For The Gworls Founder Asanni on Lady Gaga’s Instagram stories.
As a part of Lady Gaga’s Black Lives Matter Instagram Takeover series, director and founder Asanni Armon (pronouns they/she/him) of the organization For The Gworls took over her account to share their work with the pop star’s 44 million followers.
The collective started out in July 2019 in order to fundraise on behalf of two Black trans people who needed funds to pay their rent. A little over a year later, their impact has expanded worldwide and For The Gworls has become one of the leading organizations giving directly to Black trans people and aiding them with whatever economic hardship they might be facing.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, FTW regularly held parties and crowdfunds primarily to secure housing for Black trans folks and provide the means for safe gender-affirming surgeries. Since then, their fundraising has shifted online where they have now opened an Emergency Medical Relief Fund to aid Black trans folks with multiple health needs that have arisen as a result of the pandemic. The funds raised go towards paying medical bills and providing transportation to medical facilities for folks without means of transportation.
A photo of the founders at an event early this year from the group’s Instagram page.
Since its beginnings in 2019, the collective has raised over $400K for housing aid, $350K for gender-affirming surgeries and $35,000 for its Medical Fund. Armon clarified that while these numbers are impressive, there is a lot more to be done in order to support the community and lower the disproportionately high rates of black trans homelessness as well as risky gender-affirming surgeries.
While “Black trans lives matter” became a popular slogan this Summer, the Instagram takeover served as a reminder that there is still worlds of organizing and donating to be done in order to truly aid Black trans people with the hardships they have been facing for decades.
To get involved and turn words into action, check out the work For the Gworls is doing via their Twitter and Instagram.