For All Of Us—Paizo Pride Blog 2026

Happy Pride, ‘Finders!

June is upon us once again, and Paizo is proud to celebrate the LGBTQ+ members of our community by inviting them to share their stories, projects, and inspiration here on the blog!

The theme for this year’s Pride is “For All Of Us”—a snippet of Marsha P. Johnson’s full quote: “There is no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” As a community, we are stronger, safer, and happier together than we’ll ever be if we let the world try to divide us.

Alex Augunas (he/him) & Dustin Knight (he/him)

D: Pride is a protest against shame, and shame’s greatest weakness is love. Love is the purest expression of our ability to share joy, and as such, Alex and I have decided to express our love together rather than doing separate blog submissions.

A: The flourishing of our story is kind of a story about Paizo. We met in person for the first time at PaizoCon 2019. Dustin aspired to work for Paizo, but he needed publishing experience. I had plenty of experience as a Paizo freelancer and was putting out Third-Party work via my publishing imprint, Everybody Games. What began as a figurative “match made in Heaven” became a literal one.

D: Until I met Alex, being who I was never felt right. Specifically, the post he wrote for pride right here on Paizo.com planted something deep inside my heart, and as our friendship grew, that seed sprouted, blooming only when I was ready to accept that he was my joy and, even harder to admit, that I was capable of being his. The shame made me feel unworthy of love, and it took Pride to make me realize the shame was always rooted in a lie. It took love to realize I was worthy of pride—and I’m proud to be with him.

A: Until I met Dustin, I had always felt like a piece of myself was missing. In my first Paizo Pride blog, I came out as being ace/hetero, but there was part of me that suspected I was gay for years. That part felt ashamed, even depressed. I thought being gay would make my life more difficult, and my asexuality made me feel like I never needed to explore that further. Demisexual people need a strong, emotional bond to be attracted to someone, and when I fell in love with Dustin, it was like wandering out into the sunshine after living 30 years of life in a cave.

D: And once you feel that sunshine, you feel like it’s okay to be proud. Not just of yourself, but of your accomplishments. Thank you for reading about our experiences. I’m Dustin Knight, Starfinder Designer (Bluesky), and you can find my work in everything Starfinder, including Starfinder Tech Core this Fall!

A: You can pick up Kitsune of Golarion: Remastered from me via Pathfinder Infinite, and follow me, Alexander Augunas, on Bluesky. I also have some “junk(omancy)” for you to check out in my love’s next big release, Starfinder Tech Core.

James Beck (any/all)

Hello, everyone! My name is James Beck, and I'm a freelancer for Paizo. You can catch my work in Pathfinder Lost Omens Firebrands, Starfinder Absalom Station, Starfinder Tech Core, and Pathfinder Legacy of the Forge! I'm here to give my well wishes for everyone to have a great pride month. As a freelancer, I try my best to represent the world around me, adding NPCs of various genders and sexual orientations where I can. I hope you'll come to love these characters as much as I do. Unfortunately, not everyone can be open about their identity, and it's important to remember that pride represents us all. To my fellow brothers, sisters, and siblings, your light shall shine brighter than ever before. Happy pride, everyone!

Maya Coleman (xe/xem/they/them)

An avid musician and graduate from Oberlin College & Conservatory with a degree in Film Music Composition, Maya has used their skills in organization in combination with a weaponization of their OCD and OCPD (literally the case) to flourish in the tabletop industry for ten years. Starting as the sole employee at Goat, Wolf, & Cabbage LLC and managing the community for the board game Secret Hitler since its inception, they’ve gone on to manage communities at Skybound Tabletop, run projects on Kickstarter such as Trogdor!! The Board Game! and Trial by Trolley, and are now the Community and Social Media specialist here at Paizo.

When they are not working in the industry, Maya is an avid crafter and gamer. Their plushie collection is vast, from sweaters for their loyal service dog, Avalon (which she hates and refuses to wear), to Yvali from Pathfinder, skittermanders from Starfinder, and a Toro sweater that at least MAYA wears even if AVALON refuses to wear HERS! They’re also a huge fan of Pokémon and, despite never having finished a single game, they’ve played each one released (their favorite Pokémon is Gardevoir, by the way)! Maya is also your go-to resource for obscure film and soundtracks; they are happy to geek out about either one at any given time! Shout out to Cristobal Tapia de Veer, the world’s most underrated film and television composer.

You can find Maya at the following links:

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MayagurumiCo
(My pattern for a crocheted d20 with the Paizo logo on the 20 is here!!)

Nintendo Friend Code: SW-6873-1301-1137.

Hiromi Cota (she/they)

As I type this, copies of The Fifth Season Roleplaying Game are arriving in backers’ hands. It is a profoundly queer and BIPOC book. Everyone brought their A game and created something queer, Black, and magical. It was a labor of love—love for the source material and love for our communities. Every book I make is special, but this one… this one hits me hard.

Just like the novels normalized trans people in the setting, we normalized trans people in the game. The stunning art features a wide range of complexions, skin tones, and hair. Oh, the hair! As an Indigenous Okinawan & Yaeyaman, I used my peoples to inspire the look of the island people in the game. Hell, my face is in the book!

But I didn’t do it alone. This was the work of a team where damn near everyone was LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC, or both, and it shows.

Gushing about another company’s book here in the Paizo blog is a bit gauche, but I’m not talking about the book—not really. I’m talking about the power of words, ideas, and community; the power that we have. Let’s make something magical.

Rue Dickey

Growing up as a queer, trans, and disabled person of color left me feeling ‘out of place’ in most spaces. One thing or another would be ‘too much’ for someone to handle or fodder to fuel bullying, harassment, and cruelty. I am extremely grateful to have found a home in the gaming space, surrounded by friends and colleagues who see me as myself and who love and respect me for who I am, not despite it.

The collaborative storytelling in RPGs is what drew me to games in the first place, and I am happy to see so many other queer people flourish in this space. Our stories have been stifled for so long: censored out of existence, rewritten by homophobic and transphobic translations and historians, and removed from their proper contexts. But at a gaming table, the stories are ours to craft and share, and that freedom has made me a better person, a stronger writer, and a more powerful force for change.

No one will tell your story for you. Take the pen from their hands and make this story yours.

Lynne M. Meyer (she/they)

When I create, I do so from the perspective of multiple marginalized identities: I’m a genderfluid femme, I’m bisexual and polyamorous, and I’m a chronically ill person living with an invisible disability. Yet I’m keenly aware that I’m someone with immense privilege. I have a degree of (relative) safety in public that many of my queer kin do not. I try to signal my queerness openly, so others don’t have to. It’s a way of proclaiming, “We’re not going anywhere!” Of letting folks know they’re not alone.

Some days, the work is loud—Pride did start as a riot. But most days, the work is quiet, taking place behind the scenes: offering a listening ear, being a bathroom buddy, or supporting mutual aid.

This month, I’m part of The Power of Pride—a bundle of nearly 400 games, zines, and other creations from 284 queer creators across itch.io available as a $60 edition and as a $10 PWYC edition. The bundle is a direct action that folks can take right now to support queer creators in a life-changing way. Both editions include “Elsewhere,” my flash fic about current events and not looking away.

No Pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.

Come say hi on Bluesky (@lynnemeyer.bsky.social)!

Queer people have always been here. Queer people will always be here. Paizo is proud to be a safe space for queer gamers—whether you’re a GM, a player, a designer, an artist, or fan, you have a seat at our table.

Continue the celebration in the Paizo Forums!