Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Smith. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Cheyenne Smith founded The Queer-Trans Project in Spring 2021 in response to the restrictions that local queer organizations place on LGBTQ+ individuals wanting to receive resources in the community.
Founding this organization has been the most affirming experience for me as a non-binary person of color. I’m the happiest that I’ve ever been. Before starting this organization, I could do nothing more than cry in my bed at the lack of representation for folks like me (plus size, black, and at the time, someone who identified as a woman with an identity crisis who wanted her breasts gone). The days that I have dysphoria are easier to get through now – the positive feelings I get from helping my Queer and Trans siblings overshadow the negative feelings of my dysphoria.
My organization is a direct representation of those we provide resources for, being both BIPOC and trans-led. We are experts at what our community needs because we have lived experience. Today, The Queer-Trans Project partners with a handful of LGBTQ+ and ally organizations to advance their mission to provide gender-empowering resources to LGBTQ+ minorities that they have the power to create social change in their communities.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle is funding. We’re an independent organization and not officially a nonprofit.
When the Queer-Trans Project first started out, it was running solely with the Americorps stipend the founder made (only 1k a month) that they also used to pay rent, bills, etc. We’ve received two microgrants and a few donations since then and have budgeted to continue, but it’s so limited.
Many grants require a non-profit status and have so many other restrictions on who can apply a process dictated majorly by cishet white individuals to receive funding to help those completely different from them.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Queer-Trans Project?
We are The Queer-Trans Project, a trans and BIPOC-led independent organization based in Jacksonville, Florida. Our mission is to provide gender-empowering resources to the LGBTQ+ minorities so that they have the power and confidence to create social change in their communities. We serve individuals in all of the United States.
We are most known for our Build-A-Queer kits, free and fully customizable kits that can include bras, chest binders, socks, stickers, LGBTQ+ literature, and so much more. Our first launch was on January 14th, 2022. We sold out in less than an hour! Also, in an effort to provide more equitable resources, BIPOC individuals were given early access for thirty minutes. Showcasing these free kits on TikTok increase our Instagram following by 6000% in a week, took us viral in TikTok four times, and exponentially took our TikTok following to 11k followers in less than two weeks of creating an account.
In a few weeks, our organization is opening our Virtual 3D Art Museum. This museum will showcase work from QTBIPOC (queer, trans, black, indigenous, a person of color) individuals in the U.S. South. Our museum strives to be a platform that increases exposure and funding opportunities, and amplify the voices of those so often silenced and underrepresented; it gives creatives a place to be heard and understood and gives viewers a shared experience of the subconscious concepts [of artists] that can’t be verbally explained.
The Queer-Trans Project continues to expand its resources as funding becomes available.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
It is essential that those who run an organization directly reflect those that their work is impacting. A straight, cis white male can NOT ever be more qualified to run an organization for LGBTQ+ individuals no matter how much education her has.
In the same way, a rich, privileged individual who donates all of their money will never and cannot ever have the authority to be on the board of directors of a homeless shelter but it happens nearly 99% of the time. And this is the reason that so many organizations’ missions become misaligned from their work; they become caught up in trying to reach numbers, have good press, and secure funding that they lost sight of who they’re trying to help.
We will never make that mistake. We are a BIPOC and trans-led organization and our resources will always be free. Our members are family, not clients.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: queertransproject.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queertransproject/
- Other: https://thelearningcurve.bulletin.com/966649320844142
