PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

“To be the true me, I have had a lot of luck, an accepting and loving family and workplace – and I know only too well that for many others this is not the case.  If I can help one soul to be free and true with this fund then I will be the proudest transgender woman alive.” – Antonia Belcher

The Antonia and Andrea Belcher Trans Fund, managed by the LGBTQI community foundation charity GiveOut, is named after trans businesswoman, role model and mentor, Antonia Belcher and her wife Andrea. They are supporting activists with reliable funding so they can advocate for their communities in the places where it’s hardest to be trans.

Defending Trans Rights

Across the world, trans people suffer human rights violations, social exclusion, indignities, abuse, arrest or even death. Over a quarter of countries either explicitly or implicitly criminalise trans people simply for being who they are. From discrimination to a lack of legal protection or support, there are a host of social, cultural and legal barriers that prevent trans people expressing their gender identity. Additionally, trans people are often excluded from employment, meaning that without families, a support network or income, they are one of the most vulnerable groups and are at significantly increased risk of exploitation and abuse.

And the consequences are dire. Studies in different countries and contexts, including the UK, US, India and others, show the severe impact of the mental health challenges trans people face; around 50% of trans people either consider or attempt suicide. We live in a world where trans people feel that they cannot exist.

Courageous trans organisations are protecting their communities and advancing trans inclusion. However, despite the scale of the problems facing the trans community, the resources to support them are scarce. Even within a paucity of funding for LGBT+ organisations, trans organisations are the least funded; more than half of trans groups globally have annual budgets of less than £7,500. 

Addressing the Need

The Antonia & Andrea Belcher Trans Fund was established to help redress this funding imbalance, working with individuals and companies in the UK to fund organisations that are supporting the trans community worldwide. This fund is managed and supported by GiveOut, a registered charity specialising in mobilising funding and resources for LGBTQI organisations. Antonia has raised over £100,000 in the last three years, which has been distributed by GiveOut, making a real difference to the lives of trans people in some of the hardest places to be trans.

GiveOut has a robust grant-making process in place - we identify pioneering groups to support through a rigorous process of consultation, due diligence and vetting, guided by our Grant-making Advisory Panel and governed by our Board of Trustees. We fund these local partners to provide support, counselling, advice and legal avenues for trans people to realise their rights, protect their dignity and live the life they were born to. By supporting these local organisations, the Trans Fund is reaching where it can have the biggest impact, and supporting some of the most vulnerable and excluded communities.

Your Support Could Be a Lifeline for Trans Communities Globally

Trans people face ongoing discrimination, harassment and violence, and we cannot provide all the resources they need. Your support will help us provide vital funding to trans organisations globally.

If you would like to join us, there are several ways to get involved:

• Donate and join our community of regular givers. By giving through the Trans Fund, you can focus your support on this ground-breaking work, providing long term support to the trans movement.

• Become a founding sponsor. Join the coalition of individuals, businesses, and trusts and foundations who give at a level of £5,000+/year to support and shape our work developing trans philanthropy and rights.  

• Get your business involved. We offer a range of ways for businesses to support trans equality and inclusion, including sponsorship opportunities, in-kind support, employee engagement and payroll giving. We will also celebrate your support on this page and across our social media channels. 

If you would like to make a donation via bank transfer, please email Allan McKinnon, GiveOut’s Head of Philanthropy at allan@giveout.org.

HOW THE FUND MAKES A DIFFERENCE FOR TRANS PEOPLE

Through the Antonia and Andrea Belcher Trans Fund, grants provide support to trans organisations across the world, including the Caribbean, Guyana, the Czech Republic, Western Balkans, Turkey, India and Tonga.

When Sanjay needed support, CLPR were there

When Sanjay, a trans man, met Rina, they knew they wanted to build a life together. However, Rina’s family harassed Sanjay for being trans, and tried to stop them getting married. Sanjay and Rina eloped when her family made it clear they would not accept their marriage. Rina’s family maliciously filed a missing person report to the police, accusing Sanjay of kidnapping their daughter, intending to have him arrested. With poor societal acceptance of trans people, Sanjay was unlikely to get a fair hearing, and could face abuse in jail. What’s more, Rina would be sent back to her family.

Jayna, a lawyer working with CLPR, was able to get the complaint against Sanjay thrown out of court, and supported them to obtain a marriage certificate, which is more challenging for trans people, something they are trying to change. Now Rina and Sanjay are happily married, with jobs and lives in a city away from Rina’s abusive family, and have started a new life. Together.

Centre for Law and Policy Research (CLPR)

In India the trans community are socially and economically excluded, laws are used to target and harass trans people, and the bureaucratic system is incredibly hard to navigate for trans people to access services and gain legal recognition. CLPR provide free legal representation to trans communities, and pursue legal reform to better protect trans people, supporting over 50,000 trans people in Bangalore, Delhi and neighbouring states. Their legal interventions have helped challenge and rewrite laws which exclude or target the trans community, and they provide training, such as to the police force, to better prosecute attacks on trans people. This challenges police bias against the trans community, and has in fact resulted in the recruitment of the first trans police officers in India, and ensures more trans people are able to access legal support.

LGBTI Equal Rights Association (ERA)

Despite some minor legal advances in the last few years, trans and non-binary people in the Western Balkans region and Turkey are still excluded and discriminated against based on their gender identity and expression. Trans communities continue to be denied legal gender recognition, are pathologised, and have little protection against discrimination and violence. Public attitudes also remain extremely negative across the region, with trans people routinely excluded from public services, like social housing.

LGBTI ERA established the Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex (TNBI) Caucus in November 2019 with a grant from the Antonia and Andrea Belcher Trans Fund. This was the first ever convening of trans, non-binary and intersex people, working together to provide better support and resilience to the trans community across the Western Balkans and Turkey. One recent success was enabling a trans hate crime survivor to access social housing, and supporting her to recover financially. They also encouraged the government to publicly commit for the first time to providing social housing support for trans people, a huge step forward.

Guyana Trans United (GTU)

GTU ensure that the rights of Guyana’s trans people are recognised through human rights advocacy, promoting respect and acceptance within society, and empowering trans individuals through creating and sustaining an environment free from violence, prejudice, and discrimination. A former British colony, Guyana continues to criminalise sex between men with a punishment of life in prison. While rarely enforced, the law contributes to ongoing negative perceptions of LGBTQI people, including trans individuals.  Politicians regularly use anti-LGBTQI hate speech and evangelical Christian leaders vocally oppose the human rights of LGBTQI people. As a result, public attitudes are mostly negative and LGBTQI people are threatened, harassed, attacked and stigmatised.

However, public opinion, especially among younger generations, has been shifting. In 2018, the Caribbean Court of Justice overturned a ban on transgender ‘cross-dressing’ widely used to criminalise transgender people in Guyana. The Fund is supporting GTU’s core costs in facilitating community access to a range of services, including HIV counselling and testing, legal advice, and peer and psychosocial support.

Tonga Leitis Association (TLA)

Tonga criminalises cross-dressing and sodomy, which carry sentences of up to 10 years, putting trans people at risk of incarceration, violence, and discrimination. TLA are Tonga’s only organisation focused on transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming communities.

In January 2022 Tonga was hit by a volcanic eruption and tsunami which blanketed the islands in ash and destroyed more than 600 buildings. This also highlighted the challenges faced by trans people in crisis and humanitarian situations, as most of TLA’s members did not seek safety in emergency shelters due to fears of discrimination and abuse, instead sheltering together in co-founder Joleen’s home. Our support enabled them to provide emergency supplies and shelter for community members who lost their homes during the disaster. 

Beyond emergency support, TLA provides support to the trans community across Tonga’s 45 inhabited islands, working through community outreach to promote the better inclusion of trans people and reduce discrimination.

“The primary focus of the TLA is health education, law reform, capacity building and development, infrastructure, and facility. These thematic areas represent priorities that will pave the way to achieving our mission and vision.” - Joey Joleen Mataele

Trans*parent

The Czech Republic is one of the last European countries requiring surgical treatment and forced sterilisation before someone is allowed to legally change their gender. A trans person must divorce their spouse if they transition, and cannot have their preferred name on certificates, and many struggle to access hormone replacement therapy. It is no surprise there is therefore poor mental health within the trans community.

Trans*parent are trying to change the law to end the forced sterilisation of trans people, and address issues such as forced divorces and legal recognition on certificates for trans people. They also raise awareness, supporting the media and employers on how to better talk about trans issues and support trans employees, and provide a community space, support group and safe space for trans people to access information and services. They also work with the National Institute for Mental Health, and have developed an outcomes-focused strategy to better support the mental health of trans people across three countries in Europe, jointly publishing the first guidance and support document providing guidance to healthcare professionals on mental wellbeing and holistic support for trans people in the Czech Republic.

TransWave

TransWave are Jamaica’s first non-profit organisation dedicated solely to promoting the health and wellbeing of the transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex communities. Their advocacy focuses on legal gender recognition, non-discriminatory and gender-affirming healthcare, and access to affordable transition-related healthcare. They have successfully increased visibility and acceptance of the trans community through engaging online and social media content, and mobilising around Jamaica Pride. The Fund has supported TransWave across all of these areas, and in particular, has enabled the establishment of the first and only Trans Emergency Fund for trans individuals at risk in Jamaica.

As COVID-19 took hold, trans people, particularly sex workers, felt stigmatised and discriminated against when accessing health care spaces. In this context, TransWave helped the community access vital healthcare. In 2020, TransWave reactivated their Trans Emergency Fund to support trans people with housing, medicine and transport. They provided close to 400 care packages across 9 parishes, including non-perishable food items and toiletries. These care packages made a huge difference, at times between life and death. 

United Caribbean Trans Network (UCTRANS)

Across the Caribbean, trans people face discrimination and widespread physical and sexual violence. In most countries, there is no legal recognition of gender identity, however, the trans movement in the region has been disconnected. In 2019, with the Fund’s support, members of the trans community from the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States established UCTRANS.

Support from the Fund enables UCTRANS to rent its office space in Barbados, a key hub for organising, training, and community events. Over the past year, UCTRANS has used the space to host a wide range of activities including community education sessions, meetings with members from intersectional communities, and host regular events to distribute food packages to community members facing economic hardship. It has also launched a project to map barriers to legal gender recognition across the Caribbean and is undertaking community outreach and awareness work to challenge the “anti-gender” movement which is threatening trans rights.

NEWS AND OPINION

GiveOut is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Registered Charity Number 1176434).