Sisters Lana and Lilly Wachowski, the minds behind The Matrix, are “doing some spring cleaning.” The Wachowskis have announced the Enter the Matrix: The Wachowski Collection auction, where they will be giving away memorabilia from their previous films for the Protect and Defend Trans Youth Fund.
The fund was unveiled by pop singer Ariana Grande on April 1 as a response to the 238 anti-LGBTQ+ legislative bills filed in the US this year. With 41 anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed in 2018 and 191 in 2021, many advocates including the Human Rights Campaign have named 2022 as “the worst year in recent history for LGBTQ+ state legislative attacks.”
About half of the bills filed this year target Trans people, some denying them of gender-affirming healthcare, or investigating such services as “child abuse.”
hi youse! so me and Lana have been doing some spring cleaning at our Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse and have happily decided to pass on some of the best treasures we've been collecting over the years!! no ark of the covenants but some pretty major and magical artifacts!
— Lilly Wachowski (@lilly_wachowski) April 23, 2022
Funds from the auction will be distributed across 18 organisations committed to “advocating for the rights of Trans youth in states currently targeted by anti-trans policies.” They provide a range of services for vulnerable Trans people such as health checkups, STI testing, legal support, and emergency housing.
In a Netflix Film Club interview from 2020, Lilly confirmed that The Matrix was a Trans allegory for “waking up”, escaping “the simulation” and transitioning into one’s true identity. The sisters both publicly came out as Trans years after the iconic film’s release.
The props up for auction come from the Wachowskis’ Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse, where they have kept “the best treasures they’ve been collecting over the years.” While it’s not the “ark of the covenants,” they include artefacts such as the execution chair from Cloud Atlas, weapons from Jupiter Ascending, and concept blueprints and license plates from The Matrix.
“Like who doesn’t need these?” Lilly said about the items in a Twitter thread.
With a total of 189 lots, the live auction created by the Wachowskis starts on May 12, 11AM ET, and now accepts absentee bids.
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