What if accessing gender-affirming care, whether that's top surgery, voice feminization training, or a chest binder, didn't require years of saving money? For over 30,000 trans and gender-diverse people, Point of Pride has made this a reality.

In the first episode of Speaking Freely Season 2, I sat down with Aydian Dowling, co-founder and Chief Advancement Officer of Point of Pride, to talk about how this trans-led nonprofit is changing lives by providing free and low-cost access to gender-affirming healthcare.

We talked about the changing landscape of trans healthcare, what it means to be a community-led organization that listens to what people actually need, and why gender-affirming care is something everyone can relate to, whether you're trans or not.

Note: This is Season 2 of Speaking Freely! If you missed last year's interviews, you can check out all previous episodes here.

Table of Contents

• Watch the Full Episode
• What Is Point of Pride?
• Programs Available: From Binders to Surgery
• The Thrive Fund: You Define Gender-Affirming Care
• Can People Outside the US Apply?
• The Biggest Challenges in Scaling Trans Healthcare
• What's the Most Urgent Need Right Now?
• Speaking Freely: What Non-Trans People Need to Know
• How to Apply for Point of Pride Programs
• Key Takeaways

What Is Point of Pride?

Point of Pride is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation that helps trans and gender-diverse people access gender-affirming care—whatever you define as affirming to your identity.

Founded officially in 2016 (though they've been giving away financial aid since 2012), Point of Pride is celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2026. What started as a for-profit business that gave away all its proceeds has grown into a comprehensive support system serving over 30,000 people.

As Aydian shared with me, "We are here to serve the community, and for us to think that we know what the community needs would be a disservice."

This community-led approach is what makes Point of Pride so effective. They listen to what people actually need and adapt their programs accordingly.

Programs Available: From Binders to Surgery

Point of Pride currently offers five main programs, each addressing different aspects of gender-affirming care:

1. Garment Programs

This is Point of Pride's only international program, offering free chest binders and tucking garments with no barriers to entry. If you're in financial need and you need one, they believe you, and you can apply.

This program alone has served the majority of those 30,000 people, making gender-affirming garments accessible worldwide.

2. Electrolysis or Laser Hair Removal Program

For many trans women and transfeminine people, facial hair removal is essential—not just for gender euphoria, but for safety. As Aydian explained, if you work a nine-to-five and have a five o'clock shadow on the bus ride home, that can be a matter of physical safety.

This program opens at the end of January and into February each year.

3. HRT Access Fund

This program provides hormone replacement therapy via telehealth, opening in May into June annually. Open to anyone in financial need, whether you have insurance or not.

4. Annual Trans Surgery Fund

Opening every November, this fund helps cover surgical procedures like top surgery, bottom surgery, facial feminization surgery, and more.

5. The Thrive Fund

This is where things get really interesting. Keep reading—I've dedicated an entire section to this innovative program.

The Thrive Fund: You Define Gender-Affirming Care

Created in 2024, the Thrive Fund represents Point of Pride's most expansive approach to gender-affirming care. This program was their response to people saying things like:

• "I'm trans, but I don't want surgery or hormones"
• "What would make me feel most affirmed is my name change"
• "I need fertility treatment before starting hormones"
• "I can't answer my work phone because of my voice"

Through the Thrive Fund, Point of Pride supports:

• Voice coaching or voice feminization therapy (this is where people like my students might access support!)
• Legal name changes and passport updates
• Fertility preservation
• Wigs (which can cost $1,500-$2,200 for quality pieces)
• Prosthetics
• And essentially anything else you define as gender-affirming care

As Aydian told me, "We don't want to tell you what is gender-affirming care. You tell us what is gender-affirming care to you."

How Voice Training Fits In

One of the reasons I was so excited to talk to Aydian is because voice training is explicitly included in Point of Pride's vision of gender-affirming care. Whether someone needs trans voice lessons, voice masculinization training, or support for a nonbinary voice, the Thrive Fund can help.

As someone who provides voice feminization training and masculine voice training, I've seen firsthand how financial barriers prevent people from accessing this care.

Point of Pride's Thrive Fund can help bridge that gap.

Can People Outside the US Apply?

This is crucial information, so let me break it down clearly:

International Applicants Can Access:

• The Garment Program – Free chest binders and tucking garments, no matter where you live
• The Thrive Fund – Services like voice training, wigs, name changes that don't require US-based healthcare

US-Based Services (with some flexibility):

For programs like surgery, electrolysis, and HRT, the procedure typically needs to happen in the US due to legal and tax requirements. However, this doesn't mean international people can't apply.

If you're an international student studying in the US, or if you're close to the US and can travel there for care, you can still apply for any program.

As Aydian emphasised: "If you have a need and you don't live in the US, you should still apply because we are, the landscape is always changing. There are tons of workarounds on ways in which we can access care."

The key consideration isn't just where you live—it's about privilege and genuine financial need. Before applying, Aydian encourages people to reflect: Do you have that corporate job with savings potential, or are you truly in a position where financial aid is necessary?

The Biggest Challenges in Scaling Trans Healthcare

Growing to serving 30,000 people hasn't been easy. When I asked Aydian about the biggest challenges in scaling their programs, his answer was revealing.

Beyond the obvious challenge that every nonprofit faces (funding), the biggest hurdle is the constantly changing landscape.

Navigating 50 Different Rule Sets

Point of Pride is based in the US, where each state has different laws governing gender-affirming care. This means they're constantly assessing:

• What care is actually available in each state
• What the legal process is for accessing that care
• How legislation changes affect their ability to serve people
• What the evolving needs of the community are

"Really keeping up with the needs of the community, mixed in with what is actually available for someone—that's been the biggest hurdle in the last three or four years," Aydian explained.

Adapting Programs Yearly

Point of Pride doesn't just set programs and forget them. They assess each program annually to make tweaks to language, financial need thresholds, and program structure based on where the community is.

Sometimes they expand programs as needs grow. Other times, they pull back when a particular need has been met by other organisations or resources.

What's the Most Urgent Need Right Now?

With the current political climate in the US, I had to ask: what's the most pressing need Point of Pride is seeing right now?

Aydian's answer centered on one word: safety.

But safety means different things:

Physical Safety

• Getting gender markers changed on documents
• Ensuring all paperwork is in order
• Accessing laser hair removal to avoid dangerous situations
• Having proper identification that matches presentation

Mental Safety

Point of Pride also thinks deeply about internal safety—how people feel when they're existing in the world. This includes:

• Voice training for people who work customer service jobs
• Support for those who are repeatedly misgendered on the phone
• Care that allows people to show up authentically without constant misgendering

"We think a lot about mental safety too," Aydian shared. "How are you mentally, internally feeling safe?"

The Thrive Fund Is Seeing High Demand

Particularly, the Thrive Fund has seen increased applications from people needing to get their documents in order. Many states don't allow birth certificate name or gender marker changes, which means hiring a lawyer—an expense that can run into thousands of dollars.

When Aydian transitioned years ago, he just went to court, filled out a form, paid $300 for a newspaper ad, and was done. Now, you really need a lawyer to navigate the process properly, making it significantly more expensive and complicated.

Speaking Freely: What Non-Trans People Need to Know

I end every Speaking Freely interview by asking guests to speak freely about trans voice, trans advocacy, and trans liberation. This time, I asked Aydian: What's one thing he wants non-trans people to know?

Aydian's answer was profound and worth repeating in full.

Here's what he wants cisgender people to understand:

Gender-Affirming Care Isn't Foreign to You

"People categorise gender-affirming care as something so far removed from them when they're cisgender," Aydian explained. But what we're really talking about is just wanting to feel good as who you are.

For some people, feeling good means going to the gym. For others, the gym is misery.

Some people love flashy clothes. Others want zero sparkle anywhere near their body.

Gender-affirming care operates on this exact same continuum.

It's Not Just Trans People

As I added to Aydian's point: non-trans people get surgeries and take hormones all the time. Cisgender people get:

• Breast augmentation or reduction
• Hormone replacement therapy for menopause or testosterone decline
• Cosmetic procedures to feel better about themselves
• Dental work to feel confident about their smile

If you've ever wanted cosmetic dental care to feel good about your smile, you can relate to wanting top surgery. It's really that simple.

"You're very lucky if you don't feel you need surgical intervention or hormones," Aydian reflected. "What a blessing that is for you."

But for people who wake up every day struggling because they need this care, having compassion means understanding that everyone deserves to feel at home in their body.

At the end of the day, people just want to take a picture and see themselves looking back. That's all anyone's looking for.

How to Apply for Point of Pride Programs

Each Point of Pride program opens once per year for a minimum of one month (sometimes six weeks). Here's the schedule:

• Electrolysis & Laser Hair Removal: Opens late January into February
• HRT Access Fund: Opens May into June
• Thrive Fund: Opens in August
• Annual Trans Surgery Fund: Opens all of November
• Garment Programs: Rolling applications year-round

How to Get Notifications

You don't need to remember these dates. Simply:

1. Visit pointofpride.org
2. Sign up for notifications for the specific program you're interested in
3. You'll receive emails when applications open (5 days before, on opening day, 5 days before close, and closing day)

Important: When you sign up for notifications, you're ONLY signing up for alerts about that specific program—not their newsletter or other communications. Just the essential information you need.

Tips for Applying to the Thrive Fund

Since the Thrive Fund is the most open-ended program, Aydian shared valuable advice for applicants:

Take your time. You have a whole month to apply. Read the questions at the beginning, think about them, write them down, and reflect.

Tell your story. The application is the only way Point of Pride gets to know you before reviewing applications. Don't just write "this will be really helpful"—paint a picture of who you are and how this care will change your life.

Don't worry about perfect grammar or spelling. If English isn't your first language, you can write in your own language and they'll use translation tools. They're not grading your writing—they're trying to understand your need.

Be specific about impact. Instead of saying "I need top surgery," explain something like: "I have G cup breasts and I can't even hug my child. I need to have them removed so I can embrace my kid without dysphoria."

That kind of detail helps the review team understand the real impact this care will have on your life.

Key Takeaways

1. Point of Pride Serves 30,000+ People

What started in 2016 has grown into a comprehensive nonprofit serving over 30,000 trans and gender-expansive people worldwide, celebrating 10 years in 2026.

2. Five Programs, One Mission

From free international chest binders to surgery funding, HRT access, electrolysis, and the innovative Thrive Fund, Point of Pride lets the community define what gender-affirming care means.

3. International Access Is Possible

While most programs require US-based care, the Garment Programs are fully international, and the Thrive Fund can support services like voice training, wigs, and name changes for people worldwide.

4. Safety Is the Priority Right Now

Both physical safety (proper documentation, gender markers) and mental safety (voice training for phone work, care that prevents constant misgendering) are top priorities in the current political climate.

5. Applications Are Story-Based

Point of Pride wants to understand your story and why this care matters to you. Take time with your application to paint a picture of your life and how this support will help.

6. Everyone Can Relate

Gender-affirming care isn't foreign—it's on the same continuum as going to the gym, getting your nails done, or getting cosmetic dental work. We all just want to feel at home in our bodies.