About Us

We are a newly established association, and the first BIPoC and Trans-lead fund based in Switzerland focused on supporting Trans lives financially.

What unites us is our work within and for the LGBTQIA+ community in various forms. By sharing this common space, we have realized how the lack of quick and low-threshold support towards Trans/Queer bodies is, unfortunately, a pattern in Switzerland and around the world.

We took things into our own hands by creating this fund to gather and redistribute money and support to disenfranchised people on the Trans spectrum. Our Trans siblings, and especially Trans siblings of color, are and have historically been subjects of unforeseen violence, abuse and negligence in general society and within the LGBTQIA+ community itself.

TSEF functions as a bridge that allows trans people within various of fields – including cultural work – to receive emergency funding, but also connects them with people so they can work on their professional goals. The TSEF board members are artists and producers who are also navigating the cultural scene toward inclusion and social justice. Trans people are disproportionately affected by unemployment. Existing cultural institutions also do not ensure safe working conditions for trans people if they are not white; they are more likely to be given single or multiple gigs/single assignments instead of long-term work contracts that would help ensure safe living conditions for them. Thus, Trans people often remain excluded from networks that could support them in emergency situations.

We are blessed to find ourselves in a privileged space, living in a country like Switzerland. Therefore, we feel like it is our duty to redistribute resources and empower our people.