San Francisco Launches Program To Pay Trans Residents $1,200 A Month
The city of San Francisco, California, has announced a new monthly stimulus program exclusively for transgender residents, which will pay each individual $1,200 a month for up to 18 months.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program on Wednesday, revealing that the city will now be accepting applications.
The program offers money exclusively to transgender residents of San Francisco, and is led by The Transgender District — which is a neighborhood within the city for transgender people. It will reportedly give 55 transgender San Franciscans $1,200 per month for up to 18 months.
This is all apparently part of a larger effort to advance equity for people who identify as transgender.
“Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (G.I.F.T.) will provide economically marginalized transgender people with unrestricted, monthly guaranteed income as a way to combat poverty our most impacted community members face,” the website for the program reads. “The Transgender District and Lyon-Martin Community Health Services, in partnership with municipal city departments in the City and County of San Francisco, will provide 55 Transgender residents of San Francisco County with $1,200 a month in guaranteed income for a year and a half.”
The website goes on to further categorize and divide the group of eligible residents, this time noting that people will be given preference for the program based on their race, disability, age, and several other factors.
“The program will prioritize enrollment of Transgender, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex (TGI) people who are also Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), experiencing homelessness, living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, youth and elders, monolingual Spanish-speakers, and those who are legally vulnerable such as TGI people who are undocumented, engaging in survival sex trades, or are formerly incarcerated,” the website states.
According to local outlet KRON 4 News, this pilot program is the first of its kind.
The payments will be regular and unconditional, and those who receive it will be able to spend it as they see fit.
Mayor Breed’s office also noted that, alongside the temporary stimulus checks, the GIFT program will also provide individuals with other resources, including so-called “gender affirming medical and mental health care,” as well as financial coaching.
The website states that the city will be accepting applications for the GIFT program from November 15 to December 15.
“Our Guaranteed Income Programs allow us to help our residents when they need it most as part of our city’s economic recovery and our commitment to creating a more just city for all,” Breed told KRON 4 News. “We know that our trans communities experience much higher rates of poverty and discrimination, so this program will target support to lift individuals in this community up.”
The program reportedly has at least 97 gender options to select from while filling out the application, according to screenshots shared on Twitter by user “Libs of Tik Tok.”
