“Magic: The Gathering” Gathers for Trans Lives, Raises $450,000 in Less Than Two Days

“Magic is political.”

Photo courtesy of Tolarian Community College, a YouTube channel dedicated to Magic: The Gathering.

The Magic: The Gathering community has come together for trans lives, raising over $450,000 in fewer than 48 hours—and there’s still one more day to chip in, all as of this writing.

“I’m giving TEN PEOPLE each one box of Collector Boosters from Lorwyn as a thank you for donating to Trans Lifeline!” Brian Lewis, who runs a YouTube channel called Tolarian Community College—and fittingly goes by “The Professor”—posted at noon on Feb. 4. The name is a nod to Tolarian Academy, a location in the game. “Just donate in multiples of $4.00 to @translifeline.org until Feb 7 at 10am PST!”

Just two hours after that initial post, Tolarian Community College announced that they’d amassed $20,000. The next day: $250,000. By the night of Feb. 5, The Professor told Erin in the Morning that the funds had surpassed $300,000.

Other prizes being raffled or auctioned off include a wide array of MTG merch: booster packs, coveted decks, and a 1907 copy of Peter Kropotkin’s book “Mutual Aid”—stuffed, of course, with MTG cards.

Crow’s Nest Comics in Seattle also added a signed copy of Seanan McGuire’s “Magic: Soul and Stone” comic collection to the prize pool, which only continues to grow.

“Magic is political because if trans people are dead then we, a trans-owned and ran comic/game store, can no longer exist,” the shop posted on Bluesky. “Also most of our players wouldn’t exist. So! Go donate!”

Trans Lifeline, the beneficiary of the fundraiser, is a grassroots, non-carceral, peer support hotline for trans people in crisis, which also offers microgrants to trans people in emergencies. A spokesperson for the group said Magic: The Gathering players have been especially supportive of the work they do.

“We’re once again in awe of Brian’s [The Professor] ability to rally the MTG community in support of our work,” Trans Lifeline told Erin in the Morning over email.

“In order to maintain our standards of safety for our callers, we can’t accept government grants for services, so we truly rely on grassroots fundraising like this to sustain our organization,” they continued. “We’ve been doing our best to increase our operator capacity to meet rising demand these last few years, and this fundraiser has already had a tremendous impact on keeping our organization grounded, resourced, and ready for the year ahead.”

Finally, Trans Lifeline added that, for the first time ever, the organization would be at MagicCon.

MTG is a collectible trading card tabletop game with both online and in-person elements. The game was first released in 1993—the brainchild of Richard Garfield, who at the time was a graduate student working towards a PhD in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. Today, MTG has tens of millions of players across platforms.

Tolarian Community College is widely considered to be one of the most prolific MTG content creators, with over 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube.

“Even though I feel that it is not my place to speak for others from communities that are affected by recent policy, I just want to help and I believe that I’m not alone in this endeavor,” The Professor told Erin in the Morning. “I want all people during this political moment to know that you’re not alone, and even though it may feel overwhelming, there’s even more of us who are happy to help, and this fundraiser is a great way to show how much we can achieve together.”

Tolarian Community College’s fundraiser for Trans Lifeline is a beloved yearly tradition. Last year, they raised nearly half a million dollars for the cause.

The hotline operates Monday through Friday. If you’re a trans person in the United States in crisis, you can access help at (877) 565-8860. Canadian callers can dial (877) 330-6366.