Purpose of the Fund
The purpose of the Gender Affirmation Fund (GAF) is to provide financial support for Brock community members who self-identify as Two-Spirit, transgender, non-binary, and/or gender diverse/nonconforming to assist with the costs associated with various aspects of affirming one’s gender.
Application Review Process
The Gender and Sexual Violence Funding Allocation Committee (GSVFAC) was established to accept, review, and approve funding applications for the GAF. The GSVFAC is a diverse group of university stakeholders who use an intersectional, anti-oppressive, trauma-informed, and harm-reduction approach to review funding submissions for the GAF.
Applications for the GAF are anonymized before consideration by the GSVFAC, apart from applicants’ stakeholder status at the institution (i.e., undergraduate, graduate, staff, or faculty). Only the Human Rights and Equity Office’s Executive Assistant, the Director of HREO or a delegate, and a Brock Finance staff member will have access to personal identifiers of applicants. HREO administrative staff, or another delegate of the director of HREO, will anonymize applications. Personal identifiers will be excluded from annual reports.
Eligible and Ineligible Expenses
Recognizing that experiences of affirming one’s gender and of being Two-Spirit, transgender, non-binary, and/or gender nonconforming are diverse and can impact many aspects of one’s life, the GAF intentionally does not outline all eligible expenses. The only requirement is that the costs for which one is applying for the GAF are acquired for the purpose of affirming their gender, in whichever way they choose.
Examples of eligible expenses include:
- Medical needs: medications including HRT prescriptions, gender affirming surgeries, procedures for body dysmorphia
- Mental Health needs: resilience therapy, gender counselling
- Administrative fees associated with gender affirmation, such as reissuing official documentation and/or identification
- Everyday life necessities: transportations costs associated with gender affirmation, new wardrobe, wigs, shapewear, binders, packers
This list of examples is not exhaustive. Applicants are encouraged to submit claims for any expenses they consider eligible. Expenses must be incurred in the funding year (April 1 to March 31) to be eligible.
The GAF is allocated $10,000 per funding year (April 1 to March 31). There is a $1500/funding year cap and a $4500 lifetime cap per applicant. Applications are assessed monthly. Monthly deadlines are the 1st of each month at 12am.
Submit an Application
Submissions should include the following:
- A completed online Gender Affirmation Fund Form
- Any supporting documentation such as receipts and invoices.
Applications are assessed on a monthly basis.
Note: We understand that many Two-Spirit, transgender, nonbinary, and/or gender diverse/nonconforming people may not use the “legal” names associated with their student/bank account, and that deadnaming can cause a lot of undue harm. In the Applicant Information section, please provide the name you use in everyday life. Should this name differ from that which appears on your student/bank account, please provide the name that appears on the student/bank account in the Funding Payment section. This student/bank account name will be used to issue payment via cheque or e-transfer through Student Awards and Financial Accounts (SAFA), however, your chosen name will be our default for all other purposes. The only person to use your student account name will be a Brock Finance staff member who will issue payment.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to humanrights@brocku.ca.