By Antonia Rainey | WeINSPIRE Journalist

AUSTIN, Texas — A lot is going on in Cosmo McBurney’s room. 

Sticky notes, items, and people are everywhere. On one end is Cosmo’s friend, Kai, sitting amongst a pile of binders and flags, organizing them neatly into packages. The other end is Jon, Cosmo’s dad and tech enthusiast at the computer developing the site they’ll soon operate from. In the center, right there, is Cosmo, who goes back and forth between them, directing both with what they need to do. The site, binders, and flags are everything required for TRANSactionFree, the 17-year-old’s very own unofficial non-profit dedicated to providing necessities to support LGBTQ+ youth in their transition.

The idea all started when Cosmo was 15 years old. One day on Instagram, Cosmo had seen their friend, who was trans, win a binder from an Instagram giveaway posting. Of course, Cosmo was happy for him, as not only was he in an accepting household but also got something which was in high demand—something Cosmo could tell just based on how many comments they’ve scrolled through on the giveaway post.

“I thought that was really cool for him and stuff because I knew that he was in a supportive household,” Cosmo recalled, “ then I saw that there were 1000s of people on that one giveaway for just like one binder.”

The number of people wanting a binder stuck with Cosmo. At the time, Cosmo lived in a strict religious household and didn’t feel comfortable coming out as nonbinary, something they knew some trans and nonbinary people their age similarly faced. Curious, Cosmo started researching binders and was surprised to find health concerns in misusing them and how expensive it was to get a safe, high-quality one—which usually ranges anywhere between $25 to $85.

"And I just I didn't realize that before and so, I wanted to be able to do something like that where I can give binders to people who need them… or for people who don't have the money or don’t have the support and other people to buy it for them,” Cosmo said.

A chest binder is a clothing item used to reduce the appearance of one’s chest in order as part of a gender-affirming practice. However, as transyouthequality.org states, there is no “one-size-fits-all” method as some trans, and nonbinary people have different comfort levels with their body ranging from binding all the time or rarely at all. According to research done by the Trevor Project in July 2021, 26% of LGBTQ+ youth identify as transgender. Likewise, The Williams Institution at the University of California in Los Angeles in 2017 report shows 0.7% of youth identify as transgender in the U.S. 

Contrary to Hollywood’s portrayal, using adhesives or duct tapes as binding material is not recommended as it can cause health problems. Instead, it is recommended to use binders within certain guidelines such as not wearing them more than 8 hours a day, not sleeping in them, and wearing the correct sizing.

In around March 2019, Cosmo decided to bring their idea first to their father, who suggested setting up a site for the non-profit. Cosmo’s friend, Kai, also helps—running a discord to get the word out and cultivate a welcoming community. A typical day for running the non-profit for Cosmo usually happens after-school and on the weekends, consisting of going through the request forms, contacting and finalizing a list of people who request items, and preparing packages for shipment with Kai’s help.

Most of the binders brought via donations and sales from their store come from GC2B, a trans-owned company that sells high-quality binders for trans people. Safety is the number one priority for the organization as Cosmo and Kai make sure to openly communicate with people they plan to ship binders to, especially if they are in an environment where it is not safe to come out as their gender identity. In those cases, Cosmo and Kai use discreet shipping methods.

“As like, with people who are not out… we can also see like ‘is there a friend that we can ship this to’ or like, ‘do you want us to put down your dead name’ or something like that and just kind of like planning,” Cosmo explained. “Plus, we get tracking on all of our shipping, so we're able to tell them about when it'll be there so they can keep looking out for that. So we have a few different ways to try to kind of make sure that they're staying safe the entire time because that's really important.”

Additionally, the two have been toying around with different shipping methods, either putting binders in stuffed animals or writing down their shipping name as a fake business, for example. Currently, they ship nationally but are working on shipping outside the U.S.

Furthermore, Cosmo has had the opportunity to get the word out about their unofficial non-profit, from doing a one-hour-long presentation at their school to growing a community online via their social media accounts. Speaking about TRANSactionFree and getting support from others, whether it’s in-person or online through encouraging comments on Instagram or getting ideas on Discord, further goes in hand with what Cosmo loves most about building this non-profit: seeing how it positively impacts others and creates a safe community for trans and nonbinary kids like them.

“It's just seeing that I somehow made this thing and I can see that, you know, people are making friends through it, and people are finding support and connection through it, and people are getting inspired, and they're feeling safer in themselves … I think that's really cool,” Cosmo admired.

As of current, TRANSactionFree is run by Cosmo, their dad, and their friend Kai, though Cosmo is open to expanding operations in the future by getting more help and providing more necessities to ship it for free. Moreover, Cosmo wants to raise money to make TRANSactionFree an official 501 C nonprofit.

More information about TRANSactionFree and Cosmo can be found via their Instagram or on their TikTok. To get in contact for a binder or flag, please contact them by email at transactionfree@gmail.com or fill out the request form on their website. If you would like to contribute to the non-profit, please donate to their PayPal or support them by purchasing items from their shop.

Featured Image via TRANSactionFree website.