D&D livestream to raise money for Mermaids, a charity supporting trans and non-binary youth
Featuring LGBTQ+ YouTube creators and blog writers.
A Dungeons & Dragons actual play livestream is set to raise money for Mermaids, a UK based charity dedicated to supporting trans and non-binary youth.
Called Playing D&D for Mermaids, the charity stream is part of Digipride 2021 - an online event hosted by Gayming Magazine that features livestreams, podcasts, panels and digital drag shows in support of the LGBTQ+ community - and will be sponsored by Wizards of the Coast, the publisher responsible for releasing Dungeons & Dragons as well as trading card game Magic: The Gathering.
The charity session will be run by Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (she/her) who is an actress and a host on a podcast called Three Black Halflings, which focuses on discussing the importance of diversity and inclusion within Dungeons & Dragons.
Joining her will be a cast of five other players, including Shaaba (she/her) - an online creator and doctoral researcher on social media and how it affects mental health - doctoral researcher and transgender creator Jammi Dodger (he/him), Rowan Ellis (she/her) - a YouTube creator who makes videos on LGBTQ+ issues, history and pop culture - writer and co-curater of Black and Gay, Back in the Day, Jason Okundaye (he/him), and Charity Kase (she/her) a drag performer who specialises in subverting the social standards of beauty.
The live-stream’s cast of characters are yet to be confirmed, with the graphic art for the event (see above) being created by Freddie Lanka, director of the London Queer Youth Art Collective.
Mermaids is a charity based within the UK which works to help transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse youth find secure local and online communities. Launching in 1995, Mermaids seeks to “educate and inform” society on the importance of gender identity and to advocate for greater acceptance of, and rights for, trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people.
The Playing D&D for Mermaids livestream will be airing on August 19th at 7PM BST (2pm EST) simultaneously on both YouTube and Twitch, with the audience able to donate to a Tiltify page throughout the event.