The AIDS Society of the Philippines in partnership with The Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) are still accepting donations to help trans women in need during the pandemic.
Originally posted on their social media platforms last May, the donation drive aims to help out trans women who are having a difficult time generating income during the quarantine. The cash donations will also be used to help fund gender affirming medication for women who are having trouble accessing it.
An update posted on June 5 said that they have so far raised P90,000 from generous donors. They are already helping out their intial list of beneficiaries with the current amount. Still, the organization is looking for more donors in order to help more trans women disenfranchised by the pandemic. Aside from cash donations, in-kind donations are accepted as well.
The coronavirus pandemic has worsened trans healthcare globally as reported by Vice. All over the world, trans people are experiencing surgical deferrals and suspensions of hormone treatment services brought about by lockdown restrictions. In the US, the federal government recently removed gender identity as grounds for discrimination in healthcare meaning that hospitals will be able to refuse to provide services to trans people even in the midst of a pandemic. In Panama, the government has been implementing gender-based quarantine so trans people who are closeted or haven’t updated their gender markers are faced with a healthcare and legal hurdle. England is also expecting a bottleneck once operations resume for services such as hormone treatment or therapy, as waiting time for services has been pushed back by the pandemic. Here in the Philippines, trans people are losing income while in lockdown because many of them work in informal or nonessential industries.
Photo by Cecilie Johnsen on Unsplash
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