Frequently asked questions

Trans Oregon is more than a directory. It’s a living collection of resources and journeys centered on queer and trans safety, joy, and connection, built by WERQ TOGETHER, a trans-led nonprofit. It grew out of a public directory we’ve maintained for two years, and it reflects real-life experience navigating Oregon, especially for Black, trans, QTPOC, neurodivergent, disabled, and multiply marginalized folks.

The journeys are the part you can’t get from a list. They’re practiced paths, the real steps we’ve helped trans people walk as they arrive in Oregon from all over the country, and at each step there’s often a resource or program that makes that bit easier. The goal is simple: make life easier for trans folks. If something has worked for us dozens of times, there’s no reason not to share it.

It’s a starting point, not the last word. Think of it as a knowledgeable friend pointing you in a direction, not an official registry.

Anyone in Oregon looking for trans-affirming healthcare, housing, legal help, food, community, employment support, or a way to change their name and gender marker. You can browse by topic or follow a step-by-step journey if you’re not sure where to start.

We don’t want to hand you hundreds of resources and wish you luck. A journey is a set of resources gathered around one situation, broken into steps. Sometimes the steps go in order, often they don’t, but together they help you move through something a lot of us move through, like changing your name or finding housing.

Start with a journey if you’re not sure where to begin, or browse resources directly if you already know what you need.

Every resource is checked by a real person before it goes live. For each one we:

• Confirm it’s currently operating.
• Note whether it’s trans-affirming. That tag means a resource describes itself as welcoming to trans and nonbinary people in its own words and materials, or the community has vouched for its track record.
• Tag it so you can filter by who it serves and what it offers.
• Date-stamp it, so we know when it was last verified and can re-check it.
• Consolidate duplicates and re-audit the live site on a regular schedule for dead links and stale entries.

Here’s the honest limit: a listing means a resource is real and currently operating, and its tags tell you how it shows up for trans folks. It is not an independent certification of the quality or safety of a provider’s care. We can’t sit in the room for every appointment, and we won’t pretend to. A listing is a lead worth checking, not a seal of approval.

That’s exactly why we lean on the community. If you’ve had an experience, good or bad, with a resource on this map, we want to know.

No. Inclusion means the resource met the checks above. It doesn’t mean we vouch for every interaction you’ll have there. Trust your own read of a place, and tell us if something feels off.

It means the resource describes itself as welcoming to trans and nonbinary people, or has a track record the community has pointed us to. Some are explicitly trans-led. Others are general services that have shown up for our folks. The tags help you see which is which.

No, and that’s on purpose. Some are explicitly trans-led. Others are traditional, mainstream resources that trans people still need to navigate, like the American Cancer Society or a housing program, where the hard part is often getting in the door safely. We surface the niche resources worth knowing about and the big institutional ones, because lowering the barrier to traditional services is part of the work.

That’s also why every resource page has a Community recommendations section: practical tips from people who’ve been there.

Each resource carries a last-verified date, shown on its page as “Last updated.” We re-check the map on a regular schedule and update or remove entries as things change. Even so, programs shift, funding ends, and people move on. Always confirm hours, eligibility, and current services directly before you go.

Tell us. That feedback is the most valuable thing you can give this project. Use the Suggest an edit button on any resource to flag a broken link, a closed program, or anything that’s out of date.

You can also leave a recommendation. Every resource page has a Community recommendations section where you can share what helped, a better way to reach them, an access or eligibility tip, or a heads-up. A real person reviews each one before it appears.

Yes, please. Use the Add a resource button to send it our way. Tell us what it is, who it serves, and why it belongs. We’ll research it, confirm it’s active and affirming, and add it if it checks out.

We prioritize resources that reduce a real barrier for trans people in Oregon, that are currently operating, and that present as affirming. We favor naming the actual clinic or org over a long list of individual providers, so the map stays usable. When we can’t confirm something, we hold it back rather than publish a guess.

You can browse freely. There’s no login, no account, and nothing you have to hand over to use this map. We’re not interested in surveilling people who are already navigating enough.

If you ever need to get off this page fast, there’s a Quick Exit button at the top of every screen. It sends you straight to a neutral weather site (for example, weather.com) and drops this page from your back button, so a quick tap of Back won’t bring it up again. It can’t wipe your whole history, so clear your browser history too if you need to be thorough, and we never log when someone uses it.

Here’s the honest version. We use lightweight, anonymous analytics to see which resources people open and which pages help, so we know what to fix and what to add. We don’t record your screen, we don’t build a profile of you, and we don’t put advertising cookies on your device. We also run a Google Ad Grant so more people can find the map, and it measures ad click-throughs without cookies. We never sell your data to anyone. If you’d rather opt out of analytics, you can block it in your browser, and our full Privacy Policy lists the steps and the opt-out links.

One more thing worth knowing: when you tap through to a resource’s own website, you’re on their turf, and their privacy practices are their own. Give their site a look before you share anything there.

WERQ TOGETHER, a trans-led, trans-serving nonprofit based in Portland. We build community infrastructure for trans people, from relocation support to peer-led services, housing navigation, and community education. Trans Oregon is one piece of that work.

You can donate, suggest a resource, or share it with someone who needs it. The most direct help is keeping it accurate: if you use it, tell us what’s working and what’s not.