Over the past year our team at the Campaign for Southern Equality created the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project (STYEP) in response to the brutal barrage of laws that prohibit transgender youth from accessing life-affirming and sometimes life-saving healthcare. As bans have become law across the South, our team has been honored to provide direct services to families to help them connect with out-of-state care and to help fund their travel needs with emergency grants of $500. We have been honored to partner with advocacy organizations, medical providers, and family networks in every state where we are offering STYEP – there is truly an incredible movement of people coming together to ensure that trans youth have families to the health care they need and deserve.
We are excited to share the news that this week we expanded STYEP in Missouri, in partnership with PROMO Missouri, The GLO Center, and TransParent. When Missouri’s ban became law at the end of the summer, many families faced immediate challenges about where to turn or how to afford the additional costs of accessing care out of state. We are honored to offer support during this time of crisis, in close partnership with organizations across Missouri.
If you know of families of trans youth in Missouri who could use this support, please spread the word about two new offerings: 1) A Community Town Hall we are hosting in partnership with Missouri organizations on Monday, December 18 about the anti-trans healthcare law, and 2) the launch of STYEP in Missouri.
Since launching STYEP this year, we have directly supported 650+ families and individuals impacted by healthcare restrictions across 12 states and we have provided more than $330,000 in emergency grants.
This expansion of STYEP into Missouri is only possible because of the generosity of our donors – and now, as we look to help as many families as possible, we’d love your support. Click here to make a donation – every gift made before December 31 will be matched, up to $50,000, thanks to an amazing donor.
We estimate that STYEP is currently serving 86% of transgender youth nationwide who live in a state with a ban. It is the only regional program of this scale in the country that is directly assisting the families of transgender youth navigate these bans on gender-affirming care, and it is one very concrete way that we can come together as a community to let trans youth and their families know that we join them in loving solidarity during a period of such struggle.
Your support is so crucial, and we are so grateful for it. Please consider making a year-end donation of $300, $150, $10, or whatever you can to continue fueling the Southern Trans Youth Emergency Project.
