MTPC wins Boston Foundation grant

The Boston Foundation last week awarded the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) a $25,000 grant. MTPC co-chair Holly Ryan said much of the funding will go towards paying for a first for the organization, a paid staff member.

"We're happy. And we soon will have our first paid staff member, hopefully around the middle of January. Up until now it's been all volunteer, and the bulk of it will still be all volunteer," said Ryan.

She said part of the grant will also be used for advocacy focused on trans youth.

The new staff member, whose title will be Project Director, will hit the ground running, Ryan said, working on MTPC's largest initiative to date, a bid to pass a statewide bill adding gender identity and expression language to the state's non-discrimination and hate crimes statutes. The bill, House Bill 1722, is expected to come up for a hearing before the legislature's judiciary committee sometime between late January and February.

"They'll be dealing with everything we do, but right now our main focus is 1722 because we believe once we get that passed it opens the doors for the other issues we're working on," said Ryan.

She said MTPC hopes to build on the Boston Foundation grant, reaching out to other organizations to secure funding for the campaign to pass H.B. 1722.

"Hopefully this will start something," said Ryan. "We've asked other organizations to support us financially too."