STATEMENT FROM MAHO! CODY, MEDIA STRATEGIST
What's up, gamers?!
The 2026 Power of Pride Bundle is now at an end, raising just about $300 each for a group who (to quote our marketing) will likely use it to get groceries. I hope, on their next trip, they find something nice and don't have to worry about if it's on sale.
For my first-ever stint as a bundle volunteer, I took up the role of "Media Strategist," which essentially was building a framework for outreach while letting the queer people handle the actual outreach. It was a balance of lending my project management expertise while keeping the center focus on the needs of the queer community featured in the bundle. I got through 5 seasons of Columbo just handling the media contact spreadsheet. It was a lot of work! I'm very impressed by the tenacity of the team and our ability to get everything moving in time for June. Now that we've established what Power of Pride is supposed to be, I think we're in a good position to do even better with more notice, more experience, and more planning.
Some of you might be asking, "Cody, you're a straight white cis male. And because of your straightness, and your non-commercial agreement with SAG-AFTRA, you can't even monetize Defeat the Darkness DATE! (voice acting update available now!). Why are you making all this effort to put money in the hands of queer people?"
It's no secret what our administration is trying to do. There are more bills in US legislature about trans athletes than there are actual trans athletes. We watch mobile games like Zenless Zone Zero and Clash of Clans blatantly fetishize their characters while real sex workers and porn artists are sidelined by payment processors inserting themselves as extra-governmental arbiters of what is and is not acceptable. We watch Elon Musk, the world's richest man, poison the air and water of a suburb in Tennessee so his false god can generate nude images of real people without their consent while these same payment processors turn a blind eye. We are witnessing the 1% flagrantly press their boot on our autonomy and our freedom to create.
I've read the poem. First They Came. And first, our administration has come for the trans people and the immigrants. And I said, "Fuck that, this world is way better with trans people and immigrants in it!" Anyone who's had Korean BBQ would agree. Anyone who's watched a movie from the Disney Renaissance would agree. Anyone who, like me, was stuck at a family function with The Big Bang Theory on nonstop loop because it was "Agreeable" will agree with me.
The tech fascists can't agree with the christofascists about the role of AI. Other right-wing governments can't agree with the US on porn (Japan) or have fallen apart (Hungary). Do the racist among the poor in the US find themselves in a better place this year, as Trump has only allowed in white immigrants from South Africa? Doubtful.
The future is still struggling to be formed. The UK's recent anti-trans and anti-privacy legislation has not been positive, but there's plenty of hope and potential in tomorrow for those willing to look.
Today sucks, but tomorrow might not.
Only one way to find out…
And for the love of God, try something from the bundle before you expose yourself to The Big Bang Theory.
Thank you to all staff/volunteers/partners who made this possible.
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