ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN
About TKO Society Inc:
The Knights & Orchids Society (TKO) is a southern-centered grassroots organization founded and led by black, queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people supporting gender justice and LGBTQ visibility. TKO strives to build the power of the TLBG community for African Americans throughout rural areas of Alabama’s Blackbelt region, to obtain our dream of justice and equality through group economics, education, leadership development, and organizing cultural work. TKO empowers queer and other oppressed communities to create systems that improve the quality of life, justice, and equal rights and provide opportunities to maintain healthy lifestyles. We serve a LGBT population that is 80 percent rural, 80 percent low income, and 80 percent African American. We currently operate Alabama's only trans/queer-led AIDS Service Organization. We connect with the community in night clubs and other informal interventions to talk about the importance of safe sex and STD testing.
About the Campaign:
Many transgender people face stigma, discrimination, social rejection, and exclusion that prevent them from fully participating in society. Currently, 78,000 transgender people across eight states with strict voter id laws report not having any ID to match their current gender. Identification is necessary when accessing health care, education, employment, housing, and when interacting with police officers or other government officials. These factors affect the health and well-being of transgender people, placing them at increased risk for HIV, mental illness, and violence. Due to the discrimination our community faces, trans people cannot rely on the police to protect us. We cannot rely on media to report our stories. We cannot rely on churches to nurture our spirits or our government to recognize our identities. As trans people of color living in America’s rural, religious South we have only each other to rely on. So, when stricter policy change is implemented, when major climate events occur or when random acts of violence occur we need to look out for each other. TKO believes that we must prioritize creating space for those most marginalized members of the community, including Black and transgender people and meeting their needs. Donations received from this fundraising campaign will help us continue to provide direct support services (Name Changes, HRT, food boxes etc.) to Trans & Queer people across Alabama.
Our Needs:
We would like to expand our services to provide emergency and temporary housing to Trans/Queer people living in Alabama. None of the homeless shelters are trained to service trans identified clients and none report having beds available for transgender clients based on gender identity. We have identified a potential property in historic Selma, AL that would make an amazing shelter. The property features 5 large bedroom with 3 bathrooms, dining room, two kitchens and large common areas. We have acquired funding to purchase the property but are seeking additional support for renovating and furnishing the property. Our Goal is to raise an additional $30,000 to make updates to the bathrooms, kitchen, and common areas, plus purchase bedroom furniture for clients.
STOP-Tee
You can return a product for up to 14 days from the date you purchased it. Any product you return must be in the same condition you received it and in the original packaging.