
Help a Transgender Family of Three Find Safety
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Ruth Drachen, and me, a Transfemme individual, alongside two other Transmasc members of my found family, need urgent assistance to move to a state where our rights are enshrined in the state constitution.
To start, this isn't the first time I had to leave my home. Back in 2023, I needed help to leave Texas as anti-trans laws started to ramp up in the state due to Ken Paxton's work. The last straw was the state beginning to document transgender people via organizations like TXDoT, which was an alarming situation that forced me to a sanctuary city in Wisconsin for LGBTQ+ individuals, to eventually move in with the two members of my soon-to-be found family, two Transmasc people who also escaped Texas in the nick of time.
We recently decided early on this month that a move to a new state was necessary, due to the fact that Wisconsin hasn't enshrined trans rights and protections into its state law. Without these rights, we could potentially be at the whims of the Trump Administration's eventual plans involving the oppression of LGBTQ+ individuals either after or during his push for mass deportations as outlined in Project 2025. Our current governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, is doing a phenomenal job of blocking anti-trans policies that serve to strip our rights away in the state, but should President-Elect Trump and the Republican majority of both Congress and Senate have their way, they could potentially enact highly discriminatory laws in the state without said protections on a federal level, making medical care difficult to access, and empowering far-right groups in the area to commit hate crimes.
We cannot give an exact location on where we will be going due to safety concerns, but I will mention that we will be heading to the state of Washington, where trans rights are enshrined in state law. We plan to leave by late December to early January, hopefully to be in the state before the January 20th inauguration. This is necessary as all three of us are mentally disabled in one way or another, and staying in the state to be involved with local organization and resistance isn't something we would be able to do at this time.
In order to leave, we would need a large amount of funding to not only rent a truck to move furniture out of our apartment, but also to cover hotel fees, first month's rent and deposit on our new apartment, and bills that will accumulate over time. I am currently in the process of saving up as much money as I can for the trip, but even with my efforts, I will certainly not be able to cover the full amount needed with my current job at $21 an hour with full 40-hour weeks.
I am currently setting the goal of this fundraiser at $8000 to cover the following:
- Moving truck rental and gas
- Hotel costs
- New apartment deposit and rent
I can use my own income to cover the following, but assistance would still be helpful as we get closer to the move-out date:
- Utilities and bills for all three family members
- Current apartment fees and rent
- Legal document and passport fees
- Miscellaneous repairs to transportation and communication devices
I understand that many of you might be saving up money yourself, so if you cannot assist, I completely understand. Leaving before January 20th is our current goal, so if you can assist, please do, as I won't be able to save up enough funds on my own to help escape.
Thank you, from all three of us,
- Ruth Drachen and her found family
Organizer
Ruth Drachen
Organizer
City of Middleton, WI