Scholarships

Financial Aid

Butch Voices is working hard to provide a quality conference while at the same time, keeping costs for everyone involved as low as possible. That being said, we would like to offer financial aid to those who might otherwise be unable to attend. For those who are truly be suffering from economic hardship, rather than choosing to spend their income on other non-essential goods and services, financial assistance may be available to help make attend the conference more affordable.

*However, please be advised that because of limited resources we reserve this offer of financial assistance exclusively for members of the butch/stud/aggressive community, and will not award financial assistance to allies. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

How will we select financial aid recipients?

We base financial aid on the federal poverty guidelines. We would like to know what your income is, and we will compare that with the 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for a family of four, which is $26,500. We will award financial aid by comparing your income to this standard. If your annual income is more than $26,500, we will not award you financial aid.

Butch Voices recognizes that the Federal Poverty guideline for a family of four ($26.5K) is a highly flawed measure of poverty and would be hard to live on for even a single person in most areas of the United States and elsewhere. Despite its limitations, our use of $26.5K as a cutoff for a single person’s income is designed to make the financial assistance process as egalitarian as possible and to ensure that financial assistance is going to the people who need it most.

We encourage all financial aid applicants to apply for a scholarship which, if awarded would cover the cost of (1) full conference registration. **NOTE: Financial Aid and Scholarships are only for conference registration. Travel and hotel expenses are still the responsibility of the each attendee.

Scholarships

In addition to the financial aid we offer, Butch Voices is also pleased to offer scholarships to provide twelve (12) full conference registrations to historically underrepresented groups in our Butch/Stud/Aggressive Identified and Transmasculine community. We will offer two scholarships to self identified Butch/Stud/Aggressive/Trans people who belong to any of the following groups:

• People of Color (2)

• People with Disabilities (2)

• Transwomen (2)

• People Under 25 (2)

• People Over 50 (2)

• Wild Card (2)

We encourage you to provide financial information. In the event that you are not awarded a scholarship we may also consider your application for financial assistance. **NOTE: Financial Aid and Scholarships are only for conference registration. Travel and hotel expenses are still the responsibility of the each attendee.

A NOTE ON FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE:

Butch Voices is an amazing organization, hoping to put on an amazing conference. And while we are able to offer assistance, our funds are not limitless. We have a set budget for financial assistance (we would be happy to share that with you if you are interested in seeing it).

We ask that everyone contribute at least $25 toward their registration.

We will start making financial aid offers after July 1st. To secure aid, you will need to pay the $25 minimum by July 16th. The remaining balance will be due August 16th. FA appli cations that we receive after July 1 will depend on future fundraising efforts and availability of funding, so please apply early if you feel you will need assistance.

To apply for Financial Assistance or a Scholarship, please fill out the following. Please apply as soon as possible, as we will start making FA offers after July 1st. Your information will be kept private and reviewed by an internal committee.

Application

We are so glad you are applying, and we would love to award a full conference admission to every person that applied. But unfortunately, resources are limited and we cannot. We ask that you answer these few short questions, and then submit a brief statement/presentation (no more than 500 wds/2mins).

Please tell us (The Butch Voices Scholarship Committee) in whatever way works best for you, how will your presence, as an individual, enhance the Butch Voices Conference experience?

We are less interested in why you think you *deserve* to come, because we think everyone deserves to come. We are more interested in what you (meaning you, right there, reading this now) are going to do to make this the best conference it can be.

Now, that doesn’t mean we expect fireworks, or even a workshop idea or something similar. Maybe you are a promoter and will tell all of your friends. Maybe you can juggle. Maybe you sing a rollicking rendition of “A Boy Named Sue.” Maybe you are really shy and you know exactly how to get other shy people to get up and dance. Show us, tell us – LET US KNOW!

Average Monthly Income for self:(This includes all income- employment income, unemployment income, social security, disability pay, alimony, loans, financial aid, support from friends and relatives, etc.). This information will only be reviewed by the three members of the financial assistance committee, and will be destroyed after the conference.

Employment	$	Unemployment	$
Social Security	$	Disability Pay	$
TANF or other gov’t support	$	Alimony	$
Loans/Financial Aid	$	Support from friends/relatives	$
Other:	$	Other:	$
		Total from both columns:	$

Please share any other information that you think is relevant to your FA application (expenses you think we might not consider, alimony, whatever):
Which scholarship are you applying for (if you are applying for more than one, please number rank your choices):

Butch/Stud/Aggressive Identified People of Color		Butch/Stud/Aggressive Identified People with Disabilities
Butch/Stud/Aggressive Identified Transwomen		Butch/Stud/Aggressive Identified People over 50
Butch/Stud/Aggressive Identified People under 25		Wild Card

What is your primary barrier to attending the Butch Voices Conference?

Do you have ideas as to how Butch Voices could better reach out to underrepresented groups (this is not a judged question)?

The statement need not be written, be as creative as you like. If you are unable to write the statement due to a disability, please contact the financial aid committee by sending an email to scholarship@butchvoices.com. We will be happy to discuss alternatives with you. Thank you for your interest in attending the first ever Butch Voices Conference.