On a hot June day, TransPonder Programs Director Ben Lilley walks through the multiple offices the organization shares with other nonprofits at a former church in River Road. He enters a room towards the back of the building with racks and shelves full of clothes. This is the clothing closet managed by the Lavender Network, one of the other nonprofits in the building.
Lilley walks towards one of the hangers up against a wall. This part of the room is called Sylvia’s closet, and is managed by TransPonder. He begins listing the array of gender affirming products TransPonder manages in this room.
“TransPonder provides…period underwear, pocket bras, breast forms, packers, packing underwear, tucking underwear, trans tape, wigs, partial breast forms,” said Lilley.
Lilley then explains that their stock of supplies, like chest binders, have gone down over the year.
“We used to have a lot more binders, like 400 binders, but this is kind of all we have left,” Lilley says, motioning to a small rack of chest binders. “We gave them away for free to people.”
TransPonder is a Eugene-based organization led by and for the transgender and gender-diverse community. What started as a support group for transmasculine people in 2012 has grown into an organization with 17 paid staff members who run programs and provide resources year round. Now, the 13-year-old nonprofit’s services are in higher demand than ever.
In recent months, President Donald Trump has signed many executive orders targeting trans people. A CNN analysis also found that so far, 27 states have passed bans on gender-affirming health-care for trans children and teenagers.
While Oregon lawmakers have introduced very few anti-LGBTQ laws, many parts of the state have little access to trans inclusive services, or gender affirming care. TransPonder leaders say the work they do is far from being done.
TransPonder provides a wide range of resources to people across Oregon who may have nowhere else to go. In 2024, TransPonder made 531 injection supply deliveries, gave away 674 gender affirming products, and helped with 78 ID changes.
Executive director Emz Avalos noted that there is a huge need for the services the non-profit provides. Some of the programs, like financial help for legal changes, are used by people all throughout Oregon.
“That’s why it's hard to answer, ‘which of our services are the most needed or the most popular?’” said Avalos. “We just had that question asked to and it's like, they're all needed.”
According to Marlie Heberling, the Outreach director, the care that TransPonder provides comes in multiple forms to accommodate the diverse community.
“Gender-affirming care can be a lot of different things, and sometimes that looks like a pride pumpkin party. Sometimes it looks like legal name changes or a support group.” said Heberling. “There are so many ways that gender affirming care happens, and gender affirming care as a whole is the thing that keeps people going, and we need everybody to keep going.”
Beyond gender affirming care, TransPonder also works to meet other community needs.
Back at the office, Lilley walks through a corridor and opens a door to a pantry. On the counter, there are three rows of brown paper bags filled with food. Each paper bag is marked with a person’s name and will soon go out for delivery.
“Community members [can] kind of come in and shopping style, grab what they'd like,” said Lilley. “We also have these cabinets full of shelf stable foods. And then on Tuesdays, we have a food drop off program so people can sign up on our website to get a shelf stable bag of food dropped off at their door.”
Many of the programs TransPonder provides stem from a need voiced by their community. Avalos explains that the nonprofit works for and with the community.
“We're not only trans led, but we're also community focused. So if a community asks us to change something in our programming, we're making sure that we listen to them and change that.” said Avalos.
Heberling adds that the work of caring for the trans community shouldn’t just fall on other trans people, the community needs cisgender people to step up for their friends, and neighbors.
“As the trans community, we need to see cis people, especially queer cis people, showing up every day, reminding people like, ‘Hey, the work isn't done. It's not done until everybody is safe.’” said Heberling.
