San Francisco Launches Guaranteed Income for Transgender People Program

The Pride

San Francisco has launched a pilot program that guarantees income for transgender residents. 

The Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) will provide 55 residents with $1,200 a month for 18 months, including healthcare and financial coaching. 

Applications closed in December. Residents will be selected by organizations helping to administer and shape the program, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“By giving low-income trans people the resources to cover the expenses they deem most immediate and important given each person’s unique situation, we are implementing a truly community-centered intervention to combat poverty,” Aria Sa’id told the LA Times. Sa’id is the president of the Transgender District.

Proponents of the program said trans people experience poverty at a higher rate than other Californians. The 2015 U.S. Trans Survey found that 33% of transgender Californians lived in poverty, disproportionate to the state’s poverty level at only 12%, according to the U.S. Census.

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