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Photo shows multiple rows of clothing lining either side of a room, as members of the community look through them during a clothing swap in Knoxville, TN during 2019

Building the Inclusive Future We All Deserve

Trans Empowerment Project is a grassroots nonprofit building real, lasting support for disabled Two-Spirit, Trans, Intersex, and Gender Expansive communities of color, through direct aid, justice-rooted training, and the radical belief that we all deserve to thrive.

$200 funds one micro-grant. $1000 fuels five lives.

Become a Sponsor

It only takes $17/month to ensure that one of our community members receives a microgrant!

Requests for aid are climbing

We received over 1420 applications for emergency assistance funding across 3 micro-grant cycles in 2025.

In 2026 we’ve already seen over 1200 applicants apply for just 1 cycle.

That’s not an accident. It’s a consequence of the attacks against our lives.

Creating Safety

TEP not only provides microgrants. We also create community connections to help our folks find the resources they need and deserve, in order to be able to live their best lives.

Every applicant gets an invite so that we can ensure no one has to do this alone, ever again.

Liberation Lab Promotional Graphic

Liberation Lab

The place to experiment, build, and grow power

Train Here. Lead Everywhere.

In 2016, we watched decades of hard-won equity get erased almost overnight. The attacks haven’t stopped since. And yes, it’s exhausting. That’s the point.

TEP exists because our community kept telling us the same story: isolation, dysphoria, depression, and the crushing feeling of fighting just to exist.

We decided to stop fighting for permission and to start building the future we deserve. One where 2TIGE-BIPOC people don’t just survive; we thrive. Out of spite. Out of solidarity. Together.

Liberation Lab is TEP’s training space — built for organizers, allies, educators, and anyone ready to turn good intentions into real action.

Every course is justice-rooted, community-centered, and taught by people who live this work. When you get trained here, you’re not just leveling up your skills. You’re directly funding support for the 2TIGE-BIPOC community.

Start where you are. We’ll meet you there.

They want us overwhelmed. We're getting organized.

Across the country, politicians and bigoted billionaires, are targeting Trans lives, healthcare, schools, public spaces, and our ability to exist safely in our own communities.

We could keep counting every attack. Or we can count something else.

  • The people organizing clothing swaps.
  • The neighbors putting resources directly into Trans hands.
  • The Street Teams making our presence impossible to ignore.
  • The people learning how to organize, bringing others with them, and building power where they live, work, and play.

Our power doesn’t live in bill trackers or bathrooms.

It lives in us.

You don’t need to be an “activist” to organize.

You only need to care enough to show up, learn something, and to do something with that learning.

TEP organizers take real action in their communities, from hosting clothing swaps and distributing resources to joining campaigns, building local teams, sharing stories, and creating visibility for 2TIGE people everywhere.

We’ll give you tools, training, campaigns, and people to organize alongside.

You bring yourself.

 

Hear From Our Volunteers

Events

october, 2026

Recent Updates

They Are Teaching You to Fear the Trans Community
Look at the screenshots accompanying this article. Different people. Different posts. Seemingly different topics: bathrooms, schools, children, women’s rights, safety, privacy, fairness, protection. What do they all have in common? Maybe you caught it immediately....
Elevated Access's logo shows the silhouette of a plane in front of a circular version of the progressive pride flag on the horizon
New Partnership Announcement: Elevated Access
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with Elevated Access, an organization that works with volunteer pilots to help people from vulnerable communities travel safely to medical appointments when transportation would otherwise be a barrier. Yes. Volunteer...
graphic shows a protest sign reading protect trans kid in the background while supportive copy reads "You can't claim to support Trans People and also fund their harm" in white letters
We’re Asking Mattel to Make a Choice
We're Asking Mattel to Choose | Trans Empowerment Project Trans Empowerment Project — transempowerment.org Trans Day of Visibility 2026 TDOV 2026 — Trans Day of Visibility We're Asking Mattelto Choose. You can't hold an HRC award in one hand and a Harry Potter...
Clothing Swaps Save Lives (We Said What We Said)
Clothing is something a lot of people take for granted. You walk into a store, grab your size, maybe try something on, maybe not, and move on with your day. But for 2TIGE folks, it’s rarely that simple. For many of us, clothing is tied up in dysphoria, safety, access,...
Inked in Solidarity: 12 People, 9 States…and growing
Something really powerful is already happening. Over the past few days, 12 people across 9 states have signed up to be part of this campaign. Not because they had to. Not because it was convenient. But because they believe in showing up — visibly — for the 2TIGE...
New Partnership Announcement: Elevated Access

New Partnership Announcement: Elevated Access

We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with Elevated Access, an organization that works with volunteer pilots to help people from vulnerable communities travel safely to medical appointments when transportation would otherwise be a barrier. Yes. Volunteer...

read more
We’re Asking Mattel to Make a Choice

We’re Asking Mattel to Make a Choice

We're Asking Mattel to Choose | Trans Empowerment Project Trans Empowerment Project — transempowerment.org Trans Day of Visibility 2026 TDOV 2026 — Trans Day of Visibility We're Asking Mattelto Choose. You can't hold an HRC award in one hand and a Harry Potter...

read more

Supported by:

Safety Exit