The city of Palm Springs, California, will pay transgender and non-binary residents up to $900 a month as part of a new pilot program.
SO WHAT
It’s all part of the “equity” movement that the Biden administration is leading.
WHAT HAPPENED
The Palm Springs City Council voted unanimously late last month to approve the no-strings-attached guaranteed income program, Fox News reported Tuesday.
- Two local pro-LGBT nonprofit organizations, DAP Healthand Queer Works, will receive $200,000 in funding from Palm Springs to kick off the pilot.
- “While the research and design phase for this pilot is now at the starting line and most specifics have yet to be determined, DAP Health and Queer Works have already indicated their intent to prioritize support for local individuals who are Transgender and Non-Binary,” the DAP Health said in a statement.
- Queer Works and DAP Health will manage the taxpayer funded program, during which 20 transgender and nonbinary Palm Springs residents will receive payments for 18 months.
Jacob Rostowsky, the CEO of Queer Works, said in a statement that “People who are Trans and Non-Binary are highly marginalized in our society in general, especially economically,” and referenced a 2021 study showing transgender adults are twice as likely to be unemployed.
ZOOM OUT
Palm Springs’ new program comes at a time when President Biden’s administration and liberal city governments across the country are enacting initiatives to advance “equity and inclusion” by privileging certain identities over others.
- On day one of his administration, the president issued an executive order calling for a “whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the opportunities and challenges that we face.”
- In speeches, executive orders and policy proposals, Biden has repeatedly stressed his commitment to promoting racial and LGBT equity.
- For instance, the American Rescue Plan Biden signed into law last March aimed to offer loan forgiveness exclusively to farmers of color.
The federal debt relief program was put on hold following a lawsuit by a group of white farmers, who claimed it was discriminatory.