With LGBTQ+ sports in the crosshairs, a team of athletes and cartoonists goes on offense
Stacked Deck Press
April 7th, 2025
With LGBTQ+ sports in the crosshairs, a team of athletes and cartoonists goes on offense!
How a comics collection about LGBTQ+ people in sports defiantly raised $30,000 on Kickstarter
Los Angeles, CA — The Kickstarter campaign for Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project has successfully funded, reaching 109% of its funding goal. The campaign in support of a comics anthology about LGBTQ+ people and their experiences in sports drew over 540 backers and enthusiastic support across the internet, even as growing public sentiment and government action have turned against the queer community. Sports apparel company VC Ultimate sponsored the campaign and will be providing custom reward items for its backers. The campaign ran for thirty days, ending on April 3rd.
Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project is edited by Megan Praz and Megan Kemp-Gee, creators of the ultimate frisbee-themed graphic novel One More Year. Come Out and Play features the work of over 30 all-LGBTQ+ comics creators from five continents, including Marvel and DC writer Josh Trujillo, Lambda Literary Award winners Mac Crane and Jon Macy, NYT-Bestselling graphic novelist Wilfred Santiago, and pioneering trans cartoonist Sophie Labelle. Several notable figures from the world of sports have written comics stories for the first time specially for this anthology, including former NFL Player R.K. Russell and Hockey Hall-of-Famer Angela James.
R.K. Russell says that the Queer Sports Project “is about rewriting the playbook, about proving that queerness and athletics are not at odds, but deeply intertwined. It’s about honoring the LGBTQ+ athletes, fans, and advocates who have always been here, pushing the game forward, whether the world was ready or not.”
Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project will be the first ever comics anthology devoted to the theme of LGBTQ+ people in sports. It will be a full-color paperback graphic collection of over 250 pages.
Editor Meghan Kemp-Gee says of the campaign’s success, “People are so hungry for stories like this: stories that celebrate the full joy and agony of sports, identity, and experience.” Editor Megan Praz points out that centering LGBTQ+ stories is crucial, as “our trans siblings and teammates are under attack right now. And sports is so often the focus of these attacks. But I think sports are a space for unity, not division.”
Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project will be published by Stacked Deck Press, a publishing imprint founded in 2015 dedicated to LGBTQ+ comics, prose, and art books. Among their award-winning publications are We’re Still Here: An All-Trans Comics Anthology, winner of the 2019 Ignatz Award, and We Belong: An All-Black/All-Queer Sci-fi/Fantasy Comics Anthology, winner of the 2024 Kinnard Better Future Award.
You can register for updates about the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stackeddeckpress/come-out-and-play-the-queer-sports-project. The campaign is accepting late pledges.
The Come Out and Play co-editors Megan Praz and Meghan Kemp-Gee are available for comment: queersportsproject@stackeddeckpress.com.
Additional Media Contact:
Tara Madison Avery
Publisher
tara@stackeddeckpress.com
(949) 257-7994
https://stackeddeckpress.com
Recent press coverage of Come Out and Play:
The Hockey News: https://thehockeynews.com/womens/angela-james-story-to-be-told-in-a-fresh-way-while-celebrating-lgbtq-athletes
The Comics Beat: https://www.comicsbeat.com/interview-come-out-and-play-editors-on-why-queerness-and-athletics-are-not-at-odds/
The Fandomentals: https://www.thefandomentals.com/come-out-and-plays-features-lgbt-artists-and-athletes-in-first-ever-queer-sports-comic-anthology/
Media Appearances:
Comadres y Comics podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-242-las-platicas-come-out-and-play-the/id1172047834?i=1000700644681
Gal Pal Sports podcast: https://www.youtube.com/live/ur_jedJAUrY?si=nfhCKHxNEQL9Xmb2
Tara Avery
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