Nina Chaubal (born 1992) is the co-founder and former Director of Operations at Trans Lifeline, [1] [2] the first transgender suicide hotline to exist in the United States [3] [4] [5] and Canada. [6] [7] As a leading LGBTQ+ activist and trans woman, [8] when Chaubal was held in immigration detention, the story made national headlines in publications such as The New York Times [9] and Chicagoist. [8] In 2019, Chaubal was the subject of the first episode of America in Transition, a documentary about transgender people of color. [10]
Chaubal grew up in Mumbai, India. [1] At 13 years old, she discovered the word 'transgender' and realized it described her. She found connection with other trans people through the internet. [1]
In 2009, Chaubal immigrated alone to the United States on a student visa to attend college [11] at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. [12] She undertook an internship at Riverbed Technology in 2011 as a quality assurance software engineer. In 2012, she interned at Google in a similar capacity. Also in 2012, she worked as a programmer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. [12] In 2013, she came out as trans. As her family was not supportive of her transness, the familial relationship was fractured. [1]
Chaubal earned her H1B, a visa for foreign workers employed in the U.S. in order to work at Google as a software engineer, a position she accepted in January 2013. [13] In 2014, Chaubal co-founded the 501(c)(3) Trans Lifeline with Greta Martela. [1] The organization was the first transgender suicide hotline to exist in the United States [3] [4] [5] and Canada. [6] [7] The cause was close to the pair, as Chaubal had struggled with suicidal thoughts and Martela had been hospitalized for being suicidal. [1]
Chaubal remained in her post as a Google engineer through April 2015. [14] The same month, she took the post of Director of Operations at Trans Lifeline. In February 2015, Chaubal attended the National Conference on LGBT Equality, overseeing a Trans Lifeline booth there. [15] In June of the same year, Chaubal was the subject of one of Miley Cyrus's Happy Hippie Presents #InstaPride Portraits Campaign. [16] [17] In the photos, Chaubal appears with her wife and Trans Lifeline co-founder Greta Martela, as well as Cyrus. [18] On August 30, 2015, Chaubal was among the Happy Hippie Foundation representatives to speak onstage and introduce Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards. [19] [20]
On Nov. 20, 2015, Chaubal and Trans Lifeline launched the Canadian branch of their operations. [7]
On Feb. 22, 2016, Chaubal appeared on KGNU 88.5 FM to discuss the continued need for trans crisis support. [21] In April 2016, Chaubal appeared on the panel "Suicidality Among Transgender Populations: New Directions in Understanding and Treatment" at the American Association of Suicidology Conference. [22]
In January 2018, Trans Lifeline's Board of Directors dismissed Chaubal and Martela, after an internal audit discovered that they had misdirected over $350,000 of the organization's funds. Chaubal subsequently took a post at Hustle as a software engineer, then transitioned to work at Even.com in the same capacity.[ citation needed]
In 2019, Chaubal was the subject of "Where Is My Refuge?", the first episode of America in Transition, a documentary about transgender people of color. [10] Also in 2019, Chaubal began organizing an intentional living community, art space, and small business incubator in the Mojave Desert. [23]
On Dec. 28, 2016, while driving from California to her home in Chicago through a checkpoint in Wellton, Arizona, Chaubal was stopped and detained by ICE agents, who asked for her passport. She produced a photo of it, which is when they saw that she was designated as male on it, contrasting with her gender expression in-person. They also noted that she was in the country on an expired work visa, although she was legally married to a U.S. citizen, Martela. She was then transported to a holding facility in Arizona, eventuating in her admission to Eloy Detention Center, [8] which has a reputation for violence against LGBTQ+ detainees. [24] [25] She was released Jan. 2, 2017 after posting $4,500 bond, which she was able to do with the help of an online crowdfunding campaign. [13]
In January 2018, a Trans Lifeline internal review involving independent legal and financial professionals revealed that Chaubal and Martela had made $353,703 of unauthorized purchases for personal benefit and side projects. The Board of Directors immediately removed the co-founders from the organization and began seeking mediation. [26] [27] [28] Chaubal and Martela were able to repay $8,585, and in June 2018, agreed to repay the remaining amount over the next ten years, in lieu of lawsuit or other recovery attempts. [28]
Chaubal married Greta Martela in 2015. [11]
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Nina Chaubal (born 1992) is the co-founder and former Director of Operations at Trans Lifeline, [1] [2] the first transgender suicide hotline to exist in the United States [3] [4] [5] and Canada. [6] [7] As a leading LGBTQ+ activist and trans woman, [8] when Chaubal was held in immigration detention, the story made national headlines in publications such as The New York Times [9] and Chicagoist. [8] In 2019, Chaubal was the subject of the first episode of America in Transition, a documentary about transgender people of color. [10]
Chaubal grew up in Mumbai, India. [1] At 13 years old, she discovered the word 'transgender' and realized it described her. She found connection with other trans people through the internet. [1]
In 2009, Chaubal immigrated alone to the United States on a student visa to attend college [11] at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. [12] She undertook an internship at Riverbed Technology in 2011 as a quality assurance software engineer. In 2012, she interned at Google in a similar capacity. Also in 2012, she worked as a programmer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. [12] In 2013, she came out as trans. As her family was not supportive of her transness, the familial relationship was fractured. [1]
Chaubal earned her H1B, a visa for foreign workers employed in the U.S. in order to work at Google as a software engineer, a position she accepted in January 2013. [13] In 2014, Chaubal co-founded the 501(c)(3) Trans Lifeline with Greta Martela. [1] The organization was the first transgender suicide hotline to exist in the United States [3] [4] [5] and Canada. [6] [7] The cause was close to the pair, as Chaubal had struggled with suicidal thoughts and Martela had been hospitalized for being suicidal. [1]
Chaubal remained in her post as a Google engineer through April 2015. [14] The same month, she took the post of Director of Operations at Trans Lifeline. In February 2015, Chaubal attended the National Conference on LGBT Equality, overseeing a Trans Lifeline booth there. [15] In June of the same year, Chaubal was the subject of one of Miley Cyrus's Happy Hippie Presents #InstaPride Portraits Campaign. [16] [17] In the photos, Chaubal appears with her wife and Trans Lifeline co-founder Greta Martela, as well as Cyrus. [18] On August 30, 2015, Chaubal was among the Happy Hippie Foundation representatives to speak onstage and introduce Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards. [19] [20]
On Nov. 20, 2015, Chaubal and Trans Lifeline launched the Canadian branch of their operations. [7]
On Feb. 22, 2016, Chaubal appeared on KGNU 88.5 FM to discuss the continued need for trans crisis support. [21] In April 2016, Chaubal appeared on the panel "Suicidality Among Transgender Populations: New Directions in Understanding and Treatment" at the American Association of Suicidology Conference. [22]
In January 2018, Trans Lifeline's Board of Directors dismissed Chaubal and Martela, after an internal audit discovered that they had misdirected over $350,000 of the organization's funds. Chaubal subsequently took a post at Hustle as a software engineer, then transitioned to work at Even.com in the same capacity.[ citation needed]
In 2019, Chaubal was the subject of "Where Is My Refuge?", the first episode of America in Transition, a documentary about transgender people of color. [10] Also in 2019, Chaubal began organizing an intentional living community, art space, and small business incubator in the Mojave Desert. [23]
On Dec. 28, 2016, while driving from California to her home in Chicago through a checkpoint in Wellton, Arizona, Chaubal was stopped and detained by ICE agents, who asked for her passport. She produced a photo of it, which is when they saw that she was designated as male on it, contrasting with her gender expression in-person. They also noted that she was in the country on an expired work visa, although she was legally married to a U.S. citizen, Martela. She was then transported to a holding facility in Arizona, eventuating in her admission to Eloy Detention Center, [8] which has a reputation for violence against LGBTQ+ detainees. [24] [25] She was released Jan. 2, 2017 after posting $4,500 bond, which she was able to do with the help of an online crowdfunding campaign. [13]
In January 2018, a Trans Lifeline internal review involving independent legal and financial professionals revealed that Chaubal and Martela had made $353,703 of unauthorized purchases for personal benefit and side projects. The Board of Directors immediately removed the co-founders from the organization and began seeking mediation. [26] [27] [28] Chaubal and Martela were able to repay $8,585, and in June 2018, agreed to repay the remaining amount over the next ten years, in lieu of lawsuit or other recovery attempts. [28]
Chaubal married Greta Martela in 2015. [11]
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)