Is March the New January?
A few thoughts on stuckness
The other day a friend sent me a very kind text. She was expressed her concern for the trans community in the wake of so many hateful Executive Orders and asked if I had a list of places for supporting trans youth.
Since I have a book coming out about gender affirming care for trans youth, you’d think I had a quick answer. The truth is I have a lot of answers, none of them perfectly formulated, all of them feel important.
And I’m dehydrated, I forgot to eat breakfast, I accidentally doom scrolled for five minutes (that’s a lie it was almost half an hour), and, because ALS, I’m on a rotation of couchstuck grief, angry grief, restless grief, brainfog grief, slapstick grief, and classic sad grief.
I feel paralyzed a lot, which I mean metaphorically, of course.
In the spirit of “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” and in praise of human imperfection, I’m going to write faster and less perfectly than I’m used to. In no particular order, here are orgs I have good thoughts about for trans youth. I’ve donated to all of them.
Free Mom Hugs: This is a national nonprofit with chapters in all fifty states. It was started by an incredible woman named Sara Cunningham from Oklahoma City. It is an organization that empowers people (moms and families especially) to celebrate and support queer kids. The run an amazing conference where I’ll be presenting in April 2025. You can support their efforts by donating or buying their adorable merch (and wearing it to give out hugs, which is one of Sara’s superpowers).
The Trevor Project: The Trevor Project runs a 24/7 suicide prevention service, conducts important research about queer lives, educates the public and advocates for a better future for all queer kids, especially trans kids. You can support them by donating or training to be a volunteer in their crisis service.
Families United for Trans Rights (FUTR): This org is dedicated to securing the rights of trans Americans by fundraising for trans political candidates (like the amazing Sarah McBride) and for nonprofits that are doing the work of building a more equitable and inclusive future. You can support trans political candidates by donating here.
The Trans Youth Emergency Project: This project is a sub-organization of the Campaign for Southern Equality. It is one of the only organizations I know of that provides emergency travel grants to families who need to leave their state in order to access gender affirming care for their kids. This is a real problem in over half the country so I like this one a lot.
The Transgender Law Center: TLC is the largest trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. TLC conducts impact litigation, does community organizing and one of they do the very important work of helping trans folx navigate their way through the complex process of updating identity documents.
