someone may certainly know better than me but I don't see a clear way to help with ukraine at this
point in time, while as tracy pointed out there are well-established legal aid groups in TX working to support trans people
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@“pasquinelli”#p59873 for instance, i’d be put off by something “to support ukraine.” there are elements in ukraine i wouldn’t want to let a penny go to, and i have no faith that any effort could be enough to make sure money given to help the average ukrainian doesn’t go straight to the wrong place.
I agree and wasn't quite sure how to bring it up.
Not even necessarily as if there is nothing any of us could or should do, but I really don't know how it will be possible to find out any time soon. The media is already overrun with so much noise and so little signal. It imagine it would be horrible to have what I see as being genuine, overwhelming goodwill being taken advantage of for nefarious purposes. It's already hard enough to gauge the impact of any charity.
Maybe it's easy to underestimate how much proximity can make the difference in terms of gauging the legitimacy of these kinds of causes--I would feel much more confident in the idea of finding an organization or cause in Texas to direct support to.
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@“pasquinelli”#p59873 for instance, i’d be put off by something “to support ukraine.” there are elements in ukraine i wouldn’t want to let a penny go to, and i have no faith that any effort could be enough to make sure money given to help the average ukrainian doesn’t go straight to the wrong place.
agree with this. i've been subscribed to the axios gaming daily emails for a while now but had to unsub today when their main story was signal boosting GSC Game World (Ukrainian developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) [calling for donations](https://twitter.com/GSC_GW/status/1496841871041216514) directly and specifically to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. i know that's not what Brandon is suggesting but the point i want to make is it's important to _communicate very clearly_ who the recipients of the donations will be.
And, maybe, I would bring this all one step further up point out that if this is something the broader videogame community is engaging in, I think there‘s questionable or at least awkward associations to consider video games people or communities getting involved in responding to high temperature geopolitics (perhaps even running up adjacent to videogames’ relationship to violence and war). Like…
I don‘t want to say it’s a bad look but that aspect of it makes me feel… Weird at least.
On the other hand, whether they asked for it or not, trans videogame players and trans videogame professionals have been involved if not central in many different big and small struggles against reaction within videogames. This feels like an extremely vital struggle within videogames and I feel very strongly that we as a broad community should always concern ourselves with making the proud declaration that trans people are _our_ people, and if you disagree you were, are, and always will be unwelcome in our communities and the culture at large.
I mean, again, if the ideal opportunity presented itself to support an interest or in Ukraine, things would be different. But I find it difficult to not think of these things on that level.
I certainly share all the above skepticism regarding donating to Ukraine in general. I suppose I think (however naively) that those smarter than I will identify appropriate channels of support.
Ultimately, even though it's far from the only thing to consider, I still think 'idea get money'.
I agree with many posts above RE the combination of the two. They are extremely different issues and I think focusing on the trans kids in Texas makes a lot more sense, especially as you are an American. The Ukraine idea brings with it a billion cans of worms, and yeah the optics of being alongside all these campaigns directly funding the Ukrainian military is pretty bad.
I don't know if I will be reliable to help at the moment but I will chime in if I think I can. I agree with what people are saying about Texas trans kids being easier to support without the money finding their way to the wrong channels. Maybe some way to help Ukrainian refugees will come along as people manage to get to safety?
Just now I even saw an acquaintance of mine have a twitter interaction with a game journalist, who had linked a Gamespot post that provided a list of ways to help support people in the Ukraine.
My friend pointed out how one of the organizations had statements on their website calling people serving in fascist Right Sector and Azov platoons "heroes." Seems that pointing it out resulted in that organization being taken off of that post, but. Still. Maybe it's fair to say that people are ultimately the ones the most responsible for vetting things they chose to materially support, but it doesn't mean they will.
All that being said though, Brandon, I guess we do know that you do in fact have at least some professional connections in at least some parts of Eastern Europe, right? I am only in the position to scrutinize.
I think it might be good to take a step back from what’s happening in Ukraine for at least a few days since (1) it just happened and is difficult to think calmly about, and (2) it’s something new and rapidly developing. A lot of comparable international causes, like Palestine or Xinjiang, have had years/decades to create networks of organizations around them that activists are familiar with and know what to do with. While Russian aggression against Ukraine isn’t new, this is a full scale invasion, and I’m not sure that it’s really clear what we should be doing. (Like @“yeso”#p59875 said, someone who knows more can correct me).
In a very sad way, what is happening in Texas is a lot more familiar. We know how to handle that, so to speak. So I feel like we could organize around it more effectively.
Of course both situations are absolutely terrible, but like Gaagaagiins and WickedCestus said, proximity to the Texas situation might make it easier to focus on.
Edit: To be clear, whatever you decide on I’d still be happy to help.
I‘ll have to share my full thoughts when I’m not sleep deprived however I do think that if having one bundle is clearly communicated that it‘s being done due to the urgency of both situations then it’s a good idea.
Picking the organisations for funds to go to is probably going to a hell of a factor for people to donate too. There seem to be several Texas-based charities for LGBT+ people, all broadly doing the same thing at a surface level. And the sheer volume of organisations, local and international, that are mobilising in aid of Ukrainians is somewhat mind-boggling. I guess what I'm asking is do you want to engage with a recognised, international charity or a more grassroots one - bearing in mind that a grassroots one is going to be significantly more difficult to verify as legit?
On the topic of verifying games / other content, I'm more than happy to do with the time that I have. Typically a few evenings during the weekdays.
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@“Gaagaagiins”#p59893 My friend pointed out how one of the organizations had statements on their website calling people serving in fascist Right Sector and Azov platoons “heroes.” Seems that pointing it out resulted in that organization being taken off of that post, but. Still. Maybe it’s fair to say that people are ultimately the ones the most responsible for vetting things they chose to materially support, but it doesn’t mean they will.
i would go as far as to argue that when it comes to individuals who want to help but don't already know a bit about Ukraine, vetting these groups isn't a reasonable expectation anymore. the waters are too muddy right now thanks to Putin explicitly using those groups as an excuse for his actions.
which makes it all the more risky for anyone trying to run a fundraiser - it's a big responsibility to do that vetting on behalf of everyone who supports the project. i am not at all saying it's too hard or not worth the effort! but it's so important to get this stuff right.
avoid the ukraine route for now, and consult an established trans rights legal service in Texas about that mess, like maybe the one attached to the univ of texas. It‘s an executive order based off an AG opinion, it’s not a law and it‘s not clear if it’s anything more than a creepy stunt. Not to minimize, but I wouldn‘t be comfortable giving money to an internet-researched ’mutual aid' organization when it seems the TX situation needs to be opposed through like lawsuits and court challenges.
english-language ukranian expat nationlist groups are pretty dicey I'm afraid I have to say, and there will be opportunities to help with resettlement and humanitarian aid in the future
I should‘ve been more clear - there’s an org I was thinking of in the Ukraine that helps kids specifically, and there‘s the thinking that there will be a lot of kids without parents after this. Maybe premature, I’m not sure, but that would be the throughline for me - help kids in the ukraine who are going through this stuff, and help trans kids in texas who are going through that stuff.
(it might still be a bad idea but this is what I was thinking, anyway - like in the bundle for Palestinian lives it wasn't about giving money "to Palestine" but rather to the folks who were displaced)
That makes a lot more sense. If that‘s communicated clearly it shouldn’t be a problem; you can see from this thread though how easy it is for the wrong associations to be made if that‘s left too ambiguous. If the org is trustworthy and we know the money is going to make it to the children, well, there’s not many people who will have a problem with helping children no matter where they live. I still think it might be best to split it up, but I moreso understand the thinking now.
This is a lot of (charitable) work, I am not sure I can provide any help but best of luck to everyone involved.
@“exodus”#p59909 that makes a lot more sense!
If you‘re adamant about supporting both causes with one bundle then your best bet would be to frame the bundle as something broader (“Bundle for Children in Conflict” or whatever), with those two causes being the most prominent/urgent of the moment; the more specific you are about it being “Bundle for Cause X but Also Cause Y”, the muddier the messaging will be and the more time you or others will have to spend explaining or rationalising precisely what it’s for before people will commit to it.
I don't think I'll have a lot of time to give y'all, but I'll try to corral some Japanese devs into contributing.
Is it possible to have a Humble Bundle-like system where people can pick which charity they would like to contribute to? Or decide the weight of their contribution between the two?
ICYMI, Brandon's straight up polling people on how to handle the bundles:
https://twitter.com/necrosofty/status/1497665837775220737