India's first transgender clinics in Hyderabad shut after Donald Trump's USAID fund freeze

India's first transgender clinics in Hyderabad shut after Donald Trump's USAID fund freeze

India's first transgender clinics in Hyderabad shut after Donald Trump's USAID fund freeze ByHT News Desk Mar 01, 2025 01:08 PM IST Share Via Copy Link Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid pending a review to ensure all projects funded with US taxpayer money are aligned with "America First" policy.

After the Donald Trump administration froze funds for foreign aid projects under the US Agency for International Development (USAID), India's first three clinics for the transgender community in Hyderabad were shut last month, Reuters reported.

Elon Musk listens as US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House.(AFP)

The stop-work order from the USAID has disrupted services for nearly 5,000 people.

US President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid pending a review to ensure all projects funded with US taxpayer money are aligned with his "America First" policy.

According to the Reuters report, the closed Mitr clinics are run mostly by the doctors, counsellors and other workers from the transgender community.

While reacting to the development, Elon Musk, who co-chairs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said,"That’s what American tax dollars were funding.

The other clinics are located in Maharashtra's Kalyan and Pune.

The Mitr Clinics provided services including guidance and medication on hormone therapy, counselling on mental health as well as on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, and legal aid, in addition to general medical care, the Reuters report quoted the clinic's website.

Each of them needed up to ₹30 lakh a year to run and employed about eight people. A source told Reuters they were looking for alternate sources of funding, public or private.

Organisers of the clinics, however, have got a waiver from USAID to keep running certain life-saving activities, including providing antiretroviral medication to HIV-infected people, the report added. Up to 10% of all clinic clients are infected by HIV, one of the sources said.

"We did some really good work at Mitr Clinics," said one of the sources, a doctor. “I am proud of what we achieved there.”

A major political controversy erupted last month after Elon Musk-led DOGE cancelled a $21 million USAID fund for “voter turnout” in India. Trump questioned the fund, alleging interference in Indian elections and a “kickback scheme”.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said the information put out by the Trump administration is "concerning" and that the government is looking into it.