The Trans Community is Fighting Tough New Laws

Trans Houses are community shelters created by and for trans women in Bolivia that offer comprehensive health services, psychological support, legal assistance, and entrepreneurship opportunities, evolving from basic assistance spaces into collective emancipation platforms that have served over 2,500 people across four cities and are expanding as a replicable model of social transformation. This story is available in Spanish here: https://solu.news/1qka

Mental health care often requires a human touch and a personal connection. Tucked quietly in an office park in Grafton, volunteers at the COPE Hotline field nearly 23,000 calls a year from all over the Milwaukee area and some points beyond.

The Fitness Trans Formed program provides a safe space for trans people and members of the LGBTQ+ community to exercise and participate in fitness training from trans professionals. Training is available in a tiered pricing structure, including an option to pay nothing, and about 50 individuals have completed a Fitness Trans Formed training program since its inception. The group is also working on plans to provide informed training to other fitness professionals to make their gyms and workout spaces more inclusive.

Genderdoc-M (GDM) partners with a local lawyer to offer legal support to members of the LGBTQ+ community in an effort to promote human rights and continue to work toward a more inclusive society. Every year, about 40 people seek legal advice from GDM on matters ranging from workplace discrimination to physical abuse.

Insurance provider GreenShield, in collaboration with university insurance broker Studentcare, provides lifetime coverage of up to $10,000 for gender-affirming care procedures not covered by provincial health insurance. This insurance benefit provides care to more than 200,000 university students across 20 participating schools in the country.

Several community organizations and municipalities like the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI) have come together to decrease homelessness rates among the transgender population. OTI formed a Trans Advisory Committee which focused on budget and policy advocacy based on input from the transgender community to address homelessness and partnered with efforts like the Transgender District. All in all, these combined efforts have decreased transgender homelessness by 15% since 2019.

Nour Sarah is a collaboration between two non-profits — Spectrum and LebMASH — that aims to help LGBTQ+ people in the North African and West Asian region understand their mental health issues and receive support services. Nour Sarah aims to provide safe care to those who need it in spaces where it’s historically hard to find. The group hosts educational sessions and connects people with counselors trained to provide care to LGBTQ+ people who are drastically under-supported when it comes to accessing mental health care.

The Cleveland Clinic’s pediatric emergency room uses iPads loaded with peer-to-peer educational mental health videos from youth who have gone through the emergency room visit and inpatient admission process to help support other young people as they sit in the waiting room. The videos help reduce fear and anxiety, and research shows that peer support for people in crisis can also reduce re-hospitalization rates and promote recovery.

Indigenous and Italian American activists in Rochester, N.Y. built on an interfaith model to campaign for a resolution replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day. The committee focused on centering Indigenous perspectives, involving Italian Americans in the process, and encouraging community dialogue through mediated conversation circles.

After Georgian residents raised concerns about a pollutant that was being emitted by a nearby biomass plant, they banded together to pass legislation that effectively put an end to the practice. These concerned residents founded the Madison County Clean Power Coalition to raise awareness of the effects of creosote burning, which, when breathed in, has shown to increase the risk of lung and heart disease. Their lobbying efforts resulted in the governor signing into law a ban on burning creosote-treated wood.