At the Nexus of Justice: How BIPOC Trans Movements are Securing Trans Futures, Healing Trans Communities, and Advancing Liberation for All

When BIPOC trans leadership is centered, movements grow stronger, more inclusive, and more visionary.

At Borealis Philanthropy’s Fund for Trans Generations (FTG), every day we witness how trans-led movements, especially those led by BIPOC trans leaders, actively reshape our future. The work of BIPOC trans organizers, rooted in the fight for collective liberation, safety, and bodily autonomy, touches every aspect of the social justice movement ecosystem—to pursue trans justice is to fight for all of our freedom dreams. 

This interconnection becomes clear when we consider specific issues, like sexual health. Our sexual health requires access to vital information and health care, including reproductive and abortion care. It requires gender-affirming care and the right to exist in safety and exercise our autonomy. When we consider sexual health through a trans justice lens, we center the experience of trans folks, and particularly BIPOC trans folks, in our solutions and systems. And only when we’ve arrived at the place where these systems meet the needs of these communities will we know we have achieved true justice.

This is why the Fund for Trans Generations exists: to fund trans generations and futures, knowing that in doing so, we secure freedom and liberation for all. We do this work by bridging the philanthropic sector with the grassroots frontlines and inspiring, ideating, and scheming in the community.

This year alone, FTG has moved over $400,000 in rapid response funds and channeled over $1 million to BIPOC trans-led organizations through the wisdom of our Participatory Grantmaking Committee (PGM). We’ve visited Rock Steady Farm and Ayni Herb Farm, where trans-BIPOC folks are reclaiming land for healing and liberation, and we marched at NYC Pride with Eshe Ukweli and Baddie Brooks.

We’ve connected with other values-aligned folks to amplify trans voices at the Social Impact Fund Summit and discussed how Black culture and lived experience hold powerful data to reshape philanthropy at ESSENCE Fest’s Global Black Economic Forum. And we received recognition for this work—and more—as the Grantmakers United for Trans Communities Leadership Award recipients.

And our journey this summer culminated in a collaboration with reproductive justice collective SisterSong at the Lucy Hicks Henderson Pre-Conference in Washington, D.C., a prelude to Let’s Talk About Sex. This gathering, held during Black August and on the cusp of Sexual Health Awareness month, was a sanctuary for Black folks—trans and cis folks, reproductive justice activists, sex workers, youth advocates, donors, and Borealis’ own team members—to commune, strategize and envision what freedom looks like for us.

The gathering was special in ways that are hard to capture with words. We confronted internal power dynamics, addressed communal harm, and listened deeply to one another’s needs. We laughed, cried, and held each other close—aligning ourselves under a shared truth: bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, and Black liberation are inseparable.

As we close out Sexual Health Awareness Month and move into LGBTQ History, we at the FTG remain anchored in the four core tenets of our work: Safety, Unlimited Care, Solidarity, and Strategy. These are the tenants that drive our politics, our grantmaking, our strategies, our actions and inactions, and our allyship. These principles inform the ways we show up with one another and our communities and which guide us in our support of the life-affirming work that FTG grantees are leading, from reproductive justice to youth advocacy to housing accessibility.

We center and uplift and cherish the brilliance of trans folks because trans-led organizing paves the way for a more beautiful world for us all. And it is for this reason that funders must prioritize this work—beyond rectifying the unjustness that only 4.6 cents of every $100 awarded specifically supports trans communities, our sector must recognize trans leadership as the portal to safe, thriving, and resilient communities. 

Since our inception in 2016, the Funds for Trans Generations has invested over $10 million in the wisdom of trans organizers—and in leadership development, community-building, and long-term strategies that allow them to thrive. We achieve this through unrestricted, long-term funding and rapid response funds to help organizers survive rising transantagonism and seize key opportunities. And we lead this work, always, with joy at the center.

As we enter our 10th year, we invite you into an intentional and deepened accompliceship. One in which we stand alongside the trans-led movement ecosystem to co-create a future where trans folks may flourish, where they may grow old, and in which we may all feel held with care and love. To partner with us, contact FTG@borealisphilanthropy.org.