About Trans Matters Now:
Trans Matters Now (TMN) is a grassroots initiative which began as “Trans Lives Matter”, a non-profit in Seattle, WA, in January of 2012. In 2016, Jim was invited to join the team at Trans Lives Matter. In 2017, the previous administration stepped down, leaving Jim with the project, which closed due to lack of funding. Jim invited Kat to be a partner in this outreach.
Since then, the project was renamed “Trans Matters Now” because they both felt it was a better representation of the outreach, because TMN Service Network is about what matters right now to the transgender community. Whether that’s news about rights, updates, LGBTQ events, people, and happenings across the globe; connecting to the resources needed for transition, and personal needs; or simply learning more about the community in general.
TMN Services Network serves the 48 continental United States only. TMN connects trans people to the services that matter by offering assistance with: Legal Matters, Clothing, and Employment Services. TMN connects trans people to resources that matter by offering nationwide resources which are transgender inclusive: Suicide Prevention, Crisis Support, Housing & Shelters, Drop-in Centers, Medical Clinics & Hospitals, Legal Clinics & Firms, and Youth & Family Organizations.
About The Founders:
“Hi, We’re Jim & Kat, here’s a bit about us.”
James & Katherine Blake (“Jim” & “Kat”) are a transgender couple, walking through this life together. They stay busy homeschooling their children and working for the trans, non-binary, and gender expansive communities across the U.S.
They were southerners when coming to understand themselves as trans. Ultimately leading to a three year road trip to find a place to call home that was both affirming of transgender rights, and affordable.
Once rehoused, Jim was looking for employment. In his efforts to find work, he applied to over 70 jobs, which only lead to three interviews, and one follow-up. He began researching more about transgender unemployment rates. That’s when he discovered the overwhelming rates at which trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks experience underemployment and unemployment.
[The National Center for Transgender Equality states, “More than one in four transgender people have lost a job due to bias, and more than three-fourths have experienced some form of workplace discrimination.”
NCTE’s National Trans Survey showed that “The unemployment rate among respondents was 15%, three times higher than the U.S. unemployment rate at the time of the survey (5%).”]
This lead Jim & Kat to create an outreach for other’s that may be experiencing the same troubles finding valid employment opportunities. Trans Job Connect began as a community outreach, in September 2017. One year after creating their blog, Two Trans One Van.
In May of 2020, they decided to merge Trans Job Connect with Trans Matters Now, and to provide this as one outreach for the trans, queer, gender-expansive community members across the U.S. *48 Continental States Only. Determined to provide the transgender population with reliable services, they are navigating through non-profit incorporation of this service. They have two lawyers working to draft the business license paperwork, bylaws, and IRS tax exempt documents.
The goal is to have this project as an official, licensed non-profit organization, by June 2021. If you would like to help, please see the donations page for all of the ways you can make this a reality. TMN is also actively recruiting volunteers, please see the Volunteer Page to sign-up. We appreciate your support!
Click here to see a full list of projects, including support groups, blogs, news updates, resources, assistance, and more.
TMN Services Network 