Milo Mazurkiewicz Solidarity Fund
Milo Mazurkiewicz Solidarity Fund is a grassroots, self-help collective dedicated to supporting trans persons. The patron of the collective, Milo Mazurkiewicz, was a transgender, non-binary activist person who committed suicide in 2019 due to huge difficulties in accessing transition. According to KPH data, transgender persons in Poland are the group most exposed to the risk of suicide.
“We act to help persons who, for economic reasons, are forced to interrupt / refrain from making a transition”
The Solidarity Fund works to prevent such tragedies from occurring – so that transgender persons, in particular trans-women, have access to a decent transition. In Poland, the procedures necessary in transition, such as electrolysis or hair removal, are not reimbursed in any way. “Visits to doctors and examinations are sometimes reimbursed, but they involve long waiting and gatekeeping – the degrading necessity of proving that you are truly a transgender person conforming to a doctor’s vision”.
“We want to protect other transgender persons from what we have gone through”
The members of the collective know these problems first-hand and do not agree that other trans people experience such treatment. Therefore, they regularly organize fundraisers from which the first needs related to transition are financed. Using the funds from the mini-grant, the group wants to improve its communication channels: create a website, pay for the domain and hosting. It also intends to donate a large part of the mini-grant to direct help as part of the next, third edition of solidarity support.
Grant amount: PLN 4,400.00
Image credit: Milo Mazurkiewicz Solidarity Fund