2023
IMPACT REPORT
Movements Grow in Arkansas
Arkansas has been labeled infertile soil for years, yet we stand here as proof that movements can, have, and will continue growing here. Against all odds we’ve made it to this point: redistributing wealth, building trans leadership, opening the first Trans community center in the state and stopping anti-trans legislation.
Against all odds we will continue building here, organizing here, growing here, healing here, here, here, HERE, in this infertile soil because our people have to carry this state sponsored violence on our skin every day. Because we don’t have the luxury to dismiss this place as a lost cause.
Trans people live here. Trans people of color live here. Trans immigrants live here. Trans disabled people live here. Trans youth live here. Trans parents live here. Trans refugees and asylum seekers live here. We live here, so our movement lives and grows here. The question is YOU. Will YOU dig into the dirt with us? Will YOU fertilize the soil with us?
Will YOU be alongside us?
A Letter from Rumba
Rumba Yambú
Director & Co-founder
Intransitive
Trans Siblinghood by the Numbers
this year we supported 118 clients.
54% were trans women & femmes
Our youngest client was 13 and our oldest was 52. We saw an increase in clients by 43 more clients than 2022.
types of support provided
Our support funds provide financial assistance with rent, groceries, utilities, transportation, medical, commissary, immigration fees, and gender affirming gear. However, we also provide clients with other types of support which include advocacy, HIV specific support, health insurance enrollment, harm reduction, interpretation and translations.
Intransitive’s work grows at the intersection of mutual aid and organizing. We believe that in order for our people to be politicized and mobilized their basic needs must be met first. We provide mutual aid through our financial support funds that help us assess and support the needs of our clients.
redistributing the wealth
We live in a country so abundant in wealth and resources. We believe that there is enough for everyone to be fed and housed if we redistribute our wealth. Through grassroots fundraising we redistributed $47,499 dollars this year. This is money that was given out through our support funds directly to Transgender folks facing financial hardship.
Client demographics
By region
Due to Trans people’s migration inside the state, our regional numbers fluctuate from year to year. Trans people migrate for a variety of reasons, primarily due to safety and access to resources.
Occasionally we have clients who find themselves outside of Arkansas with no means to return home. In these situations not only have we provided financial support for transportation, we’ve also traveled to pick them up due to urgency and need for advocacy. Most of those cases involve intimate partner violence or domestic violence.
We work to support Trans people all across Arkansas, and track demographic information to better understand the landscape that impacts lived experiences of Trans Arkansas. We continue our outreach efforts in more rural regions of the state. Through our emergency funds we’ve been able to reach and support Trans people in rural areas, however our percentage changes as people migrate throughout the state.
By Race & Ethnicity
Did you know that the majority of Trans people live in the South? Arkansas is home to a lot of Trans BIPOC folks.
community care
Community Events held
Arkansas was rated 50th in a recent LGBTQ+ equality index. Meanwhile, we are cultivating joy as the shield to protect Trans futures, Trans dreams and Trans love.
Lia Garcia, Trans healer, poet, movement leader and founder of Trans Youth Network in Mexico came to guide us through a bilingual healing justice gathering.
Back to school - Redistributing backpacks and school supplies
Trans closet - Gender affirming clothing
Weddings - We held two affirming weddings at Intransitive
HIV testing events
Name and gender marker change clinics
Redistribution of Resources
We’ve redistributed over 8,376 condoms across Arkansas. Some of the redistribution was done by giving our partner organizations boxes to distribute to their clients and members, and some of the redistribution was done through direct contact with individuals.
Thanks to two amazing folks at Whole Foods, Cassady & Sara, we’ve been able to redistribute a lot of multivitamins, soaps, lotions, make up, sunscreen, pads and tampons, self care items and tinctures to help with stress, inmune boosting, pain and more. We’ve redistributed these items across Arkansas to communities that would otherwise not have access to these products.
community joy
We celebrated 6 years in style!! Featured on the picture to the right, we had a cumpleaños celebration in March in the middle of the legislative session to ensure that we take time to celebrate ourselves, our work and our community.
We also visited our unhoused neighbors around Little Rock to distribute food, condoms, hygiene items, harm reduction items, jackets and coats, handwarmers, tampons and pads and blakets.
We also had monthly queer and Trans cinema, monthly discord hangouts, and events specifically skill sharing workshops, incorporating art, joy and body movements, video game nights, open mic nights and talent shows. As well as events specifically for Trans femmes of color to be in community with one another and celebrate joy.
The Art of Resistance
On Trans Day of Visibility and in the middle of our legislative session, we pushed out 3 billboards in Northwest, Central and Northeast Arkansas with results of 1.16 million impressions reached per billboard.
No hate legislation can erase our existence.
anti-trans legislation
We pushed out 15,209 texts to over 1k subscribers across Arkansas mobilizing them to take action in defense of body autonomy.
We fought 7 anti-trans bills & successfully gutted 2 anti-Trans bills
Video by Antoinette Grajeda
Another hateful bill gutted was SB270, an anti-Trans bathroom bill that would have made it a crime for a Trans person to simply enter the bathroom opposite to the gender assigned at birth.
On her first day in office Gov. Sanders banned the word “Latinx”, so we as Trans Latinx folks responded accordingly.
We showed out in our Sunday’s best across the state for Dance Flashmobs against SB43, a bill that would have made it a crime to simply exist as a Trans person in public spaces.
Beyond Borders
We continued our work beyond borders with our digital series “Voices Outside the Border” hosted by our movement sister Jessica Marjane from Mexico’s Trans Youth Network. The series featured Trans change makers from Dominican Republic, Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela & Brazil.
Queertonomy
Keynote Speaker
Language justice
Queertonomy was a fully bilingual (ENG/SPN) gathering. We are prioritizing language justice in our work. We were grateful to have COMAL, a language justice collective travel from Texas to provide simultaneous interpretation.
What is Language Justice?
The right everyone has to show up as their full selves in any space — no matter what language they speak or how they speak. It acknowledges that words can be used for liberation & oppression
Our second annual Queertonomy gathering took place in September! Queertonomy is a gathering for Arkansas change makers to gather and organize in defense of body autonomy. We cohost the gathering with our partner organization ACLU of Arkansas. This year we have over 20 organizations represented from around the state.
We’ve been in solidarity with The Knights and Orchids Society (TKO) for a couple of years. Their work is truly inspirational, and this year we had the pleasure to welcome TKO’s cofounder as our keynote speaker.
focus areas
We also had community leaders with lived experiences as guest speakers for discussions and learning on our key areas.
