On January 20, United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively “pausing” US foreign development assistance for 90 days. The ripples of this order were felt soon in a medical clinic in Hyderabad, Telangana, which had been running for over four years on funds from the United States Agency for International Development or USAID.
Mitr Clinic, the first comprehensive transgender health clinic in the country, closed down on January 24, four days after Trump’s executive order. Reacting to the clinic’s closure, the world’s richest man and senior advisor to the Trump administration, Elon Musk, wrote on X: “That’s what American tax dollars were funding.”
Meanwhile, a board, quickly printed on an A4 paper, greets visitors at the clinic at the YMCA crossroads in Narayanguda now. In four languages – English, Telugu, Hindi and Urdu – the grim announcement says, “Clinic will be closed until further instructions.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Rachana Mudraboyina, a transwoman who used to work as a consultant at the clinic, said, “We were told overnight that the clinic will cease to function.” Another worker at the clinic, who requested anonymity, said, “We are still getting calls from community members seeking help for their medical needs. We remain mute, helpless.”
The clinic’s budget was Rs 2 lakh per month, and almost all of it was covered by the USAID funds, those in the know say.
Mitr’s journey started in January 2021 when NGO YRG Care facilitated its opening, funded by USAID. The small clinic had five staff members, including a doctor, a nurse-cum-lab assistant, a counsellor and two community mobilisers.
“The community mobilisers worked closely with the trans-community in the New City and the Muslim-dominated Old City in Hyderabad. We provided medical care to over 2,500 transpersons over the past four years,” a former clinic worker said.
Story continues below this ad
The clinic’s budget was Rs 2 lakh per month, and almost all of it was covered by the USAID funds, those in the know say.
The US embassy in India had lauded the work being done at the clinic on June 22, 2022, in a social media post that read: “US is committed to working with India in advancing equality and access to care for transgender people. At India’s first comprehensive health clinic for the transgender community in Hyderabad, USAID India supports essential services in a stigma-free environment.”
The clinic used to offer medical aid, especially HIV screening and treatment, gender affirmation support and mental health support. “The gender affirmation services constituted just 1% of our clientele. We worked on basic healthcare for the trans-community, who are otherwise ostracised in the society, and also HIV care in a major way,” Mudraboyina said. The clinic had a 6% HIV positivity rate, and 83% of those who were diagnosed were being provided with antiretroviral therapy (ART).
The clinic’s closure has disappointed transgender community members not just in Telangana but also in neighbouring states.
“I was thinking of travelling from Chennai to Hyderabad each month to avail gender affirmative services at the clinic,” a transwoman and lawyer Kanmani R told The Indian Express. Her friend and general physician Dr B Venkata Bhageerathi Mitra said, “I wanted to work in the clinic for the community. It’s no longer possible.”
Story continues below this ad
Another transwoman, Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, said, “As an end-user at the clinic, I am devastated. All services used to be offered at subsidised rates.” For transgender persons who are forced into sex work and begging, the clinic was a blessing, members of the community The Indian Express spoke to said.
With Trump ordering a 90% cut in USAID this week, the clinic workers and community members see no light at the end of the tunnel. “The US President’s policy is one against transpersons, and we are facing the brunt of it, along with the trans-community in the rest of the world,” Mudraboyina said.
The workers at the clinic, who turned jobless overnight, are currently scouting for openings at other medical facilities in the city. They are also looking to the Telangana government for support. As the state has 33 transgender clinics, those associated with Mitr hope the government could fund their clinic too.
“The clinics in Telangana districts are rudimentary. Mitr was full-fledged. It will be great if Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy funds the clinic,” a transperson who availed of services at the clinic said.
