“TJFP is something that I’m so excited to tell people about because I think a lot of people don’t know that this group exists–where you have trans people getting money and then deciding how can we support other trans organizations that are doing work.” – Peterson Toscano, Theatrical Performance Activist & TJFP Monthly Donor
Why donate?
In the words of monthly donor Nicole Myles, “Worlds don’t change from just one moment or movement.” Instead, as donor Harper Jean Tobin puts it, “we need many voices and many kinds of work.” As grassroots funders, we don’t give grants only to those who fit narrow ideas of success or worth. We want to fund as many groups as possible, so that all of these brilliant visions and voices have a chance to keep on growing, changing, and connecting.
Your donation helps support trans justice groups focusing on local needs—groups that many mainstream foundations consider “too small” of an investment.
Your donation helps support grassroots organizations that take risks—that try radical new tactics, that find ways to work outside pre-existing systems to support marginalized communities.
Your donation reaches grantees with no strings attachedY–allowing these brilliant leaders and activists to do their work without worrying about anyone’s approval but the communities they serve.
As our six Community Grantmaking Fellows carefully review the 216 applications we received this year–more applications than we’ve ever received before!–we see creative, dynamic responses to anti-trans threats. We see groups responding to local, unique needs, led by trans people from those communities who understand the stakes best.
These folks need your support!
Be a part of raising $50,000 more so that we can distribute, in total, half a million dollars this year–half a million that will go to urgently needed trans justice work around the country. Donor Peterson Toscano puts it best, in the video you can watch below: “When I look at LGBTQ history, it’s always been the trans people, the gender non-conforming people, who’ve been on the front lines, who really stood up. And I wouldn’t have the freedoms I have today, if it wasn’t for trans folks doing that.”
Wherever you are, however much you give, you’ll be supporting the trans leadership that has always existed and shaped our movements!
In 2017, TJFP gave half a million dollars to 153 trans-led grassroots groups across the country, and we hope to give another half a million away in 2018.
Applications are now open for 2018 TJFP grants! Please review the eligibility criteria and apply! Share widely and get your application in!
The application is currently available in English and Spanish, but please email us at admin@transjusticefundingproject.org by January 15th if you need a translated version in another language of the application. We aim to make this process as accessible as possible, so please let us know about any other needs you have and we will do our best to meet them.
While you’re at it, check out our 2016 annual report so that you can see some of the groups that we funded last year. And if you can, help us continue to make this work happen by donating. From $1 to $50,000, there truly is no donation too big or too small. Every penny goes directly to these grassroots groups, without strings attached. Please join TJFP in continuing to support grassroots trans leadership!
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We encourage you to honor the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson’s work by supporting trans leadership!
Power to the People: Exploring Marsha P. Johnson’s Queer Liberation
Marsha P. Johnson (August 24, 1945 – July 6, 1992) was an American activist, artist, sex worker, and liberation embodied. She lived and fought against the discriminations and abuses experienced by trans people. Along with fellow trans activist Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to house and support drag queens, femmes, and trans women who were living on the street in NYC.
And congratulations to the TJFP’s grantee’s who have been mentioned in this article and to all of the amazing trans woman of color who are on the front lines fighting for justice and liberation for our communities.
On this day especially, we encourage you to check out our grantees using the TJFP digital map and consider supporting these groups in any way you can!
#HappyBirthdayMarsha
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This week over twitter, Donald Trump threatened to reinstate a ban on qualified transgender people serving in the military. His tweet, could result in the discharge of over 15,000 transgender people who are serving in the U.S. military. And it’s another attempt to distract folks from the enormous amount of harm his cabinet continues to inflict on our already marginalized and oppressed communities.
From the targeting of black bodies, trans women of color, Muslims, immigrants, the poor and working class, youth, trans communities and so many more, these relentless efforts to devalue our lives are unacceptable at best and are ultimately, an attack on us all.
Whether you remain outraged or have just begun to feel anger, we urge you to support local, grassroots organizing in whatever ways you can.
In a political climate that seeks to attack us over and over, our only option is to keep showing up for each other. Together, we ARE the majority!
TJFP is sending our love to all of the trans and gender non conforming individuals and communities. You and your struggle are why we exist.
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Right now in Brooklyn, a very sweet event is happening featuring amazing queer country artists! Music, delicious food and after the artists get paid, remaining proceeds will be donated to TJFP. Please come stop by if you can!
This is the anti-July-4th, all-day, all-out extravaganza you’ve been waiting for! 13 amazing queer, trans, and/or poc bands. A giant bake sale to benefit the Trans Justice Funding Project. DJ Nath Ann Carrera. Host Heather María Ács. Tacos from the Kimchi Taco Truck. What is country music? Who is it for? Come envision another country with us on Sunday, July 2nd!
Bake sale sweets donated by 4 & 20 Blackbirds, Baked, Betty Bakery, and Colson Patisserie!
Tickets are $10-$20 sliding scale* for the day-long festival. Please pay what you can to support our musicians! No one ever turned away for lack of cash! Any profits from the day, after all the musicians get paid, will also be donated to TJFP.
***Littlefield has an accessible front entrance and all-gender, single stall, accessible bathrooms***
Schedule:
(Here’s what time you should plan to be there if you want to make sure to catch these performers)
2:00
Nath Ann Carrera
Lindsey Wilson & Michael Buckley
DK & the Joy Machine
4:00
Audrey Zee Whitesides
AJ Lewis & Friends
Yva Las Vegass
6:00
The Paisley Fields
Elias Krell
Viva
Starting at 7:00, DJ Nath Ann Carrera will keep us dancing between sets!
8:00
Ganessa James
Karen & the Sorrows
Cactus Rose
10:00
My Gay Banjo
More about the performers:
Our host for the evening portion of the show, Heather María Ács www.heatheracs.com
Trans Justice Funding Project www.transjusticefundingproject.org
TJFP is a community-led funding initiative that supports grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people. TJFP centers the leadership of trans people organizing around their experiences with racism, economic injustice, transmisogyny, ableism, immigration, incarceration, and other intersecting oppressions.
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
—James Baldwin, Another Country
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Just two weeks ago the 2017 TJFP Fellowship team made their way to New York city to meet for the very first time in person. Since March, each of them have dedicated their days, nights and weekends to carefully review all 175 applications received. For three days the devoted grant making panelists gave their everything-as they selected grantees and award amounts.
Because of this team, the amazing projects and organizations that applied for funding and our dedicated donors, this year we were not only able to DOUBLE our grant amounts, we also distributed half a million dollars to grassroots, trans-led, trans justice organizing! As we celebrate our 5th anniversary, we can’t think of anything more celebratory then being able to fund 153 groups!
Congratulations TJFP friends and family and to everyone who’s kept trans justice close to your heart!
***Please check out this year’s list of grantees below***
The 2017 TJFP Grantees
Allgo, Austin, TX
API Equality – Northern California (APIENC), San Francisco, CA
Area 425, Minneapolis, MN
Arianna’s Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Arkansas Transgender Equality Coalition, Little Rock, AR
Beyond These Walls, Portland, OR
bklyn boihood, Brooklyn, NY
Black Excellence Collective, Philadelphia
Black Trans Media, Brooklyn, NY
Black Transmen Inc, Dallas, TX
Black Transwomen Inc, Dallas, TX
Bois of the SIppi, Corinth, MS
Bold & Beautiful, Memphis, TN
Brave Space Alliance, Chicago, IL
Bridgewalkers Alliance, Portland, OR
Brutha’s Rising,Inc., Pittsburgh, CA
Camp Born This Way, Tucson, AZ
Center for Community Healing, Madison, WI
Central Texas Transgender Health Coalition, Austin, TX
Cicada Collective, Austin, TX
Colectivo intercultural TRANSgrediendo / CITG, Jackson Heights, NY
Collective of Geniuses, Seattle, WA
Community Ele’te, Richmond, VA
Community Kinship Life (CK Life), Bronx, NY
Comunidad Estrella, Brookhaven/Atlanta, GA
CVille Peer Group, Troy, VA
Detroit REPRESENT!, Detroit, MI
Durham Gender Alliance, Durham, NC
East Coast Two Spirit Society, Lewes, DE
Four Direction Fire Keeper – Eagle Evolution, Long Beach, CA
FTM Foundation, Atlanta, GA
Fuerza y Union Multiple, Henderson, NC
Garden of Peace Project, Pittsburgh, PA
Gender Benders, Piedmont, SC
Gender Infinity, Houston, TX
Gender Justice LA, Los Angeles, CA
Gender Justice League, Seattle, WA
Gender Justice Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
GenderNexus, Indianapolis, IN
Good Sense Farm & Apiary, Washington, DC
Green Mountain Crossroads, Brattleboro, VT
Greensboro Community Care Collective, Greensboro, NC
Heartland Trans Wellness Group, Cincinnati, OH
Hearts on a Wire, Philadelphia, PA
Idaho Transgender Healthcare Advocacy Coalition, Boise, ID
We are so proud to announce that after countess hours of creation, the TJFP map is finally available!
It’s still a work in progress but now TJFP applicants and grantees are searchable by group name, location, focus area, and more.
While we have always had a directory available on our website of the many of the brilliant trans justice groups that have applied for a grant from TJFP over the past 5 years, this directory was never a total hit. So over the last year we re-envisioned how we might make a more useful tool and resource for trans justice groups. This map is a list of grassroots, trans-led, trans justice work happening in the U.S. (with their permission of course!).
TJFP has always hoped that through this directory of past grantees and applicants, we’d be able to help break down barriers and connect folks to one another.
We are so excited to welcome Que to the 2017 TJFP community grantmaking panel!
Quentin “Que” Bell is a Black Trans activist, entrepreneur, and mentor born and raised in historic Selma, Alabama. Que received his Bachelor’s degree from Alabama State University in Business Administration with an Entrepreneurial Concentration. In the fall, Que, will be attending Auburn University pursuing a Master’s of Public Administration focusing on Non-Profit Management. While at ASU Que found a way to combine his entrepreneurial spirit with his passion for advocacy and founded The Knights & Orchids Society. TKO is a southern centered grassroots startup led by black, queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people fighting at the intersections of racial and gender justice. Since 2012 Quentin’s goal remains unchanged, to improve the quality of life within the LGBTQ+ community by creating safe spaces that empower, educate, and unite Trans, GNC, & Queer role models of color. Que has dedicated his adult life to actively serving in leadership positions to help advance the fight for LGBTQ equality and inclusion while increasing visibility for Trans men of color.
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We are so excited to welcome Drew Jones to the TJFP team!
Drew is a white trans queer parent who started engaging in community advocacy work 15 years ago, starting with founding the first trans youth support group in Dallas. He received his BA in Anthropology with a minor in Ethnic Studies from the University of North Texas. At Gallaudet University he completed his MA in Deaf Cultural Studies with an award winning ASL based documentary made with a young Black Deaf trans girl about her experiences at her Deaf school in DC (A Brutal Awakening, 2007). After 8 years in DC and Philadelphia, sudden illness brought him back to Texas, where he is focusing on raising his young kids and supporting social justice work and community through Dharma teaching.
Looking forward to your brilliance!
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Thank you Nina Chaubal for saying “Yes!” to joining TJFP’s 2017 funding team!
NinaChaubal is a queer, South Asian trans woman who is the co-founder and Director of Operations of Trans Lifeline – the first national crisis hotline for transgender people by transgender people. Her work focuses on preventing suicide and building a more resilient trans community. An immigrant from India, Nina also works on issues facing trans immigrants. Prior to her work with Trans Lifeline, Nina was a software engineer on Google’s Search team. As Trans Lifeline’s resident geek she has used her technical and entrepreneurial skills to provide resources, build community and draw attention to issues faced by trans people. In whatever counts as her spare time, she enjoys playing with her dogs, building all kinds of things with her wife Greta, complaining about bad user interfaces and obsessing about dumplings.
Stay with us for more 2017 TJFP Fellowship announcements and more!
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We are so excited to welcome Que to the 2017 TJFP community grantmaking panel!
We are so excited to welcome Drew Jones to the TJFP team! 
Thank you Nina Chaubal for saying “Yes!” to joining TJFP’s 2017 funding team!