{"id":408368,"date":"2026-07-22T19:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/408368\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T19:44:09","slug":"san-francisco-trans-led-space-fears-closure-9-months-after-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/408368\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Trans-Led Space Fears Closure, 9 Months After Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

In October, Parivar Bay Area \u2014 an organization dedicated to supporting trans immigrants \u2014 opened its doors during Diwali<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The brightly decorated office in downtown San Francisco was packed with friends, supporters and several elected officials, including Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, director of the city\u2019s Office of Transgender Initiatives Honey Mahogany and representatives from Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s offices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nine months later, Parivar is struggling to keep its doors open.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A majority of the organization\u2019s funding comes from the city, co-founder Anjali Rimi explained.<\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s Human Rights Commission awarded Parivar in 2023 as part of its \u201cLGBTQI+ and Various Communities Grants.\u201d<\/a> Parivar also received funds through a city grant and a two-year state grant administered to The LGBT Asylum Project through the Mayor\u2019s Office of Housing and Community Development, according to spokesperson Anne Stanley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the group did not receive financial support from the city last year or this year, and now, funding has been \u201cexhausted fully,\u201d Rimi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have poured my blood, sweat, tears, and taken on so much hate and so much love at the same time,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m hurting. I\u2019m grieving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Decorations from Parivar Bay Area\u2019s inaugural Diwali celebration in October hang in the organization\u2019s office in San Francisco on July 21, 2026. <\/p>\n

The organization has been in operation since 2018, and describes itself<\/a> as a trans-led organization centering Indian, South Asian and Global South transgender, gender-diverse and intersex immigrants and asylees. Among its services are immigration and resettlement support, legal clinics partnered with Okan Law<\/a> and a leadership development program that has over 200 graduates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But all of those programs have \u201cbeen at a standstill\u201d since April, according to Rimi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part is not that Parivar Bay Area wasn\u2019t funded,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s knowing what the decision means for people who depend on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a rent increase from our space, we are looking like we need to move out if the place gets sold or we are told to move out,\u201d Rimi said.<\/p>\n

Parivar Bay Area, she said, had been advocating early in the year for city support. Though Rimi acknowledged that the state of public funding \u201cis very tight these days\u201d \u2014 especially for LGBTQ+ organizations, which saw some funding restored<\/a> during the budget process \u2014 she said that Parivar Bay Area did not get a sufficient chance to make its case to leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt shocked,\u201d Jha said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from the city\u2019s HRC, Devi Zinzuvadia, confirmed that a representative from Parivar took part in meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zinzuvadia said this period saw \u201ccritical funding gains and other positive outcomes for many trans-led and trans-serving organizations across San Francisco.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOTI continues to work with all partners \u2014 including Parivar, the Mayor\u2019s Office, the Board of Supervisors, and City departments \u2014 to best serve and advocate for the needs of trans residents,\u201d Zinzuvadia said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Parivar Bay Area\u2019s office in San Francisco on July 21, 2026. <\/p>\n

Stanley echoed this statement, saying that \u201cMOHCD remains committed to supporting transgender and immigrant communities and will continue working with partner organizations to ensure essential services remain available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rimi said right now, Parivar is seeking $1.1 million \u2014 or at least $675,000<\/a> \u2014 and is reaching out to public officials like Lurie, philanthropists, corporate partners, and other nonprofits for support. The group is also seeking help from the community<\/a>, and will be fundraising at events like Bhangra & Beats<\/a> Night Market, selling jewelry, saris and other accessories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain hopeful that Mayor Lurie will do right by us as well as he has done right by many, many organizations,\u201d Rimi said. She added that officials like Mandelman, who also serves as the Board\u2019s President, have been supportive during this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cParivar Bay Area fills a role no other organization does \u2014 it\u2019s the only trans-led group focused on South Asian and Global South trans immigrants,\u201d Mandelman said in a statement to KQED. \u201cBuilding that kind of trust and infrastructure took years, and it\u2019s important to do what we can to keep it in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jha said the experience of an asylum seeker can be isolating and \u201cextremely soul-crushing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis land \u2014 which is supposedly a land of opportunity and liberation, but really everybody is rowing their own canoe in waters that are murky and dangerous,\u201d they said. \u201cYou are crushed in this absolutely confusing and terrifying maze of legality which can completely upend your life in a second, as you can see with this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of that is the fact that you don\u2019t see anyone like you,\u201d they said. \u201cThere\u2019s no one around you. Who do you talk to about the stories you\u2019ve left behind?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parivar\u2019s work, and Rimi herself, have been recognized and awarded many times by the city \u2014 including during the opening Diwali ceremony in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while \u201cthat visibility is meaningful,\u201d said Rimi, \u201cthat\u2019s not matched for the investment that happens for these particular intersectional folks who need support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not asking to be remembered after we are gone,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking for the chance to keep serving those vulnerable folks while we\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In October, Parivar Bay Area \u2014 an organization dedicated to supporting trans immigrants \u2014 opened its doors during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-408368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}