PRIDE MONTH CHARITY AUCTION

An interview with Gay Interference Crafts

Small businesses come together to raise money for Pride charities

We had the pleasure of asking Gay Interference Crafts some questions about their upcoming charity auction, featuring a whole host of small businesses including many Hub brands! The auction runs from June 4th - 11th June 2022 over on ttrpgbay.com

Tell us about yourself!

Hi, my name is Samuel. I’m a gay trans man and the owner of Gay Interference Crafts. I make handmade dice for tabletop RPG and pen and paper games, and I especially love designing custom dice for characters. I first started making dice with a good friend about three years ago, and it stuck with me. When I don’t make dice, I love to do 3D printing and dabble in other crafts, and I regularly volunteer work in my local LGBTQIA+ centre.

How do you feel about LGBTQAI+ representation in tabletop RPGs?

I’ve only played a handful of different RPG’s, and I always found that system-wise, by and large they lack any representation, however because all the people I play with are LGBTQIA+ as well, our games tend to be full of representation, because that’s just who we are! One of my biggest issues with representation is that, despite the wide range of fantasy worlds and race options, they all just happen to have the same concept of binary gender that our society does. So, I wish there were systems where some species just don’t have a concept of gender, or have way more than two genders that are deemed “normal” in society. Of course, we are all free to make it that way in our home games, but I wish there was more canon representation.

Do you have any suggestions for ways to increase diversity in our games?

I think a great way to bring more representation to the table is to consider and ask about sexuality, gender and romantic attraction at the table when creating a character. For example, when you introduce a new PC or NPC, ask what pronouns they use. If you play a male character don’t assume you can now romance a female character just because you roll high enough. If you are not included in that character’s sexuality no amount of natural 20s will change that. Generally diversifying your world as a DM is a fantastic tool, there is room for so many interesting plot lines if we just leave the cis-hetero-normativity of our society behind. For players, be aware that playing a character of a minority identity that isn’t your own does not mean you suddenly understand all the struggles this minority is going through. A very important point is that some of us use reclaimed slurs in our language because that impowers us, please do not use these slurs “in character” if you are not a target of that slur in real life. Being more diverse in games is a great way to practice in real life. If DMs create characters that use pronouns other than he and she, players get to practice the correct use of those pronouns and are better equipped at doing so in real life. Please note that not all LGTBQIA+ people will have the same opinions on this, this is purely my opinion from personal experience and conversations with my friends and chosen family. If you are looking for more help with this, I am always open to questions.

So, why an auction for Pride Month?

There are so many small charities all over the world that do very important work but often struggle to get by financially, so I really wanted to focus on those as opposed to the more well-known groups. In Germany for example, we hugely depend on those places for vital educational work. Seeing organisations like this constantly struggling with money, pushing back amazing projects due to a lack of funding, and having to discuss dissolving the associations due to a lack of funding breaks my heart.

Which charities did you choose?

We have chosen two smaller charities, one in New Jersey, USA and one in my hometown of Halle, Germany. The first one is HiTOPS, located in Princeton, New Jersey. HiTOPS “fosters strong and healthy young people of all identities by providing inclusive and youth-informed sex education and LGBTQ+ support for young people throughout New Jersey.” The second is BBZ “lebensart” e.V., a centre for meeting and consultation in the LGBTQIA+ Community in Halle, Germany, somewhere I have been volunteering with for years now. They are doing educational work at local schools, having run workshops with hundreds of school classes already. The centre hosts several support groups, a queer youth group, trans* youth group, queer and faith group, and a polyamory group just to name a few. They also provide one-on-one consultation for members of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as their friends and relatives, be it on coming out, transitioning, sexuality, or struggles with bullying and harassment.

This is a big collaborative auction? Tell us more about who’s taking part!

We have dice, dice bags, Dice trays, art commissions, and other small crafts by: Arcane Wizardry, Arcanum Dice, Anonymous Cardboard Box, Axolotl Dice, Chaotic Good Dice, Critical Circus, Critical Miss Dice, Dawn Spirit Dice, Dice Monkey, Divine Soul Dice, DND-214, Dyadic Inpirations, Eeyowen's Doodles, Gay Interference Crafts, Geckohedron, GG Dice, Griffin Stitches, Imaginarium Dice, Normal Human, M.S. Illustration, Nighthawk Dice, Pact Magic Dice, Portable Hole Boxes, Qweerosaurus, Resin MI, SailorZCreations, Sunspell Dice, Tremendous Textiles, Void Dweller Dice, Wyvn Bazaar, Xolotl Dice

Who are three Hub brands you recommend that are LGBTQIA+ owned or representing?

Geckohedron, Portable Hole Boxes, and Sugar Bee Dice.

What’s one thing people can focus on to improve representation in their games?

Representation matters! You may think it doesn’t, you may think there is no one in your game whom it matters to, but you can never know. Maybe having a bunch of non-binary NPCs makes one of your players finally feel comfortable enough to come out. Maybe they learn in your game to be more tolerant in real life. All those things matter, and that’s a difference you can make!

Are there other ways for people to support Pride?

Use this Pride Month to educate yourself and your friends. Read articles or posts about different LGBTQIA+ identities, look for local charities to support, or research Pride parades you may be able to help with. For you gaming table, how about this Pride Month you make a list of at least 10 identities that have not been included in your games so far, and plan how to include them in the future.

Thank you so much for talking with us today! Is there anything else you’d like to finish off with?

I want to say thank you to everyone participating in the Pride Auction, it really means a lot to me! I hope you have an amazing Pride Month and enjoy the auction! You can take part in the auction over on ttrpgbay.com between 4th June (15:00 Pacific) - 11th June (15:00 Pacific).