It was a welcome moment of celebration, especially in the face of recent trans healthcare denials and rising transphobic vitriol, intimidation and outright violence. 

In March 2023, Point of Pride, a nonprofit with the mission to help transgender youth and adults access necessary, life-saving healthcare and wellness services, marked its most successful fundraiser ever: a 30-hour TikTok livestream, hosted by trans influencers, that brought in over $2 million dollars. 

For the past two years, Point of Pride has partnered with Mercury Stardust, aka The Trans Handy Ma’am on an annual livestream marathon to raise funds for trans healthcare.

Mercury Stardust typically shares her 16 years of experience as a maintenance technician with her 2.4 million TikTok and Instagram followers. She focuses on supporting LGBTQIA+ folx, single mothers, renters, survivors of domestic violence and more by teaching them how to care for their homes, whether they own them or not. 

In 2022, Mercury’s first Annual TikTok-A-Thon for Trans Healthcare set a goal of raising $24,000 in 24 hours, a threshold it smashed through with $120,000+ in contributions to Point of Pride.

This year’s event aimed even higher and continued a tradition of surpassing expectations. With co-host Jory, aka AlluringSkull, a content creator, advocate and artist with 2.3 million followers who went viral during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 when she was arrested on a livestream for peacefully protesting for the rights of Black people nationwide, Mercury aimed for $1 million dollars in 30 hours.

Incredibly, that goal was met in only six hours! And by the end of 30 hours, on March 31, Trans Day of Visibility, the Campaign Page for the TikTok-A-Thon, proudly powered by Give Lively, had over $2 million in donations, all destined for transgender and gender-diverse people in need. 

With these funds, Point of Pride will provide access to medical care and wellness resources like gender-affirming surgeries, hormone therapy, electrolysis and garments to trans people. Read more about how the TikTok fundraiser donations will be allocated by Point of Pride.

Read the Point of Pride Member Story for an in-depth case study.