What’s Going On?

Many of you know j and Bear. For years, their family has been a soft landing spot and a loud voice for the queer and trans community. Whether it’s answering late-night phone calls to help someone navigate a crisis, helping a parent figure out what to say to their kid’s principal, fighting back against discriminatory policies like Bill 137, or doing deep community organizing they have chosen to be visible.

They chose to be loud and visible for their community.

But right now, that visibility has put a target on their backs.

Recently, j was targeted by a coordinated smear campaign by far-right, sensationalist media outlets (including Fox News, The Daily Mail, The New York Post, and Rebel News). While the international news cycle has been horrendous, the fires of hate have started locally. A prominent local business’s social media account has weaponized this story to boost their own profile, continuously amplifying hateful rhetoric and inciting targeted harassment against queer, trans, and Indigenous people in their city.

Because of this constant local amplification, a petition is circulating that explicitly names j, throwing around dangerous, baseless accusations that directly incite violence. While organizations are mentioned, j is the only individual person being singled out by name. j being singled out has resulted in j receiving a lot of physical hate mail, email and calls to j’s work calling for j to be fired.

Living in a city of a quarter-million people means it’s small enough that they are recognized wherever they go, since j has been the most visible target, j is being recognized from this hate campaign. The level of alert to their family’s nervous systems is exhausting and unsustainable.

They have received credible threats to their safety. They love their community, but right now, they need to protect their home.

What Do They Need Money For

They have consulted with both a home security specialist and legal counsel to figure out how to best protect their family and peace of mind. They cannot disclose every specific detail of these plans because keeping "bad actors" in the dark is part of keeping them safe. They need to raise $30,000 to fund two critical areas of protection:

Physical Security Upgrades (Approx. $15,000)

Legal Infrastructure & Privacy Protection (Approx. $10,000)

Temporary Relocation (Approx. $2000)

Reserve (Approx. $3000) - In case of emergency, vandalism etc.

Who This Supports and Why Your Help Matters

This fundraiser directly supports j and Bear.

To be completely honest, if you know this family even hinting they needed to do this felt incredibly uncomfortable for them. They are used to being the ones fielding the phone calls, providing the resources, and fighting the fights, not the ones asking for help. But the reality is, they cannot carry the financial burden of this sudden, forced crisis alone.

If everyone who has ever reached out to them for help, research, advice, or advocacy over the years were able to pitch in just $25, they would hit their goal immediately.

They made a choice to be visible and to fight for safer spaces for everyone. Now, they are asking their community to help make their immediate world a little safer for them. Any amount you can contribute helps them breathe a little easier, sleep a little sounder, and secure their home.

Thank you for holding them, supporting them, and having their backs.

If you are queer or trans you should know that all of this is incredibly hate filled, violent rhetoric, so please be careful if you choose to research this.