{"id":248720,"date":"2026-04-02T17:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248720\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:04:34","slug":"sf-trans-orgs-face-funding-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248720\/","title":{"rendered":"SF trans orgs face funding uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As soon as President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, Tyler TerMeer, CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation, braced for impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw executive orders [\u2026] that were very clear about how this administration felt about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and very clear about how they felt about trans communities,\u201d TerMeer said.<\/p>\n

Three executive orders in particular, signed by Trump on days one and two of his second term, sought to end the \u201cfederal funding of gender ideology\u201d and to terminate federal grants related to DEI. For the SF AIDS Foundation, which works on HIV prevention and LGBTQ+ health, that put $2 million at risk for 2025\u20132026, according to court filings.<\/p>\n

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The foundation, along with eight other organizations serving transgender people across the country, promptly sued<\/a> the administration. They were successful in securing a preliminary injunction in June, temporarily restoring the funding. But the government has since appealed that decision, leaving the future of federal funding for organizations like the SF AIDS Foundation in limbo.<\/p>\n

That uncertainty\u2013along with a blizzard of lawsuits to fight the administration\u2019s efforts\u2013have shaped the past year for many nonprofits serving San Francisco\u2019s transgender community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Repeated efforts to pull back federal funding without warning have created a climate of anxiety where entire programs could be shut down from one day to the next, nonprofit leaders said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re living in kind of this constant state of feeling like the funding, which means staff, which means life saving programs, would need to be stopped in their tracks,\u201d said Lance Toma, CEO of the San Francisco Community Health Center, which joined the foundation\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, these organizations report that more people are seeking their services.<\/p>\n

Now, as city officials weigh new cuts<\/a> to public health amid a projected $800 million budget deficit<\/a>, providers say they don\u2019t know what the future holds.<\/p>\n

Back and forth over federal funding creates uncertainty<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we are on pins and needles every day,\u201d said Toma, who has been leading the SF Community Health Center since 2006.<\/p>\n

The organization provides healthcare and community services to San Franciscans \u2013 about a quarter of patients and nearly half the staff are transgender or gender non-conforming. The nonprofit receives $1.5 million a year in federal funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in addition to a multiyear grant from Health Resources and Services Administration which awards over $1.4 million annually, according to court filings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In total, about 15 percent of their funding comes from the federal government, Toma said. Between 30 and 40 percent of their funding comes from the city\u2019s Department of Public Health, and could also face reductions in the city\u2019s next budget.<\/p>\n

Just a week after the inauguration, the federal Office of Management and Budget attempted to freeze federal grant payments. The SF Community Center faced the prospect of having hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding put on hold. Almost immediately, a federal judge blocked the freeze.<\/p>\n

Then last February, the Trump administration moved to revoke another $600 million in CDC public health grants from California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota. And again, the SF Community Health Center was among those targeted by the cuts. The Center was notified that over $300,000 of funding, which supported the TransHOPE program, an educational and outreach program, would be terminated. At the same time, the SF AIDS Foundation was notified that its High Impact HIV Prevention grant, which provided $500,000 annually for HIV prevention, would be terminated.<\/p>\n

Once again, a lawsuit filed by the impacted states\u2019 attorneys general resulted in a preliminary injunction reinstating the funding temporarily.<\/p>\n

Do more with less<\/p>\n

As the federal government attempts to slash funding for trans healthcare and services, San Francisco is grappling with its own budget shortfall. The uncertainty around federal funding, the end of pandemic-era relief and a growing deficit have pushed city officials to adopt austerity measures that are affecting nonprofits across the city.<\/a> How this will affect organizations supporting trans people remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, both the AIDS Foundation and Community Health Center report growing demand for their services, which they link to an influx of transgender people moving to San Francisco from less safe regions of the country.<\/p>\n

More people are also coming into the Community Health Center for case management, Toma said, including more people who are new to the city. They are also seeing an increase in demand for gender-affirming surgeries by people who worry those services could be cut.<\/p>\n

TransThrive, a resources and community center, used to receive between 20 and 30 people per day for their drop-in services, but more recently, they are seeing 40 to 50 people per day, Toma said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other organizations supporting trans San Franciscans are also facing potential cuts from the city\u2019s budget. According to estimates<\/a> by the People\u2019s Budget Coalition, an alliance\u00a0of San Francisco community organizations and unions, $1.7 million in proposed reductions across city agencies could impact 2,500 trans and gender non-conforming residents.<\/p>\n

El\/La ParaTranslatinas, an organization advocating for trans latinas, and the Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center, which advocates for Black trans people in California prisons, are among those who would lose some funding in the proposed city cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Transgender District, which works to preserve the Tenderloin\u2019s trans history, has already seen its city funding reduced over the past year, said Breonna McCree, co-executive director. The organization does not receive any federal funding directly.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Transgender District had to sunset its Entrepreneurship Accelerator program, which provided seed grants and training for transgender and queer people of color to start a business project, due to loss of funding from the city\u2019s Office of Economic and Workforce development, McCree said. They have also put their social justice fellowship and community advisory boards on hold while they look for more funding sources.<\/p>\n

A new model for funding transgender services\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both the SF AIDS Foundation and the SF Community Health Center have maintained their services, but say that the current model is no longer sustainable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The foundation has been looking into business development strategies. They recently opened an on-site pharmacy at their health center in the Castro.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They also recently started billing Medi-Cal for some of their services, like the Stonewall Program, which provides counseling services for substance use, TerMeer said, adding that they plan to introduce billing for HIV screening and counseling in the fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a really strong response from the community who\u2019s coming together and donating and helping us raise money,\u201d said Termeer, \u201cin response to what they\u2019re seeing from the federal government.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Organizations have also started looking for more donor support.<\/p>\n

In August, the Transgender District launched a campaign to raise money for the Riot Fund, a three year emergency fund aimed at ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the organization. They have raised about $70,000 out of their $100,000 goal.<\/p>\n

The SF Community Health Center has for its part focused on advocating for more local and state-level funding, as well as building partnerships with organizations across the country to advocate on the national stage, Toma said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Francisco has always led with compassion and evidence,\u201d said TerMeer. \u201cThe question right now is whether we\u2019ll continue to live up to that legacy,\u201d he said, adding that \u201ctrans visibility has to be matched with protection and investment, because people\u2019s lives, their health, and their dignity really depend on it.<\/p>\n

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