The Trans Journalists Association is raising $25,000. I'm raising $1,000 towards that goal — and I'll match the first $500 of donations made via my page.

Learn  more about the campaign: https://donorbox.org/digging-our-heels-in-971517

When I cofounded the Trans Journalists Association with 50+ other journalists, I never imagined that we'd create a massive space of our own. We were scrappy and had just $3,000 to work with. We planned to stay virtual, creating community in the places we could afford.

But we've created space — metaphorically, first, writing a styleguide that became a major basis for the Associated Press's own transgender coverage best practices — and now literally.

We've tested a few smaller events. Next, we'll host our first large-scale in-person gathering in Chicago in March 2027. 

We've built it around the needs of trans journalists — which has meant fundraising to ensure that we can cover food and hotel costs for the vast majority of attendees, compensate all of our speakers with honoraria, and meet our unique accessibility and safety needs. 

That's huge. And it's dramatically different from the way most major journalism conferences work. 

I'm now fundraising specifically to help get people to this event. 

Every $500 we raise covers one travel scholarship, which means that a trans journalist who couldn't otherwise afford to fly to our summit can make it. 

I'm starting with the first $500. Will you help with the next?