Wizards of the Coast and Pride 2022

Jontelle Leyson-Smith
  • Diversity

"We have defied fate. Our destinies are our own." – [Triumphant Reckoning – Pride SLD]

Wizards of the Coast’s theme for Pride 2022 focuses on how far we’ve come, what it took to get here, and what still lies ahead. Our celebration this year is the result of love, dedication, vulnerability, and authenticity. LGBTQIA2S+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit) Wizards employees, allies, and partners collaborated to create Pride experiences we hope resonate with the community.

To celebrate with fans, we’ve already released Secret Lair: Pride Across the Multiverse with 50% of all sales donated to The Trevor Project. Accompanying the Secret Lair drop is also new lore featuring entangled planeswalkers in an adorable short. We also partnered with Ultra Pro and MTG Pro Shop on exclusive Pride Across the Multiverse playmats and apparel, also supporting The Trevor Project, on sale now.

On a personal note, I revere Pride Month as a reminder to love ourselves, value the identities and expression of others, and to see people where they are. Everyone’s journey in life is unique, we’re all at different points, and the paths we endeavor to find self-actualization vary in difficulty, resources, support, and spirit. What does Pride mean to you?

For so very many people, Pride is an important time of commemoration, observance, acknowledgement, and visibility for the LGBTQIA2S+ community with historic (and current) roots in LGBTQ activism. Anything I write about the Stonewall uprising will pale in comparison to the thousands of interviews, books, videos, and more discussing the bravery, courage, and sacrifice of people like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and so many more on June 28, 1969 and beyond. Despite the significant progress society has made in the last 50+ years, we are still striving to create a world where all LGBTQIA2S+ youth and adults can not only live but thrive. That’s one of the many reasons I’m excited we’re partnering with The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people.

Wizards has successfully increased and will continue to improve representation of LGBTQIA2S+ and other marginalized peoples in our company, games, and media. We hope you'll bear with us as we—the humans behind the logo—continue to learn and grow in a changing landscape within our similarly changing organization. We see you, we hear you, and we will continue to focus on authentic actions versus words. I hope you see the care and intentionality of Pride Across the Multiverse’s card choices, art, and lore as examples of this.

Happy Pride to you, your friends, your families, and your familiars from all of us at Wizards of the Coast!

— Jontelle Leyson-Smith, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Jontelle Leyson-Smith
  • Diversity
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