Announcing our 2022 Sex Worker Giving Circle Grantees
December 17th marked the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (IDEVASW), a day of mourning and also of recommitting to solidarity with sex workers everywhere. Today, we're also reflecting on the life and work of Carol Leigh, aka 'Scarlet Harlot', an activist and cultural worker who recently passed on.
Carol coined the term 'sex work' in 1979, and contributed so much brilliance to our sex worker-led movements. Carol's legacy and the many organizers we fund through the Sex Worker Giving Circle (SWGC) show us every day that resourcing sex worker leadership is critical not only to gender justice but all movements for bodily autonomy and self-determination.
While sex worker movements remain stigmatized, criminalized, and critically under-resourced, thanks to brave supporters like you, the SWGC's fifth year of grantmaking was our largest yet. In 2022, our SWGC cohort of 9 Fellows - all current or former sex workers - made a total of $304,000 in new grants and $301,250 in renewal grants to 25 organizations across the U.S. and territories, who you can learn about below.
Please help us keep resourcing sex worker self-determination in 2023 and beyond by giving or increasing a one-time gift, or by committing to a monthly or annual donation today. Thank you for joining with us as we affirm that sex worker liberation is liberation for us all.
With love and gratitude,
Chris 'Chicklet' Giraldo & Pati Morales
Sex Worker Giving Circle Team
We are excited to announce grantees awarded funding by this year's Fellows:
New Grantees in 2022:
- Bantu Safe Haven - Philadelphia, PA - $26,250/year for two years
- Black Sex Workers of Colorado - Denver, CO - $15,750/year for two years
- EspicyNipples (EntrePutxs PR) - Carolina, PR - $27,500/year for two years
- Tranzzlation - Seattle, WA - $15,750/year for two years
- Zepp Wellness Center - National - $25,000/year for two years
Returning Grantees in 2022:
- Best Practices Policy Project - National - $25,000/year for two years
- Coalition for Rights & Safety for People in the Sex Trade - Federal Way, WA - $26,625/year for two years
- Love Me Unlimited 4 Life - Jackson, MS - $25,000/year for two years
- Organización Latina Trans in Texas - Houston, TX - $25,000/year for two years
- Street Youth Rise Up - Chicago, IL - $25,500/year for two years
- Support Ho(s)e Collective - National - $15,000/year for two years
- The Outlaw Project - Phoenix, AZ - $26,625/year for two years
- WeCareTN - Memphis, TN - $25,000/year for two years
Year 2 Grantees from 2021:
- Black Sex Worker Collective - National & Global - $26,875 for this year
- Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo - Queens, NY - $25,000 for this year
- Community EsTr(El/La) - Atlanta, GA - $26,250 for this year
- Trans Sistas of Color Project - Detroit, MI - $25,000 for this year
- BIPOC Adult Industry Collective - National - $26,875 for this year
- Black & Pink National (Sex Worker Liberation Project) - National - $25,000 for this year
- Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center (Kua'ana Project) - Honolulu, HI - $25,000 for this year
- Hoe is (Our) Life: Support & Beyond Surviving - Beacon, NY - $27,375 for this year
- LIPS Florida (fka LIPS Tampa) - Apopka, FL - $27,500 for this year
- MO Ho Justice - St. Louis, MO - $25,250 for this year
- Together In Service (D/B/A SWOP Los Angeles) - Los Angeles, CA - $16,125 for this year
- Urban Survivors Union (Sex Worker Organizing Group) - National - $25,000 for this year
