Official Statement in Support of Giselle Byrd

The Boston Women's Fund and the Equality Fund at the Boston Foundation stand with Giselle Byrd.

We write to you in solidarity and anger.



Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive and the first Black trans woman appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, is facing a wave of hateful, targeted attacks. These are not critiques of policy or leadership—these are attempts to erase her humanity, discredit her identity, and cast doubt on her right to lead.

These attacks aren’t happening in isolation. They are part of a coordinated and growing effort to push LGBTQ+ people—especially trans women—out of public leadership, off commissions, out of the media, and back into invisibility. And we are not having it.

Giselle is a leader grounded in community, creativity, compassion, and courage. Her presence on the Commission is not just appropriate—it’s essential. Her leadership at The Theater Offensive builds safety, belonging, and joy for queer and trans people of color in Boston and beyond. She brings a deep understanding of what justice looks like when it’s lived out loud—and that is exactly why she’s being targeted.

We will not stay silent while this happens.

We will not let bigotry go unanswered.

We will not allow fear to decide who gets to lead.

Here’s how we show up — right now:

Sign On.

This letter is our public stand with Giselle Byrd. We encourage you to join us and lend your name in supporting Giselle. Use this quick form to sign.

Support Now.

Uplift the organization Giselle leads—The Theater Offensive—and support other local organizations working to protect, strengthen, and advance trans lives in Massachusetts.

Less than 0.05%—five cents of every $100 in U.S. charitable giving—goes to trans-serving organizations in our country. We must do better.

We urge philanthropic institutions and individual donors to correct that imbalance. Support organizations led by and for trans people in Massachusetts and beyond.

In addition to TTO, you can take action by supporting local organizations like Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), BAGLY, and the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts, to name a few, each doing critical, on-the-ground work to support trans lives across the Commonwealth.

Engage Relentlessly.

Talk to your networks about what’s happening—and about Giselle. Name the harm. Name the leadership. Name the stakes.

Learn what structural equity for trans people in Massachusetts actually requires—from policies and healthcare to housing, safety, and cultural power. Don’t stop at affirmation. 

If you’re not sure where to start, we’re here to help. Reach out to Natanja or Scott directly—like so many of you, we are committed to moving resources, not just making statements.

This is a time to move.



If they come for one of us, they come for all of us. And we ask you to join us in meeting this moment with collective power, protection, and pride.

In Solidarity,

Natanja Craig Oquendo, CEO, The Boston Women’s Fund 

M. Scott Knox, Executive Director, The Equality Fund at the Boston Foundation

Signers:

Christine Monska, Women's Fund SouthCoast

Samantha Rivera, Art Girl Walk Club

Debra J Robbin

Katie Wheeler

Sumaya Mohamed Ibrahim, Boston Women’s Fund

Kiarah Hortance, Boston Women’s Fund

Alexandra Auguste, Boston Women’s Fund

Aisha Woodruff, Boston Women’s Fund

Fatima Harvey, Boston Women’s Fund

Aditi Dholakia, Boston Women’s Fund

Sofia Innamorato, Boston Women’s Fund

Nahir Torres, Perch and Purpose Consulting

Leigh Handschuh

Lauren Doty Brown

Alex McCray, Exponent Philanthropy

Jazzy Bloomfield, The Beautiful Bostonian

Athena Bonner

Hema Sarang-Sieminski, Jane Doe Inc.

Kathy Lebrón Rodriguez, Comadres Liberadas

Judith Obermayer

Nicole Shults

Savannah Benskin

Emily Anesta

Zackery Sequeira

Dr. Sandy Range, Grandmothers' Village Project, Inc.

Andrea Clardy

rayven heath, DJ RAYVINO

Shaina Fils-Aime

Glenn P. Parker, Parker Family Foundation

​​Kate Weldon LeBlanc, AllPaths Family Building

Zac Rich, Greenlight Fund Boston

Amarely Gutiérrez Oliver, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence

Rachel Jellinek, Reflection Films & Boston Women’s Fund Board

Cristal Delgado

Karen Ansara, Ansara Family Fund at the Boston Foundation

Jo Goldman

Ava Buchanan, The Boston Foundation

Zaida Ismatul Oliva, Chica Project

D.J. Baker, The Queer Neighborhood Council

Jordan Numme, The Boston Foundation

Juliana Brandao, The Boston Foundation

Helen De La Cruz

Juliana Field

Heather Ford

Priscilla B. Bellairs

Jennifer Sax, Good Shepherd Community Care

Emie Michaud

Laurie A. Friedman

Jessica Lee

Jane Lyons

Elizabeth Shearer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston

Jackie Jenkins-Scott, JJS Advising

audrina warren

Kristine Acevedo

Ted McEnroe, The Boston Foundation

Ellen Wang

Tatiana Johnson-Boria, Johnson-Boria Creative, LLC

Ricky DeSisto, BAGLY

Faith Parker

Jean Mineo, Bellforge Arts Center

Emaad Madani, The Boston Foundation

John Tyler, The Philanthropic Initiative

Keith MacDonald, Consulting for Good

James Giessler, North Shore Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (NAGLY)

Philippe Saad, LGBTQ Senior Housing

Sean Garren DeKrey

Keith A. Mahoney, The Boston Foundation

Grace Sterling Stowell, BAGLY (Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth)

Miriam Ortiz, Eastern Bank Foundation

Laura Katz

Sue Dorfman

Leigh Tucker, Nonprofit Executives

Kaitlyn Bean

DEREK WANZO, Outnow

Rich Baker

Laura Reyes

Samuel Hausman

Corey Yarbrough, 826 Boston

Mimi Huckins

Gary Bailey, DHL,MSW, ACSW, LGBTQ Youth Commission

Eliza Klureza

Kacie King, DotOut

Scott E. Squillace, Esq, Squillace & Associates, P.C.

Jack Imbergamo, The Queer Neighborhood Council

Dr. Kathy Kaufmann, OUT MetroWest

Tate Duffy, Greater Boston PFLAG

Lucy Costa

John F. Moran, MA House of Representatives

Peter DiMuro, The Dance Complex & Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion

Janet Lawn

Joyce Kauffman, Boston Women’s Fund Board

Deb Zucker, PFLAG Greater Boston

Thomas Bentley, The Boston Foundation

Allison Morse, Good Shepherd Community Care

Jada Copeland-Hayes, Boston Opportunity Agenda

Stella Davis, The Boston Foundation

Luba Falk Feigenberg

Morgan Powell

Allison Fontaine

Diane M. Felicio, Ph.D.. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art

Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Harvard University

Breanna Plaxton, Good Shepherd Community Care

Rebecca Winter

Jenessa Kornacki, Greater Boston PFLAG

Leigh Gaspar, The Boston Foundation

Danubia Camargos Silva

Sierra Riley, City of Cambridge

Jeanne Marie Penvenne, Tufts University, College of Arts and Science

Sabrina Hayden, MGH

Kai Terrell Evans

Thabiti Brown

Caroline McKinnon, NoPause

Donna Clarke, Good Shepherd Community Care

Mary Flanagan

Mark VanDerzee, Company One Theatre

David W Janey

Magdalena Gómez

Mardia Pierre

Bella Fletcher

Brenda Echeverry

Isabelle Thibault

Jessica Estelle Huggins, Embrace Boston

Jessica Zander, You Can Do It Gardening

Emilia Diamant

Berry Andres

P Carl

Julia Howard, The Boston Foundation

Jasmin Rivas , Jaz-Yoga/Health and Wellness

Hon. Jay Blitzman (Ret.)

Carmen Fonseca, Boston Public Schools

Emily Radwin

Tess Hays, The Boston Foundation

Lynette D'Amico

Dan French

Elisa Pasche

Alexis Gomes, The Boston Foundation

Placidina Fico

Shanaé Burch, Ed.D, Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc.

Gail Carroll

Paul Bamberger

Hannah Burke

Sarah Padden

Sandra Kendall, The Boston Foundation

Toni Elka

Mel Pace, OUT MetroWest

Andrew Choe

Anna Krieger, Massachusetts Advocates for Children

Alyse Driskill, Alyse Hair

Tyler Prendergast, Company One Theatre

Ashley Berendt, ABB Collaborative Consulting

Rev. Irene Monroe, GBH “All Rev’d Up”

Diane Gorman, Greater Boston PFLAG

The Reverend Brandon Thomas Crowley, PhD, Historic Myrtle Baptist Church

Karen Leibold

Megan Govin, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Alyssa Nitchun, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art

Ariana Contreras, Women's Money Matters

Kylie Orourke, District Attorneys Office

Alicia Reese

Rose Athena Collins

Andre Green, SkillWorks at the Boston Foundation

Ben Precourt

Julie Smith-Bartoloni, The Boston Foundation

Melanie Butcher

Folake Oguntebi, Resilient

Valerie Grabiel

Sandy Jaffe

Dana Lyford

Tram-Anh Nguyen

Katie Barnett

Craig Bailey, Perspective Photo

Kelly R. Wilson

Jake Stepansky, QT Library

Jesse Solomon, Boston Plan for Excellence

Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association Board of Directors

Jodi Rosenbaum, More Than Words

Carolyn Zern

Shawn Mahoney

Abigail Norman

Maura Gallagher

Zoe Weinrobe

Ife Franklin, Ifé Franklin's Indigo Project

Matthew Costello

Karthik Subramanian, Company One

Bobby Boyd, The Record Co.

Corey Yarbrough, 826 Boston

Stephanie Shanen

Ryan Coughlin, DotOut

Nicola Hassapis

Rachel Wright

James Stiles, Emergent Learning Community Project

Suzanne Jones Walmsley

Chris Macdonald-Dennis

Scott Evans, Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts

Lanessa Davis

Sandy Thompson

Alison Croney Moses

Margaret McSweeny, Our Sisters' School

Jennifer Eddy

Ashleigh Gordon, Castle of our Skins

Naila Bolus, The Boston Foundation

Tanya N Nixon-Silberg, Little Uprisings

Soni Gupta, Boston Foundation

Ayesha Cammaerts, The Boston Opportunity Agenda

Sherry Kinnucane, The Boston Foundation

Lee Pelton, The Boston Foundation

Alex Chin, The Boston Foundation

Carlos Muñoz-Cadilla, The Boston Foundation

Letta Neely, Apprentice Learning

Ellice Patterson, Abilities Dance

Leora Abelson, Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue

Melanie O'Malley, Progressive Massachusetts

Phyllis Y Smith

Lisa Patrick

Marissa Roque, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Julia Gray Peters, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Erin Dunn, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Julia Lucas, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Erica Scott-Adjei, Bristol County Commission on the Status of Women

Michelle Wiener

Nikki Floonid, MissionSAFE

Francis Miranda, SpeakOUT Boston

Trevor Boylston

JJ Nelson, SpeakOUT

Virginia Roth

Shelly Chigier, BESS Family Foundation

Tina Cincotti, Funding Change

Cindy Joyce, Pillar Search & HR Consulting

Ciara Gogan, Uplift Inclusion

Albert Whitaker

Dawn Beckman

Mark Koeck

Mark Haley, DotOUT

Erin Peters

Paul Glass, LGBTQ+ Elders of Color

Rachel Roth

Quanice Floyd

Lisa Thurau

Jennifer Rose-Wood

Gene Thompson-Grove

Robyn Eastwood

Lydia Watts

Joseph Henry

David Aronstein, OutstandingLife

Imari Paris Jeffries, Embrace

Eve Bridburg, Grubstreet

Gary Dunning, Celebrity Series of Boston

David Leonard, Boston Public Library

Nicole Agois, Open Door Arts

Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Front Porch Arts Collective

Kathleen Traphagen

Andrés Holder, Boston Children's Chorus

Julie Evans

Kelly Gifford, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

Keith Patterson, Out Now

Richeline Cadet, MASSCreative

Harold du Four-Anderson

Bradley Vernatter, Boston Lyric Opera

Ellen Merritt

Ellen Sullivan

Vigny F.

Allison Taylor