14 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | QMMUNITY
Qsaltlake.com |
ISSUE 322 |
Celebrate Genderbands’ 6th anniversary by donating $6
LGBTQ and MENA organizations build new communities
Ian Giles was in his late 20s, divorced, and a single parent when he realized he is transgender. Being able to afford surgery, was not something he thought he could do on his own. So he came up with the idea to sell wristbands to his friends to help with the surgery costs. “That kind of evolved, and I ended up getting a booth at the Utah Pride Festival,” Giles told KTVX reporter Rosie Nguyen. “On the application form, they asked for a name of the organization. SO I thought, well, they are wristbands, and they’re gender related, so I guess Genderbands.” “At that Pride festival, meeting all of these people who were so excited and supportive of the idea of a fundraiser for top surgery, I thought, ‘You know what, this is something that can really work.’” Giles continued his fundrais-
In Islam, Ramadan is an important month-long event that 1.8 billion Muslims respect and share with their families and friends. In 2021, the event is scheduled from April 12 to May 12, with important religious activities and events like the festival Eid al-Fitr on May 12–13. With many international LGBTQ organizations and events worldwide, Utah LGBTQ-autism activist David Nelson remembers student friends in high school and college from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. Nelson was recently asked by a MENA college-student why he didn’t share the title of “Sayyid” publicly that Muhammad PBUH’s descendants usually do. “Well, I taught myself to learn genealogy at age 13 years, and since college, I knew that I am a Sayyid. But, I made a mistake early on in sharing the title with others.” Nelson
ing efforts past his own surgery and, now six years later, it has grown into a national group that provides grants for surgeries, binders for female-to-male transgender people who have not done surgery to reduce the size of their busts, and a Transgender Pride — possibly the only one in the nation. Top surgery can be anywhere from $4,500 to $12,000, Giles said. That is just for the surgery costs, not anesthesia, hospital bills, time off of work, and travel. Due to the lack of festivals and events because of the pandemic, Genderbands is having to get creative for their fundraising. They are hoping that, for their sixth anniversary, people will donate $6 towards their $6,000 goal. Q You can donate at genderbands.org/donate. The also have merchandise at genderbands. org/store.
APRIL, 2021
said. “A friend convinced me to use my title publicly when appropriate. I am just one of 45 million Sayyids/Syeds worldwide.” “Now that I see that international Pride communities are bringing LGBTQ/MENA people together in many other nations from Saudi Arabia to the United States, I enjoy their involvement and hope to advise Utah’s LGBTQ organizations who would benefit from involving MENA immigrants in its events and groups,” he said. Worldwide LGBTQ organizations are treating the international regions as a panoply of shared groups. From international to local Pride events, our groups can build communities together. Q David Nelson is not a Muslim but enjoys working with all Islamic matters as a Sayyid. Utah has 14 mosques, a school, 12 restaurants, and five organizations including the self-described “diverse” Utah Muslim Civic League from Logan to Orem.
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