New fund aims to support emerging trans, 2-spirit and non-binary musicians

Music Nova Scotia and the Dawn Fund have announced a new joint bursary program for transgender, two-spirit and non-binary musicians at a time when queer artists are facing increasingly discriminatory policies and barriers to their careers.

The Dawn Fund Bursary program is the first of its kind from a music industry association in Canada meant specifically for developing artists who are trans, two-spirit and non-binary. It will provide 100 per cent coverage up to $2,000 toward artist development, including sound recording, video production, marketing and promotion, as well as a possible additional $2,000 for touring and showcasing. The Dawn Fund is providing $4,000 for the program's inaugural year, and Music Nova Scotia is matching the amount.

"We know that the arts define who we are, we know that the arts tell the stories of who our society is and we know that that's what remains of us when we're gone," said Shelley Thompson, the creator of the Dawn Fund. "And so it was really important to us to make sure that we gave bursaries to organizations that were going to create new funding for trans, two-spirit and non-binary musicians so that they could make sure their mark was seen years and years from now."

Thompson — an actor, filmmaker and mom of Halifax-raised, Toronto-based trans musician T. Thomason — started the Dawn Fund after releasing her first feature film, the award-winning Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor, about a young trans woman returning to her rural Nova Scotia community to make peace with her estranged dad after the death of her mom. 

When Dawn won the 2022 Nova Scotia Masterworks Award and its accompanying $25,000 cash prize, Thompson took part of her share of the prize money and created the Dawn Fund to support trans and gender-diverse people.

"I have a son who's a trans man and as I got to know more about the challenges that the community faces, I had to do something," said Thompson. "We're called all the time to do something and especially now, we find it really hard, we just go, 'What can I do? I can't do anything.' And I thought, I'm not willing to go quietly. And so this was the best I could do, really."

Sometimes what gets missed is we also need joy.- Julien Davis

Julien Davis, a clinical social worker and advanced practice lead on gender-affirming care with Nova Scotia Mental Health and Addictions, met Thompson when he was featured in her 2025 docu-series Translations, which explores the lives of trans individuals and their advocates. He was thrilled to join the Dawn Fund's advisory committee this past winter, after it received a significant anonymous donation that allowed it to expand its scope.

"Oftentimes we think about trans and gender-diverse, two-spirit and non-binary folks as needing services almost as a point of, 'How can we help folks around the social determinants of health?' but sometimes what gets missed is we also need joy. And we need to find our stories," Davis said. "In the documentary [Translations], what came out a lot was the power of seeing ourselves represented in music and the arts, in writing. So as we were talking, we were thinking that this [funding] is just as vital as some of the other pieces that we all need in terms of life."

'We see you, and here's funding for you'

In early April, Thomason announced that he was withdrawing from Maine's All Roads Festival because he didn't feel safe going across the border "as a Canadian trans guy," while fellow Canadian songwriter Bells Larsen was forced to cancel his American tour after being told he could no longer apply for a visa "because U.S. Immigration now only recognizes identification that corresponds with one's assigned sex at birth."

"We're seeing more and more hate coming down from the Trump administration and more and more intense and violent rhetoric, and I think in general, there was an urgency [for the fund]," said Thomason, who was recently interviewed by CBC Halifax's afternoon program Mainstreet about the threats he's received since withdrawing from the music festival in Maine. 

Allegra Swanson, executive director of Music Nova Scotia, says the association wanted to send a message to trans, two-spirit and non-binary artists: "We see you, and here's funding for you."

"It's so nice to hear about something being created specifically for this community that's a positive thing," Thomason said. "Anytime you're hearing about this community in the news right now, it's not positive at all. I think it humanizes trans people, where it's like: trans people do a lot of other things other than transitioning and being trans … to help trans people thrive, I think that's quite awesome and quite radical."

In addition to the Music Nova Scotia partnership, the Dawn Fund is also providing funding to the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia and Screen Nova Scotia for similar programming, with the possibility to increase funding if needed. Applications for the Dawn Fund Bursary program are open until June 15, 2025.