Months after being forced to shut down due to a funding freeze by USAID, India’s first transgender-led healthcare facility has made a comeback with a new identity and renewed support. Now known as Sabrang Clinic, the Hyderabad-based centre resumed operations in May 2025 with financial backing from Tata Trusts, The Hindu reported.
Previously called Mitr Clinic, the community-run facility originally opened in 2021 and was the first clinic in India to be entirely staffed and managed by members of the transgender community. The team includes a medical officer, a nurse, a counsellor, and two outreach workers. It offers general health services, HIV/STI treatment, hormone therapy guidance, mental health support, and consultations related to gender affirmation.
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The clinic served over 3,000 patients before closing in January 2025 following the USAID withdrawal. Despite the shutdown, the team continued providing virtual consultations and medicine delivery services while seeking new funding. The Tata Trusts stepped in this April, committing support for three years, enabling the clinic’s full reopening in May.
Subash Ghosh, project lead, said the new name, Sabrang (meaning “all colours”), reflects an expanded mission. “We are now reaching beyond the transgender community to include all marginalised, queer, and gender-diverse individuals who face healthcare barriers,” he told The Hindu.
Although the Telangana government launched Maitri Clinics across the state, inspired by Mitr’s model, the Sabrang team opted for an independent revival to quickly restore their trusted network and community outreach systems.
