Last year, thanks to all of you, we made history with Chicago's first ever Trans Movement Festival. Now we're back for round two, and we need you help to keep TGNC art alive, thriving, and radical as fuck!!!

The second annual Chicago Trans Movement Festival (CTMF) is a community celebration of the movement arts as embodied by Trans & Gender Non-Conforming movers. Founded in 2025, CTMF created space & facilitated connections for TGNC individuals from the various artistic ecosystems of Chicago to engage in collaboration, education, tangible support and celebration with one another. Now in its second year, CTMF is back to offer more spaces, platforms, and opportunities for Trans & Gender Non-Conforming artists across Chicago. Because we deserve to thrive, not just survive.

As we prepare for our second year, we are asking our community for support in order to offer accessible programming while properly compensating our teaching artists and performers their work. The TGNC movement arts community faces ongoing disenfranchisement, isolation, and attempted erasure. Every donation to CTMF amplifies our resistance, our voice, and our power against the systems trying to isolate & silence us.

Last year, CTMF provided:

30 paid positions for LGBTQIA+ creatives, administrators, and educators
11 workshops in genres of dance, circus, meditation, self-defense, and more
1 Queer Pride Cabaret featuring some of Chicago’s most disobedient queer performers
16 scholarships & work-study positions for TGNC movers
A sensory-neutral zone and free stitch circle
Free dancewear courtesy of Synapse Arts’ Dancewear Share Library
Free resources on TGNC healthcare, body care, legal support, and local TGNC-owned businesses
Affordable gender-affirming clothing via Reign’s Rack

Funds raised will support:

Performer pay for festival shows
Guaranteed teacher base pay for workshops and classes
Subsidized tickets & workshop scholarships for low-income Trans & Gender Non-Conforming individuals

CTMF is co-produced by Such Creatures, Synapse Arts, and Reminiscent Circus; three LGBTQIA+ led organizations committed to creating spaces & platforms for Queer artists. We proudly continue this work in the face of ongoing funding & resource cuts, bans against Queer content nationwide, and the systemic disenfranchisement of our communities. But we cannot do this without your help.

In the face of extermination, help us say "fuck you"

*Donations to CTMF are processed via Such Creatures and are NOT tax deductible

Support Chicago Trans Movement Festival