Freedom to Be Ourselves: Transhealth's Annual Benefit
Featuring Mercury Stardust!
Saturday, May 16th 2026, 7:30pm at the Northampton Academy of Music.
Join us for Transhealth’s Freedom to Be Ourselves Annual Benefit on Saturday, May 16th at 7:30pm at the Academy of Music in Northampton, MA. Celebrate Transhealth’s 5th birthday and support our mission of protecting and expanding access to gender-affirming care with an unforgettable evening that will illuminate the power of hope, the warmth of joy, and the courage required to live authentically.
There will be a powerful keynote, Transhealth’s first ever Community Impact Awards will be given to four amazing trans leaders from each of the four counties in Western Massachusetts, and the evening will end with a conversation with Mercury Stardust (she/they).
We’ll ask Mercury about her experience being invited into people’s homes and hearts as “The Trans Handy Ma’am” and as an educator, author, performance artist, fundraiser and advocate for trans rights and healthcare. We’ll talk with them about where she finds joy in difficult times, how she uses creativity and craft as tools for health and wellness, why showing up for our communities is so important, and—as someone with an influential platform—what her advice is to anyone wanting to use their own voice to make a difference in the world.
Get your tickets NOW! With your support, we have given away all 100 FREE tickets to our patients and to those who belong to the trans and gender-diverse community— there are no more free tickets available. Please purchase a ticket to attend! All are welcome, including kids.
Meet Mercury Stardust, the Trans Handy Ma'am
Mercury Stardust (she/they) is a Professional Home Maintenance Technician, performer, and award-winning activist. Known widely as the Trans Handy Ma’am, this unique brand of compassionate education in the Home Repair space has earned them internet fame.
With over 2.5 million followers on TikTok and over 750k followers on Instagram, Mercury spreads DIY knowledge with love. Their expertise includes rental maintenance, landlord negotiations, clogs, drywall, painting, minor electrical repairs, caulking, and more.
Our Sponsors
This year’s Freedom to Be Ourselves event is made possible by our incredibly generous sponsors.
Thank you to Nicole Miller, Greenfield Savings Bank, Baystate Medical Center, Ponaman Associates; Triformation Healthcare, UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center, Tapestry Health, Alekman DiTusa, Bulfinch Strategies Group, UMass Five-College Credit Union, HAI Architecture, Lisa Ekus, Lesser Newman Aleo & Nasser, ESG Security, Kapiloff Insurance, Bloom Local, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Plume, Amherst Copy and Design, Common Media, Law Office of Peter Irvine, Strehorn, Ryan, and Hoose Law Firm, Hirsch Roberts and Weinstein LLP, Alert Media, Healthcare Compliance Network, Happy Valley Nutrition, Greater Boston PFLAG, PFLAG Franklin-Hampshire Chapter, Todd’s Scrap, Handiqueers, The UMass Stonewall Center, Family Diversity Projects, GLAD, Massachusetts Trans Political Coalition, Northampton Media Group, and Ooh La La, for your amazing support.
Become a Sponsor
Your support is instrumental to protecting and expanding gender-affirming care for our community. Become a sponsor and support our freedom to live as our true and authentic selves.
Event Sponsors Get Access to:
- 800 in-person audience, largely members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, business and community leaders, and healthcare providers.
- 6000+ reach via social media, email, and community promotion.
- In-person and digital audiences will be a wide age-range of adults, largely from Massachusetts and the greater New England area with a concentration from the four counties in Western Massachusetts.
- We also will respect any sponsor’s wish to be kept anonymous and not be named on any of our promotional materials leading up to or the night of the event.
Accessibility Information:
This event will be wheelchair accessible and mask optional. Accessible seating options and ASL interpretation will both be provided.