California City Approves Program to Give Trans & Non-Binary Residents Guaranteed Income

Have you noticed it’s becoming harder to differentiate satire from reality? When I first saw the headline about a city in California approving a program to provide transgender and nonbinary residents a guaranteed income, I was sure it had to be from the Babylon Bee.

Oh, but it’s not. It’s also not an April Fool’s joke. It is very much accurate. Earlier this week, the Palm Springs City Council voted unanimously to fund a pilot program that would guarantee a basic income for transgender and nonbinary residents.

So far, $200,000 has been allocated for this program, which is far less than the $900,000 the two organizations originally wanted but still just as insane.

Guaranteed income programs distribute these funds with no strings attached.

According to David Brinkman, CEO and president of DAP Health, one of the organizations behind the pilot program, transgender people are “one of the most marginalized populations in our city who face some of the highest levels of housing insecurity, joblessness and discrimination.”

According to a report from the Desert Sun, the two organizations behind this program say it will “provide between $600 and $900 a month to 20 people who live, work or otherwise spend the majority of their time in Palm Springs.”

I’m not exactly sure what $900 a month in Palm Springs even gets you. Does it even cover the cost of gas per month?

“The pilot would also include another 20 transgender and non-binary people who would not receive the money and services but would serve as a control group with the intention of determining the degree to which the payments and services are beneficial,” the report added.

So what happens if this program takes off and gets even more funding? Will trans and non-binary people be able to move to Palm Springs and get free cash? If that’s the case, what are the criteria for proving you are, in fact, trans or non-binary if it’s all in your head? Could anyone move to Palm Springs, claim to have preferred pronouns that don’t match their biology, and be entitled to $900 a month?

I know the city council there wants to pander to the trans community for some reason, but have they thought this through?