Mayor Andre Dickens announced a combined $55,000 in proposed funding to support Atlanta’s transgender community. The funding was introduced to Atlanta City Council via legislation sponsored by Councilmember Matt Westmoreland. Once approved, these funds represent the City’s single largest investment in the transgender community to date.

“Across the nation, we are seeing a push against the transgender community to eliminate the fundamental right to simply be who they are,” said Mayor Dickens. “Everyone has the right to live their life with dignity and freedom from fear, and our Administration wants the transgender community to know we stand with them.”

Three pieces of legislation introduced to City Council will:

• Allocate $10,000 for a donation to Atlanta Legal AID Society, Inc. to support their efforts for transgender and gender expansive residents navigating through the legal process of changing their names and update their supporting documents free of charge;

• Allocate $25,000 for a donation to Destination Tomorrow for a first-of-its-kind LGBTQ mentoring pilot program in Atlanta;

• Allocate $20,000 for a donation to Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM) to sponsor up to 25 scholarships for Black Mental Health and Healing Justice Peer Support Training for Atlanta’s transgender and gender expansive youth.

“I’m grateful for the leadership of Mayor Dickens and our Division of LGBTQ Affairs in providing resources and support to our trans residents,” said Councilmember Matt Westmoreland. “As a former teacher and school board member, I am especially excited about the investments in our young people. I hope this reinforces to them that we see them and love them.” The Administration is also exploring additional ways to support City employees and their dependents who seek gender-affirming care.

Mayor Dickens also recently appointed trans advocate Dominque Morgan to the Human Relations Commission—the body that investigates and hears complaints regarding discrimination and makes recommendations to the City on how to resolve such complaints.

Last year—through a partnership with FUSE Corps and the Okra Project—Mayor Dickens welcomed the City of Atlanta’s first ever Transgender Affairs Equity Fellow, who works alongside the Division of LGBTQ Affairs to build a playbook to advance equity in Atlanta’s transgender and gender-expansive community.