This year has been marked by a historic wave of protests for Black lives, including Black queer and trans lives. Just last month, more than 15,000 demonstrators took part in Brooklyn Liberation, a rally to support the Black queer and trans community in the aftermath of the deaths of Riah Milton, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, Tony McDade, Nina Pop, and many others. It was one of several rallies across the country that brought out historic crowds to demand justice and action to protect Black LGBTQ+ people.
While actions like these are an essential step towards LGBTQ+ liberation, many may feel reluctant to protest due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the threat of police violence. In early June, the Associated Press estimated that over 10,000 protestors had been arrested in protests against police brutality nationwide this year. Many have involved excessive force. Videos that have emerged from Portland of activists being virtually kidnapped by federal police forces are terrifying to witness. It’s understandable if concerns about your personal health and safety keep you away from demonstrations on the street.
Don’t worry, though — everyone has a role to play in the revolution. Educating friends and family, signing petitions, and demanding action from lawmakers are also important steps to take. And if you’re able, donating to organizations and mutual aid funds doing work on the ground can be huge.
Dozens of relief funds have gained traction to aid those protesting and in the larger movement for racial justice. Bail funds especially have received widespread attention and support for the invaluable work they do. It can cost thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands, to make bail, leaving those without means left to fend for themselves in jail systems for months and sometimes years on end.
But there are several other places to donate and ways to help if you’re able. Below, you’ll find a collection of fundraisers and organizations working on the front lines to secure racial justice in America. In addition to work on the part of abolitionist collectives, these initiatives include funds that benefit the families of those lost this year and fundraisers supporting immigrants, sex workers, people living with HIV, and Black, Brown, and indigenious communites. Others aid in rebuilding communities affected by the uprising.
If you’ve felt indecisive about where to donate your money, feel free to consider one or more of the funds listed here.
On March 13, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police who entered her Louisville, Kentucky home unannounced while she was sleeping. The three police officers responsible — Jon Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison — have yet to be arrested. At the end of May, the FBI reopened the investigation into her death, but protestors have been on the ground since demanding justice for Taylor. The Louisville Bail Fund was created to help bail out those who took to the streets following Taylor’s killing. It was created by Black Lives Matter Louisville, and while it is nationally connected to similar networks, the fund is entirely community driven.
Several organizations have taken the initiative to help rebuild Minneapolis amid the massive protests that followed George Floyd’s murder this May. We Love Lake Street is a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the storefronts and businesses damaged by looters during the early phases of protesting; their mission is made more important by the fact that many businesses on Lake Street in Minneapolis are owned by immigrants and people of color.
Like Lake Street, several businesses in North Minneapolis have been impacted by vandalism and arson. The West Broadway Business and Area Coalition, in collaboration with Northside Funders Group, are now redirecting their donations to aid these northside businesses.
Black Visions Collective (BLVC) is a Minnesota-based organization whose mission is to organize and build a powerful collection of Black communities to dismantle systems of violence and racism. BLVC is dedicated to Black liberation and collective liberation, and integrates healing justice into all of their campaigns and leadership programs.
Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (G.L.I.T.S) approaches the health and rights crisis faced by transgender sex workers holistically. They apply a harm reduction approach whilie fighting for economic and social justice for trans sex workers. G.L.I.T.S. provides low-cost health care, safe sex supplies, and stable housing to their clientele while helping to fight the stigmatization of transgender sex workers. \
Four Black and Trans led organizations in New York City — BTFA Collective, The Black Trans Travel Fund, For the Gworls, and The Okra Project — have banded together to raise money for what they’re calling the Black Trans Protestors Emergency Fund, to aid demonstrators in New York and across the country. They plan to redistribute donations to purchase resources and necessary medical care for demonstrators on the ground.
The Emergency Release Fund NYC is a bail fund specifically for trans people, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fund has extended their resources to all LGBTQ+ people. As of June 25, the fund says they have helped to free 205 individuals since it was founded in August 2019, totaling over $1.5 million in bail posted. As a part of the National Bail Fund Network, a nationwide collective of over 60 bail funds, the Emergency Release Fund also provides financial help towards immigration bonds for LGBTQ+ detainees.
TGI Justice Project is a group of transgender, gender variant, and intersex people fighting against imprisonment, police violence, racism, poverty, and other human rights injustices experienced by Black and brown trans people. While the group’s mission is to abolish the U.S. incarceration system, TGI Justice Project focuses its efforts primarily on those who have experienced incarceration in the California system by providing legal support and re-entry programs. They are predominantly staffed by low-income transgender women of color (and their families) who are in prison, formerly incarcerated, or targeted by the police, as is so often the case for Black trans people in the U.S.
The Trans Justice Funding Project is a funding initiative founded to support grassroots, trans-specific justice groups run by and for trans people. These groups include organizations fighting to eradicate prison systems and provide legal protections for trans people, organizations that provide health and wellness to the community, and organizations providing housing for trans people. Grants are made annually by a panel of six trans justice activists from around the country. The project centers the leadership of trans people organizing around racism, economic injustice, transmisogyny, ableism, immigration, incarceration, and other intersecting oppressions.
LGBT Books to Prisoners is a trans-affirming prison abolitionist project that sends books to incarcerated LGBTQ+-identified people across the U.S. Over the past 10 years, the organization has sent books to over 9,000 individuals, and also offers a book club that allows incarcerated members to send questions about books to their authors. Financial donations are accepted, as well as book donations. You can find their book wish lists here.
Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative is an Atlanta-based organization led by Toni-Michelle Williams, a Black trans woman, fighting for the humanity and survival of Black trans sex workers in the city. SNapCo also provides leadership training to help Black trans leaders learn how to organize against mass criminalization. The group is heavily involved in the BLM movement locally, helping to organize and raise funds to bail out protestors and close jails and prisons in Georgia.
The Freedom Fund secures the liberty and safety of people held in jail or immigration detention, focusing on LGBTQ+ individuals. The initiative bails out at-risk populations who might experience health-harming consequences (e.g., lack of access to HIV medication) due to incarceration and provides on-site HIV testing to those recently released.
The Femme Empowerment Project provides skill-building workshops and discussions led by and for QTIIBPOC femmes in the Twin Cities. Based in Minneapolis, the Femme Empowerment Project creates space for cultural resiliency, healing, and ancestral wisdom for the communities it serves.
Gender Justice L.A. is a grassroots social justice organization led by and for gender non-conforming, two spirit, Black, Indigenous, and trans people of color in Los Angeles. Centering low-income trans people of color, Gender Justice L.A. helps to provide affordable health care, employment, education, leadership opportunities, and safe spaces for spiritual and social growth.
The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network has launched a Mental Health Fund program that provides financial support for QTPOC clients to access psychotherapy. Launched in the aftermath of the 2016 election, the fund seeks to make therapy accessible to our community. Applicants must be QTPOC, live in the U.S., have a therapist that agrees to participate in the program, and demonstrate financial need. Donations are accepted here.
Black Trans Men, Inc. strives to ensure all trans men and LGBTQ+ people are provided equal access and protections under the law. The company provides mentorship, leadership empowerment opportunities, financial assistance, and various resources that aid in the support of a healthy medical and social transition. Donations are accepted here.
More stories on the George Floyd protests and movement for racial justice:
- Why Pride has always been about protest and rebellion
- One Minneapolis writer on why he marched for George Floyd
- How systemic racism is exhausting Black people
- Tips for how to protest safely and effectively
- Here are 6 small ways you can get involved in the anti-racism movement
- Remembering Tony McDade, the Black trans Tallahassee man who was fatally shot by police
- Iyanna Dior's assault sparks a conversation about transphobia and Black Lives Matter
- Over 70 LGBTQ+ organizations voice support for anti-racist protests
- The Okra Project launches mental health fund for Black trans people
- Why Black and Brown people need to be included in the Pride flag
- Keith Boykin among the dozens of journalists attacked by police while reporting on protests
Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.