Note: The author of this story knows the organizer of this event personally.

It was in 2021 when Xander Schulte realized that top surgery was gender-affirming care that they needed, and after many calls and hours of research, they learned it would cost them $10,000. A friend suggested a fundraising event, so Schulte focused on creating an arts festival with live music.

The duo tag-teamed the organization of the event, and soon after, Queer Art Fest was born, described by Schulte as a community-run mutual aid fundraiser where proceeds and donations go directly to those who need help funding their gender-affirming health care. The first person to benefit from the event was Schulte.

“We ended up raising $3,000 for me, which was amazing, and I actually ended up using that money to get a good insurance plan that eventually covered [my top surgery] in full,” they told the SGN.

Four years later, Queer Art Fest has been hosting regular events, with the most recent one being held in Pioneer Square on June 7, which featured local Queer artists and vendors and included live music, tattoos, boba, and a raffle, Schulte said.

“We [had] a small collection of goods from Doll Parts Collective, which is a really cool vintage shop in West Seattle. And we also [had class slots for] Sip N’ Fuse, which is a glass-fusing class,” Schulte added.

Proceeds from Queer Art Fest are helping to fund gender-affirming care, and over $700 was raised earlier this month. Schulte emphasized that the care funded by the events extends beyond the cost of specific medical procedures.

“Whether that’s the literal funding for the surgery, for the first down payment of the surgery, or for covering recovering cost care — the special pillow, the special creams, or even time off from work — that’s where the funding is going,” Schulte explained.

The most recent event is helping fund the care of multiple anonymous recipients who have booked surgeries and need help with both initial and recovery care costs. Schulte said that they were motivated by the fact that they saw no streamlined way for Queer people to access gender-affirming care.

“It is so freaking difficult, and everyone has to figure out their own way to get it,” they said. “And I’ve had so many friends have a plethora of experiences that are completely different from mine to get what they need.”

Schulte hopes that Queer Art Fest events can serve as a partial reprieve from the often very emotionally and mentally taxing process of self-advocating for gender-affirming care for those who are seeking it.

“Especially in Western medicine, you’re having to explain to people why you need hormones or surgery or all these things,” they said. “And you have to convince doctors and therapists and psychiatrists that you’re Trans enough to get what you need.”

One day, Schulte hopes to see the Queer Art Fest reach nonprofit status, but until then and especially in light of recent federal decisions that have resulted in consequences like the halting of care at Seattle Children’s Hospital earlier this year, Schulte said that continuing to host Queer Art Fest is crucial.

“Especially with hospitals canceling gender-affirming surgeries in Washington state and transphobia completely going off the rails in this country, I think something that is really driving me to do this is that it’s another place for the Queer community to lift up people who need help,” Schulte said. “It’s not easy to get the money you need when you’re struggling with something that the system that we live in actively fights against.”


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