Peer Washington is Transphobic

Hey everyone, I don’t like posting but I’m doing it anyway because I want people to know about something hurting our community. For the past four years I’ve volunteered in a variety of roles at Peer Seattle, a recovery organization that provides coaching, support groups, housing resources and more to the queer community. They do wonderful work, but unfortunately, their parent organization, Peer Washington, is extremely transphobic and does serious harm to vulnerable people.

Peer WA recently fired Peer Seattle’s two most visible and beloved trans employees, Aary and M, with little to no justification. This is part of an escalating pattern of retaliation against trans employees who stand up for trans people. Without Aary and M fighting for trans people, Peer Seattle is no longer a safe space.

Over the four years that I’ve volunteered, I have personally experienced increasing transphobia. I have witnessed and heard about much more.

In 2023 I was part of a committee with Aary and M attempting to address transphobia. Peer Washington shut us down when we asked for change. Aary and M were threatened into stepping down and stopped trying to make systemic change and focused on protecting members. Peer WA fired them anyway.

Peer Seattle has given me so much, but I can no longer ignore the toll that Peer WA’s transphobia has taken on me and so many other marginalized people.

We have been organizing and have held meet ups, posted flyers and are emailing the board. So far, the board has been sympathetic but underestimates the urgency and the severity.

We need outside pressure if anything is going to change. If you’ve been to Peer, add your stories to the comments, good and bad, and/or what losing Aary and M means to you.

I love Peer Seattle. It’s my home and my family. Aary, M and many others, including me, have been fighting from the inside for years. We’re not giving up, but we’re finally going public.

TL;DR: Peer WA (a nonprofit profit peer based recovery org) just fired two trans employees as part of a long pattern of retaliation against trans employees who stand up for trans people.