Lizzo has truly put her money where her mouth is, donating an impressive $50,000 USD to the Marsha P Johnson Institute, an organisation that works to eradicate violence against Black trans women. Named after the legendary Stonewall veteran, the organization supports, protects, and defends the rights of black transgender individuals throughout the United States. 

The ‘About Damn Time’ singer took to Instagram on Tuesday, June 20, to announce the donation, which comes as part of her fourth annual Juneteenth Giveback campaign. In the past, the campaign has donated to five different Black-led grassroots organizations, as well as to Planned Parenthood, a reproductive healthcare organization. Lizzo similarly has encouraged her fans to make donations in support of the Juneteenth Giveback campaign. 

In the video posted to Instagram on Tuesday, Lizzo said, “The Marsha P Johnson Institute was founded in direct response to the nationwide and vastly underreported epidemic of the murders of Black trans women.”

“The violent and preventable nature of these deaths directly connects to the exclusion of Black trans people from social justice issues, namely racial, gender, and reproductive justice as well as gun violence reform,” Lizzo added. 

 

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Founded by a Black trans woman in 2019, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute works to eradicate the systemic violence leveraged against Black trans women throughout the US and around the world. Demographics show that this specific community, part of the larger LGBTQ+ umbrella, is statistically verified to be the most vulnerable and persecuted. 

The Marsha P. Johnson Institute works to help Black trans women obtain housing, food security, legal services, financial assistance, social support, employment opportunities, healthcare, and more.

“Thank you so much to the people at the Marsha P Johnson Institute,” Lizzo said. “You deserve this, and I hope that this helps you so much as you help protect our black trans family.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 12 trans people have been murdered in the first six months of 2023, most of whom have been Black trans women. Referred to as an “epidemic of violence” against Black trans women, this troubling trend has led social justice activists to hold “Black Trans Lives Matter” protests in conjunction with the “Black Lives Matter” protests that have been happening throughout the US since 2020, calling for racial justice and police reform. 

Lizzo has made a habit of advocating for trans individuals throughout her illustrious career. When the Grammy-award winner was nominated for an astonishing eight Grammys in January 2020, she told Rolling Stone magazine that she wanted her music to make Black trans women feel good. 

“As a Black woman, I make music for people, from an experience that is from a Black woman,” she said. “I’m making music that hopefully makes other people feel good and helps me discover self-love. That message I want to go directly to Black women, big Black women, Black trans women. Period.”

Lizzo similarly gave the community a shout-out during her 2022 People’s Choice Awards acceptance speech, spotlighting two advocates for transgender equality. 

In addition to her donation to the Marsha P Johnson Institute, Lizzo will also be making donations to Black Girls Smile, a mental health organization, Sphinx Music, a creative diversity program, the University of Houston’s Black educational efforts, and Save Our Sisters United, a Black women’s support group, all as part of her Juneteenth Giveback campaign.