Project Transcend held its second annual Holiday Outing on December 14 for transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary (TGNCNB) clients to reconnect in person and share some camaraderie about how they are navigating the holidays.
They met up at the All Stars Sports Bar & Grill on West 57th Street to hear from an empowering and inspiring speaker, Lili Washington, the founder of YBLimited. As the self-taught makeup artist and stylist grew into her transfeminine identity, Washington forged her own path from addiction and homelessness to success as a beauty and fashion entrepreneur.
Washington shared her wisdom and experience on a timely topic: Trauma, Family and the Holidays. “That is a really sore topic for folks that’s necessary to address,” said Julienne “Mizz June” Brown, Project Transcend’s Peer Navigation Specialist.
“How the holidays can affect us and how we deal with family can be very challenging,” Brown explained, “so having a community outing where we could speak to the various experiences we have in common was a way to let off some steam—and just be.”
GMHC launched Project Transcend in 2020 to support TGNCNB people living with or at risk of contracting HIV. Participants have been meeting virtually since the onset of COVID-19 to safeguard the health of the group’s immunocompromised clients and staff, Brown said, so they embraced being together at the Holiday Outing.
HIV disproportionately affects transgender people, with infection rates up to three times higher than the national average. Discrimination, harassment, transphobia, and barriers to accessing health care play a significant role in this disparity.
In response, Project Transcend’s peer empowerment groups provide a safe, affirming, and non-judgmental community for TGNCNB clients to discuss self-care strategies. “People come away with a stronger sense that they have the right to live the way they feel. It’s OK for them to be the way they are, and their feelings are valid,” Brown said.
The program also offers supportive counseling, education, and training sessions, and assistance navigating health care, legal aid, and other services.
Brown facilitates a weekly Evolution group for transfeminine people, while Catherine Granum, Project Transcend’s Program Coordinator, will be starting another group for gender nonconforming participants in the new year. Because of their shared trans experience, Brown said, “We come from a place of understanding and empathy, not sympathy and detachment. We’re really connected to this work and the participants.”
“One thing that I love about our group is our participants meet each other where they are,” Brown said, noting that Project Transcend’s clients range in age from their early twenties to their seventies. “You evolve in ways that feel comfortable for you. Your path is your path. Hearing other people’s stories and examples can offer guidance and hope,” she said.
Project Transcend is part of GMHC’s longstanding programming for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. “GMHC has a long history of supporting Black and brown transwomen and other TGNCNB folks,” Brown said.
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