2022 Season Opener + Special Prideraiser

We’re thrilled to be kicking off the 2022 season on Saturday at Mecklenburg Gardens against Austin FC. We’ll be there for the 6pm Eastern kickoff supporting the orange and blue as always, but we wanted to raise awareness for something bigger than the team.

Everyone is aware of the war in Ukraine, and we would love to find ways to support the Ukrainian people (let us know if you have any suggestions). The war has also unfortunately diverted everyone’s attention from other important issues domestically that we want to raise awareness about. Over the years, Die Innenstadt has helped raise funds for LGBTQ+ youth by donating funds to GLSEN, Athlete Ally, and Transform Cincy.

This week the State of Texas detailed plans to require all teachers, nurses, and doctors to report parents to the state who help their minor children undergo gender-affirming medical care such as hormone treatments for potential child abuse charges. Ohio lawmakers are also debating House Bill 454, which emulates the laws seen in Texas.

At the same time, other states are proposing legislation to require all teachers to out their LGBTQ+ students to their parents. While there are sometimes exceptions where abuse, neglect, or abandonment are expected from outing the student, this will surely have a chilling effect on any students who want to come out, but fear being outed to unsupportive parents.

These are attacks on both the students who receive support and care from their guardians at home and those who fear coming out to their families and confide in others.

The Trevor Project, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth, reports that 42% of this community seriously consider attempting suicide. Students with affirming spaces report significantly lower rates of suicidal thoughts.

In light of these events, we wanted to let everyone know that there is a special Prideraiser campaign going on for the first week of the MLS season. This is the same platform we use every June to support charitable organizations locally (we will do this again, by the way). With this Prideraiser, 100% of donations from this campaign will benefit the critical work done by the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT). Enter your donation amount per goal scored across all MLS games this opening week. The past two seasons saw 35 goals scored in this timeframe, so a $1 pledge would raise $35.

We strongly encourage all of our members to consider donating what they can to this Prideraiser campaign or any of the other organizations outlined to help our LGBTQ+ youth.

Juncta Juvant