Finding Gender Euphoria at a Clothing Swap
Despite the fact that clothing is one of the most abundant resources on our planet, especially in the United States, where we are high subscribers to fast fashion, it can be incredibly difficult to access gender-affirming clothing that is affordable for our community.
From the discomfort of trying to shop in what may be an unaffirming and potentially unsafe space, to not having the cash needed to get the affirming clothing we want/need, clothing is one resource that the 2TIGE community is always in need of.
Embracing All Shades of Womanhood: Getting “Louder With Love”
By: Heather Knoxville (she/they) In a world that too often echoes with division, Trans Empowerment Project (TEP) hopes to stand as a beacon of unity and love, especially through our transformative "Sisterhood Not Cisterhood" program. As we encourage folks to join our...
![[Call to Action] Show Solidarity with the Unhoused](https://transempowerment.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/homeless-6887060_1280-400x250.jpg)
[Call to Action] Show Solidarity with the Unhoused
Today, a critical moment unfolds before the Supreme Court—a moment that will invariably leave deep imprints on the fabric of our collective conscience and on the lives of countless individuals across our nation. The city of Grants Pass, Oregon, has brought forth a...
Celebrating Women’s History Month: Women Are Making History Today
While my Trans identity is only a part of who I am and does not define me, my womanhood does. So, I adamantly refuse to be excluded from conversations about women's issues; all women, regardless of their background or identity, deserve a seat at the tableMarch marks a...
What is Community Organizing?
Community organizing is when a group of people who share a similar problem, come together to align and collaborate on potential solutions together.
How does organizing help the community?
By leaning into community organizing, we can continue to expand our network of resources for the community by relying on partners to help shoulder some of the weight that comes with providing community support.
Organizing support instead of creating new resources, enables TEP to move out of the way, and to allow others to take the lead, where possible.
It also allows us to avoid doing work in silos and to not waste time recreating resources that already exist, improving capacity and giving us time to focus on deepening our relationships so that we all have the support we need to be successful.
How has TEP utilized Community Organizing?
TEP has launched many organizing initiatives. In fact, TEP was founded through organizing a community clothing swap which attracted over 100 members of the gender expansive community in Knoxville, TN in Dec. of 2016.
Our founder started with a clothing swap specifically because they and other members of the 2TIGE community in the local area, shared a similar problem of not being able to safely access gender affirming clothing.
What Kind of Organizing does TEP utilize in our work?
TEP believes in putting the power of organizing into the hands of the people that need it the most; our organizers ont he ground. We also rely on relational organizing, which is a method of growing relationships with the people that you already know and love, especially to keep our organizers safe, especially while with the rise in hate.
Let’s be clear: Everyone has the potential to be a leader!
That being said, community organizing is a great way to find potential leaders who may not have had the opportunity to lead before and to help those folks gain the skills they need to become the leaders they were meant to be.
Enabling us to grow our support on the ground and across the globe, as we collaborate on solutions for the number of issues that our keeping our community disempowered and unable to access the most vital of resources including things like food, clothing, safe shelter, affirming access to work, healthcare, and more.
By leaning into a distributed organizing model, and offering a coalition of support for community organizers, TEP aims to introduce trainings and to provide collaborative spaces for folks woh are interested in taking the lead, to do so authentically and in a way that’s free from white supremacy.
