Interview with the Community Partner that started it all- Point of Pride!

What happens when a small, trans-owned brand and a grassroots nonprofit decide to just… start helping people?

In this conversation, Rae from Origami Customs sits down with Aydian Dowling and Tyler Rodriguez from Point of Pride to discuss how one of the most impactful mutual aid programs in the trans community began and how it’s grown into something that’s reached tens of thousands of people worldwide.

From Aydian screen-printing t-shirts in a living room to distributing over 30,000 gender-affirming garments and 5.4 million dollars in mutual aid across 150+ countries, this is a story about community showing up for itself. No big grants, no federal funding, no safety nets. Just people passing the mic, the resources, and sometimes a literal binder, to the next person who needs it.

In this interview, we get into:

• How Point of Pride started and why

• How Origami Customs became part of this ecosystem

• The reality of accessing gender-affirming care today

• The impact of free binders, gaffs, and financial aid programs

• Why mutual aid works and what makes it different

• What’s next, and how you can be part of it

If you’ve ever wondered what real, community-led support looks like behind the scenes, this is it!

Watch the video on YouTube, or read the transcript below!

Rae Hill: Hey there, so this is Rae from Origami Customs, and I'm here with Aiden and Tyler from Point of Pride. They are our longest-standing community partnership, and this is actually kind of where it all started back in the day. 

So we wanted to talk a little bit to you coming up to Trans Day of Visibility, about how that relationship has evolved over the years, and what they're all about, and what they've got going on, and how their program affects so many people, and how we get to work with them. 

So, I'm really excited. Let's just dive right in! Can you guys tell me a little bit about how Point of Pride started, and why it started, and what some of the values were behind why you wanted this to exist in the world?

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, I'll take that one. So, hey everyone, my name is Aydian, my pronouns are he, him. I am one of the co-founders here at Point of Pride, but also, my fancy title is the Chief Advancement Officer. And, you know, Point of Pride really started because I was raising funds and making t-shirts to get my own gender-affirming care, which was top surgery. And I was able to, luckily, you know, hand screen print enough t-shirts to raise the money.

It should be put on record that I got my top surgery in 2012, and it has since doubled in price, so… Yeah, so mine was $5,900. And Tyler's giggling, because… Tyler, isn't it, like, $12.5 thousand?

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, I dropped, like, 11K this morning for somebody's top surgery, so… That's good.

Rae Hill: Alright.

Aydian Dowling: So, when I say I raised it, it was a lot easier. And yeah, and so I was just screen printing t-shirts in my living room, and selling them, and going to Walmart to buy the shirts, and then putting them in the mail with whatever leftover box I had lying around. 

And you know, I wanted to keep that open. I wanted to, you know, keep putting out t-shirts that were positive for the community. Like, at the time, there were a lot of, like, you know, “gay is okay” shirts.

Rae Hill: I remember that era.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, but there wasn't a lot, like, for trans folks, and so…

Rae Hill: There's no, like, rainbows on everything.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, exactly, and so I just wanted to, you know, start there. And then, you know, my co-founder Jeff, who's the executive director here at Point of Pride, you know, I didn't know how to make a website. I mean, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't even know how to screen print a t-shirt, like, I just kind of, like, learned, you know? And, I always wonder how many paint fumes I inhaled just eating up the ink on the in my living room. It's just like a smoke, and I'm like, it's fine. 

So, yeah, and then, you know, Jeff is amazing and creative and a graphic artist, and knows how to make websites and stuff, and so we kind of teamed up together, and we kind of started these different programs, including the garment program, very organically. 

I met someone at a conference, and they gave me 10 binders, and they were like, I think you can give these out to people. And so, I just was like, if you buy a t-shirt, I will give you a free binder. And I was saving a portion of all of the funds, you know, after like actually paying for the materials to give back out. And that's really just how it started, very organically.

This is our 10-year anniversary, which is really exciting this year. And we missed an opportunity to speak at a at a like software company for like $5,000. And I was like, that is too much money to not be able to give away.

So, um, so yeah. So, that's when Jeff and I were like, all right, we've been thinking about making a nonprofit, and like now we got to step it up and make this happen now. You know, it was like literally just money and an opportunity to help someone in a really big way, just taken away because we weren't a 501c3. 

Rae Hill: Gotcha. So you're like, okay, we gotta get our shit together so that we can help people.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, yeah, and then, that's actually how Tyler got involved, too, was so we were starting a board, and Tyler, I think you, like, sent an email, right?

Tyler Rodriguez: I was doing a completely unrelated side project in my own spare time. Um, and then I ended up joining the board. Primarily, my background before coming to Point of Pride was in healthcare, specifically insurance.

So my job when I first started off was about helping folks navigate the insurance process. Uh, which is a weighty process. So I came on to help a couple of our surgery fund recipients navigate their insurance process. Um, and then from there, they just kind of threw the binder program at me. They were like, " You do this now.” 

And it became my job to really track what was happening with the binder program and keep an eye and keep tabs on the numbers. Um, and that has turned into where I am today. So, I'm Tyler, he him. I'm the director of programs with Point of Pride. Uh, which means I keep track of all of our programs, including the garments programs at this point.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah. Tyler was like a spreadsheet wizard, and Jeff and I were not. And we were, I was literally listing the binders we had, just like the style and size, and I was like, "Pick one and send us an email." You know, it was not efficient at all. So Tyler was a huge help in really turning the garment program into something scalable, right? It was not scalable. So yeah, so he's downplaying his wizardry, but um, it is, it is high with this one.

Rae Hill: I mean, the scope of what you guys are doing is incredible. Like I work with a lot of Orgs now, but like it's just it's just not comparable to any other program that I have ever heard of. And you guys work in so many different avenues. Can you like reiterate for me all the different programs that are under the point of pride umbrella now?

Tyler Rodriguez: So, we've got the garment programs, which include a binder and gaff program, where we give free binders or gaffs to folks who can't otherwise afford them. And then the financial aid programs. They give direct financial support to folks to afford their gender-affirming care.

The biggest and kind of the most well-known of the programs is the Surgery Fund program, where we cover the costs associated with gender-affirming surgery. We also have the HRT Access Fund, which covers the costs of 18 months of HRT for folks. 

The Electrolysis Support Fund, which covers laser or electrolysis. The name's a bit of a misnomer. But it covers the cost of laser electrolysis for folks. That program prioritizes femmes, especially those who are seeking hair removal for safety reasons. 

And then we have the Thrive program, which is our newest program. It's a bit of a hodgepodge, covers, sort of, the costs of transition that are not neatly covered by one of our other programs, so it wouldn't cover HRT, but it might cover the or surgery, but it would cover the cost of, like, tattooing the scars to cover those up, if that's something that someone wants. Or, you know, fertility preservation before starting HRT, that sort of thing.

Rae Hill: That's awesome, because so many of those things fall through the cracks, or aren't even really seen as, like, legitimate gender affirmation, you know, under, like, the medical umbrella.

It's so hard to find programs that'll support those things specifically, but you guys, you kind of do everything. I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but do you have any stats of, like, how wide-reaching this is, or, like, how much is given away, or any figures?

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, absolutely, let me just… I have a whole dashboard, it's not on the spot at all, I just gotta go find it.

Rae Hill: Sorry, I didn’t prepare you for this at all.

Tyler Rodriguez: So, as far as the garments go, that is obviously our most wide-reaching, because the requirements for that program are pretty low. It's just you must identify as trans or questioning, and have no other way to safely obtain the garment that you're seeking. That program has distributed nearly 30,000 garments to folks in every U.S. state and, like, 140 or 150 countries.

Rae Hill: Wow.

Tyler Rodriguez: The garment… or the financial aid programs have given away over… Where's my numbers? It's, like, something million.

Aydian Dowling: I think it's 5…

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, it’s 5.4 million. I scrolled right past it.

Rae Hill: That is wild. That is wild! That is so much money. You guys have had such a huge impact over the years, and in 10 years, right? You're coming up on 10 years.

Aydian Dowling: Yep. Yeah, and the best. It's all amazing, right? And what always amazes me is that we are, like, 98%, individually funded, which means individuals give, rather than having large grants. We have never been and are not federally funded, so these are trans folks, non-binary, gender-diverse folks, and allies who are just like, you know what? Here's 100 bucks, here's 50 bucks, here's 20 bucks, right? 

So that I always find to be also a very unique thing, is that it's kind of like within the community, we're kind of, like, passing around this dollar bill, right? We're kind of like, okay, you take it, and now you have some, so you give it to them, right?

Rae Hill: Absolutely.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, it's a lot of people who don't have much, but want to give, and it's people who have a lot of privileges, or had a good job, or a supportive family who are like, I know what I have is very unique, and I want to, you know, maybe offset some of that pressure that someone else might feel, you know?

Rae Hill: For sure, or found themselves in a better situation, and are like, I know what it's like to be, like, you know, not seen as who I want to be seen as, and not have access to these things that I need, and are able to give it back. I mean, our community is just incredible. It's really amazing to see, like, and to not be funded in any other, like, federal or grant way, that's… yeah, it's kind of unheard of. It's amazing.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, exactly, and, you know, we have a really great board, and Tyler and I both sat on the board before. Eventually, you know, we transitioned to staff, and, you know, that was 7 years of volunteering. Just everyone donating their time, showing up, everyone had full-time jobs, right? 

And, you know, I think we did a lot of work in that time as well, you know, so I think that it's always you know, trans-led, like, it's always been about finding ways to give back, and I think that's because everyone who sits on the board, whether we have struggled or not to obtain our gender-affirming care, everyone has had some kind of access, right? And so we all know what it's like to not have access, and then to know how life-changing it is to have access, you know?

Rae Hill: Yeah.

And now, we started working together… I'm terrible with time. I want to say, like, it's been 6 or 7 years. Does that sound right to you?

Tyler Rodriguez: Yes.

Rae Hill: It's been a while. Yes, one of those.

Aydian Dowling: We are in a committed relationship.

Yeah. We've we've long term long-term relationship. Absolutely. And you were you were the ones that got us having this idea of how we could start to work with NOS. You contacted us to supply some of the gaffs originally for for the free gaff program and now we're we're still your only gaff supplier. Is that right? 

Tyler Rodriguez: And we have one more out there now but not to the volume that you guys uh supply us.

Rae Hill: Right. Okay, and now we've just started doing binders last year, which is really exciting, too. But at the time, it was like, we weren't working with any other NGOs, we didn't really know how that was gonna look, and you guys were like, okay, we have this program, we want to give stuff away for free, and we're like: Yes, of course, this is what we want to do, too.

This was the idea from the start, and how can we, like you were saying, like, how can we work with this kind of, like, mutual aid framework, but as a business. And we've been able to build our whole community program off of that idea, and the model that you guys had shown us from the beginning. So that is very cool. I love that. I don't know, like, we've really ramped up that program, especially in the last couple of years.

Do you have any idea of how many gaffs and binders we've done with you guys? I don't know the number off the top of my head.

Tyler Rodriguez: So, the gaffes, it looks like it's around 3,000 or so, which is a lot. Binders is relatively new, so I don't have any solid stats on that yet.

Rae Hill: Yeah, I started that in the fall.

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah.

Rae Hill: But yeah, that's amazing. Like, 3,000 people getting a free gaff. We always tell people, you can go to our website and you can order, or you can just go to Point of Pride and get it for free. And like, how many websites can you go to and be like, you can pay, or you can just not pay and get the same thing?

You know, you're on a waitlist for a little bit, but it's pretty cool to be able to offer that, so I'm really glad to have started that with you guys and jumped on board with the amazing program that you've put into place.

And, like, especially, let's talk about, like, this particular moment in time, because things were really different probably 10 years ago when you started the organization. When we started. We've been going for 16 years now, but we've been doing this program with you for, I think, 7.

But, like, in the last couple of years, obviously, like, the access to trans medical care has been significantly diminished and limited, especially for you guys in the States, so, like, how have you seen that evolve? What does it mean to have low or no barrier access in this particular moment?

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, I mean, trans and gender diverse people need to know that there is a nonprofit, there are people, there are, you know, individuals who care about them and believe that they deserve this access, and are doing, you know, their best to provide that access.

I think, you know, it's interesting, because, you know, we talked about 6 or 7 years ago. I think there were more cases of unsafe binding and unsafe tucking, and I think it's interesting, because it's almost like, as people have started to learn, like, oh, I can actually buy something that will tuck more safely and properly. 

Or I can actually have a binder that might work and not hurt, and really be effective for the kind of care I’m trying to access by obtaining these garments. As that awareness has risen, I think the push to strip them away and make them more complex and harder to get has started to rise as well, which is alarming. 

Because we all know that if you take away a binder, someone’s still going to bind. It’s not like they’ll magically decide, “well, I can’t get one, so I guess I won’t.” That’s just not how it works.

So from that perspective, it’s really important right now to let people know that, yes, there’s a waitlist, and it’s long, and we are diligently doing our best to get these binders out. But there is a process, and that process exists for the safety of the people we’re sending these garments to. We need to make sure that when they sign up, and when we’re ready to mail it, everything is aligned, efficient, and that they’re ready to receive it.

Rae Hill: Absolutely.

Aydian Dowling: That's important too, but I mean, Tyler can probably talk about how the program has revved up in the last 6 years on the side of the need, like, the requests.

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, I mean, we've seen binder requests go from 10 to 15 requests a day, to sometimes, during our busiest times, 50 to 60 requests a day.

Which is, you know, it's difficult to keep up with, which is unfortunate, but it is also kind of indicative of what's going on. And I think, to Aydian's point, it's indicative of the availability of resources. Showing both that there aren't enough out there, but there are more than there were. And people know that ACE bandages are not a safe way to do this, and that there are products available that are safer.

Rae Hill: Yeah, absolutely. It's so important for people to feel like they have options and that they're being supported in having access to a range of different options. And yes, I think hopefully across the board, we all know that ACE bandages are not good for us anymore.

There have been a lot more studies that have come out, like, in the last, I think, 4 years, with the long-term effects of binding, so we can give people more up-to-date medical information on, like, what the lasting effects are.

Things that even go beyond after you've had top surgery, and we really want to be able to, like impart that information now, especially, like, when younger folks or people, like, using binders and gaffs for the first time, you know, they're getting secondhand information, which is, like, really valuable, and we keep our communities really safe by being able to pass information on more, like, discrete channels and word of mouth.

But things are changing, and we're learning new things all the time. So, yeah, it's so… it's so important for people to have safe access.

And what are some of the effects that you've seen come from this program? Like, either from individual recipients, or, like, feedback that you've heard from the community overall? How do you see yourselves having such a huge impact?

Tyler Rodriguez: So we do a lot of follow-up surveys with folks after we've sent out their garments, and we've found that, like, the number is crazy. It's something like 70% or 80% of folks feel just safer leaving their house with a gender affirming garment. Which is just wild to know that, like, that's all it takes, is a simple garment. You feel safer leaving your house. 

A lot of folks report better medical outcomes. Better access to other avenues of care. Just, you know, feeling more confident leaving their house and interacting with the world around them.

And I think that says a lot, especially when you talk about, you know, youth and the younger folks on the spectrum. You know, they've got their whole world ahead of them, and feeling that confidence as, you know, an 18-year-old is way different than feeling that confidence as a, you know, middle-aged guy.

Rae Hill: Yeah. It means so much more at that age, for sure.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, I think it's also really impactful for, just, like, supporters of Point of Pride to hear about this, and it's one of the easiest ways to get involved with what we do, right? I mean, you can make a donation, amazing, right? 

For trans, non-binary, you can, you know, look at other volunteer opportunities, like a community grant-making fellow, right? But anybody can be part of our letter-writing campaign, and that is because in each one of our garment packages, we do have a letter of support and inspiration for the person who's receiving the garment. 

So it's like, you might not know me, right? And, like, I want you to know there's someone out there who really cares about you, who put time and effort into making this cute little card, or coming up with some random pun to make you smile, you know what I mean? Because your smile and your, you know, your comfort level in your own skin is important.

And so, we have a lot of people who engage with our letter-writing campaign because, as I said, it's a great way to kind of give back, and so not only are they getting this garment, right, where they feel like they can wear their favorite pair of jeans, right, that they've, like, dreamed of wearing, and now they can wear it and go out and feel good. 

And they can also get this little note that they can, like, you know, stick in, you know, their pocketbook, or their, you know, on their wall, like, wherever, you know what I mean? And be reminded, you know, periodically, that, like, hey, not only was there someone who donated money so that we can purchase these garments so that we could give them. 

But then there was also somebody who packaged this garment, and there was someone who wrote you this letter, you know, and now it's at your doorstep, right? So there are a lot of people involved in, you know, the making of this care package. I think that is also impactful for people who, for a lot of people, this is their first step in exploring, right? Exploring who they are, right? 

And so, giving people that opportunity to explore their whole self is, I think, a really magical time in someone's life, you know? And all of us here, you know, we get to be a part of that in some, like, small fraction of a way, you know?

Rae Hill: Yeah, you see the impact that you're making, and as you said, it's so important to see those connections being made within the community, like, whether it's other trans and non-binary people, or it's just allies. 

But saying, like, hey, we see you, we know what it's like, we're here for you, and kind of in the same way that we work, it's like, everything is for the community, but it's also by the community. Like, our products are made by trans people, and queer people, and it's like, there's a connection there of, like, you know who made the garment, you know who's sending it out, you know who wrote that letter. 

Like, it's these direct relationships that we're connecting within our community. Like, we keep ourselves safe. We know how to support each other. Like, sure, yeah, we want allies' money, yes, 100%, but, like, we know how and what people want, and how to take that feedback and support one another. I think it's more meaningful knowing that it's all community-led in that way.

And I hope that people know that when they're getting garments, it's like, that's also, like, a trans person that went, like, oh, let me think about, like, exactly how I want this to fit, how I want you to feel when you put it on. I know that I can stand behind these garments. I make them, but I wear them myself. You know, and it's a really big difference and something that we always try to, like, impart when things are going out, like it is the same. We're all experiencing this.

Aydian Dowling: 100%.

Rae Hill: Yeah.

So, what are some of the goals that you guys have going forward? I mean, obviously, this program is amazing, and we've been able to ramp it up, like, in regard to the specific binder and gaffs program that we have together. And I hope that we just get to, like, grow that year over year, but what are some of the other exciting things that you guys have in the works?

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, I mean… oh, go ahead.

Aydian Dowling: No, you go first.

Tyler Rodriguez: Fine. So, we are looking to work more with smaller organizations to help get garments out to folks who, you know, maybe can't even receive something in the mail. You know, whether that's because they're unhoused or something like that, they just don't have a safe place to receive a package. 

So, looking to work with smaller organizations to help get those garments into the community in more interesting ways. And obviously, always looking to bring the wait times down, make our own programs more accessible as well.

Rae Hill: For sure. See, this is really exciting for me, because since we started with you guys, now we have about 110 organizations globally that we work with. And one of the things that I've been seeing in the last, like, last year, but specifically 2026, the last couple of months, is, like, across the board, all of the organizations we work with are really struggling. A lot of people had funding cuts, especially people who are, like, for us, provincially or federally funded. 

I'm sure it's the same for you, that you can either get state funding or federal funding. Most of that has just been slashed across the board, so we have a lot of orgs coming to us being like, we can't support these programs anymore, or we want to start one, but we don't have the money to. 

And now it's like, okay, these maybe are in, like, more rural or remote areas, that are really, like necessary for supporting specific communities, like you said, where people can go and have access to be able to have a safe place to try things on, to see them, to have people there to help them, like, get fit and try things on and all of that. And it's so crushing to think that some of those programs might shut down if it weren't for this. So to be able to, like, directly supply some of the smaller organizations is awesome. It keeps it running, and it kind of decentralizes it.

As well, in a way that I think is going to be much more sustainable going forward. Like, as we know, we're probably going to keep losing government funding for these types of programs, it's really kind of the same here in Canada as well. We're seeing that as a trend going forward, so again, it's like, how can we keep the ecosystem of trans and gender diverse, like, support going and help one another out?

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, I totally agree, and I think, you know, it's also just thinking about constantly. I mean, we are always thinking about new ways to get garments into the hands of people, right? Because when you get, you know, like Tyler was saying, on a busy streak, and you're getting 350 requests in 7 days, you know, like, it's a lot, you know what I mean? And there's only so much that we can put out in a single day, and you know what I mean? 

So I think that, you know, recognizing that as well, you know what I mean? Of just, like, okay, what's the best way to do this? How can we speed up? Is there a way to speed it up, right? As Tyler was saying, working with these other orgs, you know, and thinking about, okay, also, like, in the process, right, there's also, like, kind of a gut check of, like, hey.

You will apply for this, do you still need it? Like, do you actually have a job now where you can go and support a company like Origami Customs, or did you obtain a gaff and you actually don't need this anymore, right? Because there are plenty of people on this list who don't have the funding and are nowhere close to receiving it, right? 

So, we do try to have and think about ways to get these garments into the hands of people quicker, and again, that's with the support of the community, because some people do say, you know what, like, I actually don't need it anymore. Like, for whatever reason, I've got it, they're like, take me off and move on right to the next person, right? There's a lot of, like, self-checking, self-accountability, and really just, like, everyone in this circle of just, like, believing trans people.

Rae Hill: Yeah, it's about trust.

Aydian Dowling: Yes.

Rae Hill: And I think one of the ways that we're building trust, and you guys have already built this foundation of trust, is that it's because it's our community. It's like, I don't think any trans person is gonna try to, like, cheat you out of a gaffe, because it's like, there's trans people on the other side of this. Like, everyone's just trying to help one another. It's, you know, it's not like a government program where, like, people are, like, out of touch and tone-deaf and not really, like, supporting from, like, a genuine, heart-based place, but it's so clear that you guys are. 

And not to mention, it's a lot of labor that goes into, actually, like, organizing and packaging and writing those notes. Like, it's not just making a garment, and then it magically gets to that person. There's a lot of time. I know that you guys work really, really hard.

Rae Hill: To, like, make sure that these get out, and yeah, that's definitely a labor of love.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, and we do still accept if you have, like, a binder that works efficiently, you can donate it to us, and we'll get it right to the hands of someone else, right? So, I think that there's a lot of this kind of, like, circular kind of the whole conversation, I think we've been saying, is just, like, this self-belief in each other. 

And as a community, as a whole, to support one another, to help one another, if you get an advance to reach back and try to bring someone with you, right? I mean, this is the foundation of Point of Pride, is that mutual aid concept, the belief in trans people, that if you say you need this, I believe you, you know what I mean? And everyone from our staff to our board, I mean, everyone believes that. 

Everyone knows, like, from first-hand experience, that, like this gender-affirming care across all of our programs, like, it's life-saving care. It allows people to, you know, get out of the house, like we were saying, you know, and become a full human, and I think that is truly what every trans person wants, right? It's just to be themselves, to walk around as themselves, and live that life that they know is possible if they had this access.

Rae Hill: Exactly, and as we go along that journey and we become more, like, down the road, we can look back and be like, okay, I remember what it's like to be at that stage, and that person who's just starting out needs this support so much more than me, so it's this kind of, like, secular process where then we can, like engage more and pull people back into this cycle of mutual aid. And that just kind of, like, repeats as we become, like, more resourced, or have more access, or have better jobs, or whatever, as we get older. It's really amazing to see that.

Aydian Dowling: Yeah.

Rae Hill: So, what are some of the ways that people can support this program? You've talked a little bit about where the donations come from and the letter-writing campaign, but if someone wanted to help you out or get involved, where would you say that they start?

Aydian Dowling: I always say the first place you start with a nonprofit is your wallet; being able to donate is 100% the first way. But you know, and so if you are someone who has the extra $20, right, like, that is purchasing, you know, garments, right? Or mailing out multiple garments, right? 

But then there's also the concept of letter writing. If you have a garment that is still working and just sitting in your drawer, you can mail it and donate it to us. The other thing is, you know, and this could be something that could be talked about, kind of, on the side, but you can always email us, you can go to pointofpride.org, and check out our contact form. If you have a space that you want to package garments, things of that nature. We're very limited in the ability to do that and the range of areas we can do that in. But if you are interested, you can always send us a contact, as long as you're just open to, like, that's a little too far, right? But that's a responsibility.

In the Philly and Baltimore area, I could really use support so I can get some garments into the area. If you're in the Baltimore area, you can give us a call. Okay. But, I mean, those are the first things. Tyler, am I missing something, you know, related to garments?

Tyler Rodriguez: No, I think that you've touched on the major ones, like donations, whether that's physical products or money, you know. And I think something that gets overlooked a lot is, like, we do have relationships with folks like Rae and other manufacturers where your financial donation is going to go further for us than if you go purchase the product yourself. 

We have a lot of well-meaning folks who want to go, like, you know, I'm gonna go buy 10 garments from Rae, and then mail them to you. I'm like, but your 10 garments might be 15 for me.

Rae Hill: Yeah, it's definitely better to go through you guys for that reason.

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah.

Rae Hill: One thing I just wanted to mention that I'm not sure that we were super clear about, which is an amazing part of this program, and I think that you are maybe one of two organizations internationally that do this. You ship anywhere in the world. And I just want to be super clear that, like, there are no barriers in terms of location for where these products go out to. 

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, as long as the United States Postal Service can reach there, which there are occasionally countries that USPS cannot ship to, but as long as USPS can reach them, we can ship there.

Rae Hill: Yeah, that's incredible. And the form for accessing is the same for everyone. Everyone goes through those same questions of just, like, self-identification and, you know, showing that you have limitations to accessing these, and that you need them for your safety. And so anyone around the globe can get these garments. I think that's, like, very rare.

I think that's such a highlight of this, and probably also why you've been able to, just be so prolific with the amount of garments that you've been able to give out. Not that people in North America don't have enough access needs already. But there are definitely some countries around the world that can benefit from this as well, and we love to just let people know that we work with across the world, that there are still programs where it's free for individuals.

Tyler Rodriguez: Yeah, and I do want to call out that brought to mind, you know, our shipping is free, our garments are free, the only cost that a recipient might have is if their country is putting some sort of tariff or customs fee, which we cannot prepay, or I think we would try to find a way to do that.

Rae Hill: That's true, yeah.

Tyler Rodriguez: Other than that, the costs are completely free for folks. So they don't pay for the shipping, they don't pay for the garment itself, or anything like that.

Rae Hill: Amazing.

Okay, well, I know that you guys have some big plans coming up, because it's Trans Day of Visibility in a week, I believe, from the time of recording. So, I know that you always do a really incredible fundraiser around then, so can you let us know a bit about what's going on this year, and how people can get involved?

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, so excitingly, this is our fifth annual Streamathon, and we work with influencer and advocate Mercury Stardust, and don't tell me why, but we do 30 hours of non-stop live streaming. You know, I think we were just like, what's the hardest thing we can do?

Rae Hill: What if people want to watch just because we're like, how is this gonna happen?

Aydian Dowling: Because we're, like, out of it by the end, you know? We are heavily caffeinated, and we have a cot, and we take mini naps when we're not on camera. Yeah, so we're doing it again, so this will be our fifth year, to raise money for trans healthcare.

We have a big goal, we're trying to raise a million dollars, and I believe we can do it. In the past years, we've had anywhere from 25,000 to 55,000 people donating. The average donation is around $35, so it's really just about mobilizing. So if you've got $35, you can donate on Trans Day of Visibility, join us in the livestream, which will be hosted. The best viewing will be on YouTube through Mercury Stardust’s platform YouTube channel, but then you'll also be able to catch us on Instagram Live and TikTok. So any of those platforms would work.

And yeah, so if you've got 35 bucks, or less, or more, and you want to make a donation, that'd be amazing. If you can't, the best ways to get involved would be to share it, whether that's just texting it to your friends, sharing it on your own story, or on the platform you like to use. If you're part of a Discord, let people know in your Discord channel that it's going on. Because really, just getting the word out there and getting a lot of viewership is where we can collect those types of numbers. 

So, you know, sharing, commenting, liking, all of those things, it does actually matter. So, yeah, so any of those things would be the best way to really get involved for a big, a big celebration, you know? Trans Day of Visibility is a big deal, and I think that, you know, it's something that cannot be taken from us, because we have created it, and, you know, we will continue to elevate our community on that day, you know?

Rae Hill: Absolutely, yeah, this is such a huge event. In the past, I've seen it happen, and it's just garnered, like, such an incredible following. You know, it's very easy to find if you're on any of our social media. You know, there's gonna be lots of publishing of this.

And, yeah, while you're, watching or reading the text that goes along with this, we'll leave all of the information, so if people want to be able to go and find it, or if you're watching or reading this after it's already happened, I'm sure there'll be places as well where you can donate after the fact.

Yeah, but really, any way that people want to get involved is incredible. As you said, it doesn't take much to be a part of this, even if it's, like, sharing the work and following the people that are doing this, it really means a lot.

Aydian Dowling: It all counts, yes.

Rae Hill: It really does, it really does, and it obviously adds up.

Is there anything else that you guys wanted to say before I let you go?

Tyler Rodriguez: I just want to take a second and say thank you for, you know, all the work that you do, and your team, and you know, I know y'all work hard over there, you know, so I appreciate it. We can't do the stuff that we do without you making the products, or, you know, being willing to support our shenanigans.

Rae Hill: It’s been a great relationship from the beginning. I think we’re very aligned.

Tyler Rodriguez: I know it's been a long time, but, like, the program really started out of you helping us out of a really bad spot.

I don't know if you ever got the full story. We had partnered with an organization that had set up a Kickstarter to create some gaffs, and the donated gaffs were gonna come to us, and then they ghosted us, they ghosted their buyers, they ghosted everybody. One of our board members even got taken advantage on it.

We were left with a couple of hundred people sitting on our waiting list with no garments, because they were supposed to come out of this Kickstarter, and… Aydian, I think, found you guys and was like, I'm gonna pester these people, they seem cool.

Rae Hill: You're like, hi! That was amazing for us, too. Like, it jump-started, you know, us into being able to produce bulk, and, you know, we were going through a hard time. We were just kind of, like, a few employees at that point, and trying to, like, standardize everything, and yeah..

Tyler Rodriguez: Because of a dodgy Kickstarter. Yeah.

Rae Hill: Kickstarter that fell through. I mean, you never know, yeah. Yeah. That's good to know.

Tyler Rodriguez: So, yeah. As I said, the whole program started out of you bailing us out of a bad spot, too, so…

Rae Hill: I'm so glad that we can help you. I was like, " Oh, this is amazing!” For us, you're, like, giving us this huge jumpstart as, like, a small business. We're much smaller than most of the other gender-affirming companies out there. We're a team of nine. Most are, like, much bigger than us, so it really is amazing to be able to work with you guys on such a scale. It's helped us so much.

And it allows us to also, like, pay the people who are manufacturing the garments, not only just a living wage, but all of the profits of this program go back into the gender affirmation healthcare of each person who's making the garments. So, yeah, we've never profited from this program. We put it all back into being able to make sure that they can access, above and beyond what Canada also, like, offers for free. They get, like, full-spectrum gender care out of this. So I love that. As we said, it's like keeping it in the family.

Aydian Dowling: Love that, that's beautiful.

Rae Hill: Yeah. 

Aydian Dowling: Yeah, and just echoing Tyler, thanks so much, Rae. Thanks to everyone on the team. We love your work. You know, it's been incredible for us. We can't wait to continue another, you know, round of 6, 7, 12 years.

Rae Hill: Yeah.

Aydian Dowling: You know, just keep building this, not just a professional relationship, but just a personal relationship, too. You know, everyone that we've worked with. Yeah, it's been really great, and we really appreciate you.

Rae Hill: Yeah, ditto. Great. Well, thanks so much, everyone who's watching this and reading it somewhere out there in the world. I'm glad that we reached you, and we'll leave all the links to the things we talked about today. Thanks so much for joining us, and we hope to see you all at the fundraiser on the 31st for Trans Day of Visibility with Mercury Stardust.

Aydian Dowling: Love it.

Rae Hill: Alright. Take care, guys.