The Riot Fund

The Transgender District is launching the Riot Fund, a new multi-year emergency fund designed to address urgent funding gaps and build long-term financial stability. 

The Riot Fund was created in response to escalating budget cuts, rescinded grants and a wider trend of institutional divestment from trans-led organizations both locally and nationwide. With city resources dwindling and federal attacks on trans people mounting, we are taking action against the administration’s ongoing and hostile attacks by asking our community and allies to stand firmly with trans people. 

We are working to recoup our current budget shortfall and build a reserve fund of $100,000 over the next three years. This will help us diversify our funding and create a more stable future for the Trans District. Every dollar raised will help us sustain critical community programs, keep our staff employed and continue to protect the only legally recognized transgender district in the world.

As the world’s first and only legally recognized transgender cultural district, we have spent the past eight years building a global model for how cities can invest in and uplift trans communities with intention and impact. Yet today, as funding sources disappear and our financial challenges grow more severe, we have been forced to scale back the very services that so many trans and nonbinary people rely on. This includes: 

• Pausing our Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, a flagship initiative that has provided over $370,000 to more than 50 trans people launching small businesses and building generational wealth.
• Losing funding for our Social Justice Fellowship and Community Advisory Council, which ensured our work remained rooted in community voices.
• Facing deep threats to our empowerment and cultural programs, including our Name & Gender Change Clinics and wellness and safety workshops, which have helped hundreds of community members access programs that support autonomy, safety and self-determination.

The Riot Fund is a lifeline. It will stabilize at-risk programs, support the small but mighty team that pours its heart into this work and build the financial reserves we need to weather future uncertainty.

Our ask to you: 

• Donate to the Riot Fund and help us reach our $100,000 goal over the next three years. Every contribution sustains our core programs and services at risk.
• Become a Sustainer of Solidarity with a monthly gift of $10–$150. Together, we’ll keep the District strong and growing as a beacon for our community.
• Spread the Word by inviting your friends, chosen family, allies, and communities to contribute or share the Riot Fund.