By Io Yeh Gilman
San Francisco’s basic-income program for transgender residents, one of two known guaranteed-income programs catering to queer people in the country, is ending this month after budget cuts and lawsuits from conservative groups alleging the program illegally prioritized Black, Indigenous and Latinx applicants.
Since January 2023, the Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (GIFT) program has been giving 55 low-income trans San Franciscans $1,200 a month as part of an 18-month pilot program to try and improve their financial security.
But after this month, the pilot program will not be renewed, according to Honey Mahogany, director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, which supported the program.
“Unfortunately, it’s wrapping up,” Mahogany said. “There is not, unfortunately, money in this year’s budget to continue that program.”
In a statement, the mayor’s office wrote that the program “is just one example of how the city continues to lift up our trans and LGTBQ+ communities,” adding that, despite budget cuts, the city will continue funding other trans-supportive programs.
“While the city continues to manage a difficult budget year, the mayor has fought hard to defend and increase investments for the transgender community where needed most,” the statement continued.
This decision was made, in part, because of two lawsuits filed against GIFT, Mahogany said. The lawsuits allege that the programs are discriminatory because they give preferential treatment to transgender and Black or Latinx applicants. GIFT recipients could not make more than $600 a month, and their race, disability status, age, housing status, and other life factors were taken into consideration.
In May 2023, GIFT and three other city-guaranteed income programs were sued by the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, alleging that the prioritization of Black and brown people violates the 14th Amendment, the California State Constitution’s Equal Protection Guarantee, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Californians for Equal Rights Foundation is an anti-affirmative-action organization; many of its members worked to uphold California’s Prop. 209, the 1996 proposition that banned affirmative action in California.
In January 2024, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit alleging that the program violates the State of California’s equal protection clause, discriminating on the basis of sex and race.
“The transgender extremists running San Francisco are illegally using taxpayer money to hand out free cash to transgender individuals based on race and sex in blatant violation of the state’s constitution,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
Judicial Watch is a conservative government-watchdog organization that promotes Donald Trump and other right-wing interests. Recently, they have filed several lawsuits against programs and policies that take gender and race into account.
In 2022, they got two California laws struck down: One that required corporations to have at least one woman on their board, and another that required people from “underrepresented communities” to be on corporate boards. They have filed similar lawsuits in Asheville, North Carolina and Minneapolis, Minnesota as well.
Such lawsuits are increasingly common as conservative groups have focused on programs aimed at specific populations.
Now, their legal actions have helped shut down GIFT. “There’s ongoing litigation that made it very hard to move forward with the program,” Mahogany said.
GIFT was intended to address trans poverty which, at 33 percent, is much higher than the state average of 15 percent. “The GIFT program is a historic program that will build economic stability and self-sufficiency for San Francisco’s most impacted trans residents,” said Aria Sa’id, president of the Transgender District, when the program was first announced.
The Transgender District, in conjunction with Lyon-Martin Community Health Services and the city, helped develop and implement GIFT. Recipients also received gender-affirming medical and mental care, financial coaching, and other services.
GIFT was one of San Francisco’s five guaranteed-income programs. The others include programs for Black and Pacific Islander mothers and pregnant people, artists, foster youth and homeless youth.
Mahogany said that GIFT had some “really, really great outcomes.” In addition to helping people find stable housing, “there’s a lot of mental-health benefits that people have gotten from not being as stressed about coming up with money for rent or food,” Mahogany said.
As GIFT ends, Mahogany emphasized that the Office of Transgender Initiatives is still attempting to support trans people living in poverty.
“We’re very focused right now on anti-trans homelessness, and ensuring that we get trans folks into housing,” Mahogany said, adding that the city has been working to expand the number of shelter beds and increase rental subsidies.
And in the future, Mahogany said she would love for the city to expand its guaranteed-income programs. “I do think that they are helpful, and I do think that they make a difference in people’s lives,” she said.
