Palm Springs, California is starting a pilot program to give a guaranteed monthly income for 18 months to trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming identified people.
The Palm Springs City Council approved an outrageous plan last week which allocates $200,000 to the program. Participants will receive between $600 and $900 every month to spend however they see fit.
CEO and president of DAP Health David Brinkman claims the initiative is necessary because 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.”
This is a pilot program used to test the efficacy of freely giving money to trans, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming identified residents. Twenty participants will receive money while another 20 will act as a control group and receive social services without money. Brinkman says the test is designed to inspire the city to give more funding to these individuals.
“In a state where poverty and homelessness are actual crises, this initiative is reckless and irresponsible,” said Greg Burt, Director of Capitol Engagement for California Family Council. “It also favors one class of struggling people, over others who struggle with poverty and employment. And since any individual can self-identify as transgender, it’s as if the city is incentivizing the poor to self-identify as LGBTQ with taxpayer money.”
Even Carl DeMaio, who served as an openly gay Republican on San Diego’s City Council, called the plan “outrageous and discriminatory.”
“We’re completely opposed to guaranteed or universal basic income programs, because they ultimately cause inflation and raise the cost of living on everyone — they don’t work,” DeMaio said.
“But at least some of them have minimum income requirements to qualify, whereas this one is no-strings-attached ‘woke’ virtue signaling to the LGBT community in a way that is not only offensive, but discriminatory,” he continued.
California is already suffering from inflation and many hardworking families struggle to pay their bills. In Riverside County alone, over 400,000 people are living in poverty. Meanwhile, a certain group of people will be handed hundreds of dollars every month simply because they are confused about their gender. Moreover, taxpayer money from struggling families will be used to fund this absurd program.
Real hope for those struggling with gender confusion and gender dysphoria is found in churches and para-church organizations that help LGBTQ-identified people find their true identity in Jesus Christ.
The Restored Hope Network is one such organization; an inter-denominational network dedicated to restoring hope to those broken by sexual and relational sin. “We see individuals who have had gender incongruence accepting their bodies and finding hope and peace that is more valuable than hormones, surgeries, and supplementary income,” said Anne Paulk, Executive Director of RestoredHopeNetwork.org. “Hope and peace result from the amazing love they find connecting with their Creator through Jesus. What a privilege to serve these individuals.”
The Palm Springs pilot program has been enabled by the state of California, which has committed to spending $35 million on universal basic income (UBI) programs. But such programs undermine the responsibility of every able-bodied person to provide for their own needs and the needs of their family, and then share with those who can’t provide for themselves. As Christians, we should emphasize local community programs and personal stewardship over government handouts.
The Palm Springs government is simply attempting to put its wokeness on full display. California needs elected leaders who will spend taxpayer dollars wisely. When they don’t, they must be held accountable.
