With June being Pride Month with rainbow icons all around, it was certainly a surprise to see the official Guild Wars 2 newsletter promoting Tyria Pride, an in-game march to raise money for charity. Having only recently returned to the game, I hadn’t known it was an annual affair, but the fact that it was getting featured here, alongside a fitting blog post talking about the story of Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade (spoilers for End of Dragons), it only seemed right I should write at least a little about it.

Here’s the JustGiving page for Tyria Pride for Rainbow Railroad, the charity of choice:

Story

Tyria Pride is an in-game march through Tyria, aimed at showing support for our LGBTQ+ friends & guildies, and raising funds for Rainbow Railroad, a non-profit organisation that helps LGBTQ individuals escape persecution and violence!

Why We March

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We march primarily to show our support for gender and sexual minority players, some of which have found Guild Wars 2 to be one of a few safe places to simply be themselves and get away from the hardships they face in the outside world.

Allies and proponents of equality for all are especially welcome to attend, as are those who are members of LGBTQIA+ communities!

In addition to having fun in-game, we also want to make a positive impact in the world by supporting a fundraiser! We are raising funds for Rainbow Railroad, a charity focused on providing support to LGBTQ individuals seeking a safe haven from countries where their lives are at risk for simply being who they are.

About Rainbow Railroad

Around the world LGBTQI+ people continue to face oppression; in almost 70 countries there are laws that criminalize same sex intimacy and discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In eight countries same sex intimacy is punishable by death. The global refugee crisis is exasperating the plight of LGBTQI people worldwide. Rainbow Railroad exists to provide a solution to this problem, to provide solutions for individuals facing imminent danger and to get them to safety.

For Tyria Pride, players gathered together for an in-game march across several maps following a route led by volunteers. Volunteers with Commander pins in rainbow colours and dozens (if not hundreds) of people walked together, chatting about their fashion game and, well, being proud of themselves. This year, the event raised €4,487 out of a €4,269 goal.

The event started at 5:00AM for me, so I just followed along, hopping into the Discord server and listened / read to all the chatter. I felt way too sleep deprived to do much else except to follow, but it was definitely uplifting to see everyone having fun simply walking together, sharing stories of personal milestones, discussing, and educating. It so happened to coincide with the weekend of Juneteenth, when Black slaves in the United States were finally, officially free.

Majory and Kasmeer’s relationship may have been front and center for the newsletter, but Guild Wars 2 has more representation sprinkled throughout the game, with a list for your perusal on the wiki. Some of the ArenaNet team were also part of the march, including Grouch, Zharra Embermane, and Amy Rainbows, somewhere in the mass of avatars. It helps in letting the playerbase know that they are being seen and acknowledged.

It’s always great to see communities come together to do their part do make the world a better place. Final Fantasy XIV has community-ran Pride events too, such as the Eorzean Aquarium. I’m told FFXIV players can check the in-game Party Finder, forums or simply social channels to find people they could hang out with. I’m sure the same goes for pretty much everything else out there, MMORPG or not.

Pride Month is may soon be over, but allyship and the good fight will continue. Here’s to life and love!