The domino effects of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are revealing themselves. An Indian transgender clinic, the first of its kind in Hyderabad, closes due to fund freezing by the U.S. government.
The closure comes in the wake of a 90-day aid freeze on all foreign assistance allocated through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
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In an X post earlier today, Musk wrote “That’s what American tax dollars were funding,” quoted an original tweet by the World of Statistics which said: “India’s first transgender clinic, Mitr Clinic in Hyderabad, shuts down due to USAID fund freeze.”
Just days before, the Trump administration revealed its plans of cutting more than 90% of all USAID foreign aid contracts and nearly $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world.
The Trump administration shared an internal memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, detailing its plans to gut USAID on Wednesday. The memo said officials were “clearing significant waste stemming from decades of institutional drift.”
Reportedly, the cuts detailed by the administration would leave few surviving USAID projects for advocates to try to save in what are ongoing court battles with the administration.
Mitr Clinic, supported by USAID and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), aimed to provide comprehensive healthcare services to the transgender community in India.
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Mitr Clinic functioned as a one-stop center, offering free services such as general health consultations, HIV counselling and screening, treatment of sexually transmitted infections and diseases, mental health support, gender affirmation services, and assistance accessing legal and social protection schemes. Established in 2021, the clinic had opened new facilities in Pune and Thane, following its success in Hyderabad.
The clinic, which is now on the brink of shutting down, reportedly served almost 200 LGBTQ+ individuals every month. In a 2021 survey, at least 17% of a survey group consisting of 500 participants in India said they did not identify as heterosexuals.