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2024 Annual Trans Surgery Fund: Recipients Awarded $670,000

Collage of recipients

Congratulations to this year’s recipients!

Together, 47 recipients have been awarded a total of $670,000 in financial assistance towards their gender-affirming surgeries. With this funding, each of them has the resources to afford their respective surgical expenses and receive the care they so urgently need.

At a glance:

  • 2 in 3 recipients are people of color.
  • 1 in 2 recipients are living with a disability or chronic illness.
  • 1 in 2 recipients are living in high-risk states for anti-trans legislation.
  • 3 in 4 recipients have dealt with housing insecurity, either now or in the past.
  • 34% of recipients are trans young people ages 18-24.
  • 64% have dealt with discrimination from a healthcare provider, either now or in the past.
  • 62% have dealt with discrimination from an employer, either now or in the past.
  • 40% of recipients are the primary caregiver for a child, elder, parent, and/or partner.
  • 6% have experienced incarceration.
  • 92% of recipients lack inclusive health insurance coverage.
  • As of today's announcement, 10 of these recipients have already scheduled their surgery!

"Health equity is a critical concern for our community—particularly the most vulnerable and underserved among us," says Tyler Rodriguez, Program Manager. "Without this program, these 47 people simply would not have the resources or access to the gender-affirming care they need."

Below are the first published recipients of the 2024 cohort. Please stay tuned as we continue to share more recipient stories leading up to Trans Day of Visibility on March 31, 2024!

 

Note

This cycle, we received 2,361 applications. For context, to award every applicant with the financial resources necessary to get the procedure listed in their application, it would require a total of $45+ million in funding. Every person deserves access to necessary and affirming healthcare, which makes the process of selecting recipients with our limited financial resources—paired with the current political attacks against trans healthcare—extremely challenging.

Thank you

This is by far the largest amount of financial aid awarded in a single cycle. From 2016–2023, we had awarded a total of $643,000 to 67 recipients. Now, in a single cycle of the program, we have awarded more financial aid than all past years combined.

This life-changing impact is made possible thanks to Mercury, Jory, and the tens of thousands of donors and supporters who have generously supported our mission through the TikTok-a-Thon for Trans Health. 

"Most of the donors who support our mission are trans people themselves," says Jeff Main, Executive Director. "I am constantly reminded that our community's strength lies not only in our resilience, but also in our capacity to uplift and empower one another."

"To our donors, Community Grantmaking Fellows, volunteers and supporters: thank you so much for your generosity in your donations, time, and talent to make this all possible. This is difficult but life-changing work, and we could not do it without you."

Looking to the future

Applications for the next cycle will be accepted online beginning November 1, 2024. On our program webpage, you can learn more and sign up for an email alert to be reminded to apply.