San Francisco’s Guaranteed Income Programs for Trans People to End

San Francisco officials confirmed on Tuesday that the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program, which gave guaranteed income to 55 low-income transgender residents for the last 18 months, would not be renewed due to both budget cuts and a number of lawsuits against the program.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed first announced GIFT in November 2022. Under the program, 55 transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, or intersex residents would get $1,200 a month over an 18 month span. Breed said she created GIFT to help transgender individuals, with 29% of transgender people living under the poverty line, and twice as likely to be out of work than non-trans people. She also noted that the program was one of many that targets a demographic that has higher rates of poverty and discrimination, with the guaranteed income acting as a means to help those residents out of poverty.

“We know that our trans communities experience much higher rates of poverty and discrimination, so this program will target support to lift individuals in this community up,” said Breed in November 2022. “We will keep building on programs like this to provide those in the greatest need with the financial resources and services to help them thrive.”

The program began in January 2023 and was scheduled to end in June 2024, with hopes of a renewal in June or July. However, the program soon began to have legal trouble. Throughout 2023, multiple groups went after GIFT and other guaranteed income programs in the city. However, while there were some successes, GIFT managed to stay afloat. In October 2023, Judicial Watch opened a records request for the release of records from the City of San Francisco showing the city prioritized tax money for black and Latino transgenders for the GIFT program. With records now open, a lawsuit soon became inevitable. This led to Judicial Watch filing a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court in January challenging the GIFT program on behalf of three taxpayers. According to the suit, GIFT violated the Equal Protection clause of the California constitution by discriminating based on gender identity, gender, and race.

The Judicial Watch suit, as well as a Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, which said that racial prioritization violated the 14th Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause and the Civil Rights Act, weighed down heavily on the program. Last month, when the program was up for renewal, the idea was quickly shot down because of not only the lawsuits, but because the city had no money left to renew the GIFT program.

GIFT officially ended

“Unfortunately, it’s wrapping up. There is not, unfortunately, money in this year’s budget to continue that program,” said the Director of San Francisco’s Office of Transgender Initiatives, Honey Mahoney, last month. “We’re very focused right now on anti-trans homelessness, and ensuring that we get trans folks into housing.”

In a separate statement, the Mayor’s office said, “GIFT is just one example of how the city continues to lift up our trans and LGTBQ+ communities. While the city continues to manage a difficult budget year, the mayor has fought hard to defend and increase investments for the transgender community where needed most.”

Hope lingered this month that the city could have a change of heart on the program, but on Tuesday, a San Francisco city official familiar with the program told the Globe that GIFT is officially dead.

“Yeah, not to say that something like it won’t come back in the future, but right now, it’s dead,” explained the official, who talked with the Globe anonymously. “The city has had several UBI programs. And they’ve all been scrutinized. They are all money losers, and many have had lawsuits. GIFT was just one of them. Another one based on just race was the Abundant Birth Project. It focuses on Black and Pacific Islander women, and yeah, lawsuit.

“Several people have made arguments that GIFT worked and that other UBI programs are working. But when the city just doesn’t have the money for them and the programs are being riddled with lawsuits, you can see the need to end them. Honestly, if San Francisco based UBI on need rather than gender identity or race, the programs would not be under fire nearly as much. Still would, because it is UBI and it will always be controversial, but the lawsuits wouldn’t be happening.

“GIFT is dead though. It was dead the end of June and is dead today.”

More on UBI program cutbacks in California are expected to come up throughout the rest of 2024.