Transgender Law Center
/OVERVIEW: The Transgender Law Center supports the trans community through legal work and multiple programs in the U.S. It is primarily concerned with supporting incarcerated trans people, Black trans women, trans youth, trans people with HIV and BIPOC trans migrants.
IP TAKE: No longer primarily focused on direct services as it originally was, TLC specializes in pursuing precedent-setting legal victories and incubating groundbreaking projects that affect specific population groups in the trans community, such as Black trans people and trans people with disabilities. This is not a traditional funder with a standard application process or that primarily makes monetary awards to nonprofits. This is a transparent, multi-year funder that typically only awards a handful of modest grants to support its own ongoing projects. This funder offers support beyond grantmaking, including basic legal information to help transgender people protect their rights.
PROFILE: Established in 2002, the Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest trans-specific, trans-led organization in the U.S. and is based in Oakland, California. Chris Daley and Dylan Vade co-founded TLC as a fiscally sponsored project of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. It became its own nonprofit shortly thereafter and began focusing largely on direct services. TLC aims to “change law, policy and attitudes so that all people can live safely, authentically and free from discrimination regardless of their gender identity or expression.”
TLC is committed to racial justice and provides assistance in the following areas: immigration, health, employment, prisons, youth, public accommodations, housing and trafficking. It works through multiple programs, including Black Trans Circles, Positively Trans for individuals with HIV/AIDS, TLC@SONG for resilience in the South, TRUTH to tell trans stories and the Disability Project for LGBTQ people with disabilities. It is also heavily involved in challenging the legal system and impacting litigation in the areas of employment, education and immigration.
Grants for LGBTQ
All of TLC’s funding programs focus on the trans-led movement for liberation and the LGBTQ community at large. It works through community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender-nonconforming people alive, thriving and liberated in everything they do.
One specific priority is transgender people living with HIV. A group of trans women of color who have HIV lead TLC’s effort to promote community-driven research, storytelling and leadership development to improve the health and wellness of this population group. TLC has published various needs assessment documents to address this issue, including locally focused assessments on the communities of Detroit, New Orleans and South Florida.
The funder collaborates with GSA Network on gender justice leadership programs that promote nonconforming youth leadership and storytelling to build understanding and empathy. Trans Joy Zine, storytelling workshops and narrative change projects have received TLC support in the past.
Additionally, TLC supports trans-related efforts linked to racial justice, people with disabilities, immigration, health, prisons, policing, youth, employment, housing and other issues.
Grants for Racial Justice
Racial justice is a major issue for TLC, which has developed multiple programs dedicated to the needs of trans people of color. The Roses Program supports trans girls of color as they make their voices heard and become empowered in a safe and loving world.
Black Trans Circles is a TLC program that is geographically focused on the southern and midwestern U.S. and develops the leadership capacity of Black trans women living in these regions. The goal of this program is to help these women work through oppression-based trauma and find healing justice spaces where they can thrive. Raquel Willis founded Black Trans Circles in 2018 through an Open Societies Foundation Soros Equality Fellowship.
Grants for Disabilities
The Disability Project is a collaborative project housed at TLC that focuses on the trans and queer disabled, deaf, ill and mad communities. A community advisory board of people associated with this population group informs the project to build leadership, grow connections and break isolation among community members. A 2019 Soros Justice Fellowship made this project possible to embed anti-ableism into the heart of social justice movements. To inform its work, TLC conducted the first-even disabled and deaf trans people survey.
Grants for Immigrants and Refugees
Yet as the organization’s name suggests, legal services are at the heart of everything TLC does. Its Legal Services Project connects trans and gender nonconforming people to the resources they need to protect themselves, each other and their community. These services include a legal information help desk, prison mail program, attorney solidarity network, internship program, volunteer program and other resources. Legal services provided address various topics that affect transgender people, including healthcare, housing, employment, civil rights, immigration, prisoners’ rights and identity change documents.
The organization’s impact litigation work focuses on ending the criminalization of trans lives through the support of grassroots organizations. The Border Butterflies Project is a coalitional response to the issue of LGBTQ+ asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. TLC works alongside the following organizations on this project: Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP), Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Casa Arcoiris and Jardin de Mariposa and Refugee Health Alliance/Clínica de salud y justicia.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $25,000 to $150,000, though most grants average $50,000. While it’s geographic focus is national, most of TLC’s grants support organizations in California, where TLC is based. Review annual reports and financial information on the TLC website. Certain programs, especially ones that relate to racial justice, prioritize the needs of trans people living in the southern and midwestern regions of the U.S. where progressive values may be challenged.
TLC offers program and project support to grantees.
Beyond just grants, it offers TLC is a highly collaborative funder that frequently works with other trans-affiliated organizations on its projects. It is typically open to new collaborative ideas and is a major player in the general LGBTQ community.
Through its help desk, TLC can provide basic information about laws and policies but cannot offer individualized legal advice or legal representation.
TLC does not provide a clear way for grantseekers to apply for funding or any online application materials to make the funding process accessible.
Direct general questions to the TLC staff at 510-587-9696 or Giving@TransgenderLawCenter.org
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