. Extra individuals than I may even describe, too many to {photograph} or videotape. All of those individuals, reminding one another that we’re a large group of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. We aren’t alone, and collectively we’re loud, robust, and might do nice issues.
That night, I went residence to do our livestream, and discovered that the identical was true of us Muppet followers. Collectively, we did one thing unbelievable. We aren’t alone. We aren’t small.
So from the underside of my coronary heart, thanks for being part of this. It’s a scary time, however we’ve obtained us.
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by Becca Petunia
