By H.L. Comeriato

When a transgender person enters the front doors of Margie’s Closet in Cleveland, Monika Veliz is there to welcome them home.

“I like to say that first thing,” she said, waving a manicured hand toward a rack of coats and dresses. “People should know that they’re really safe here and that they’re with people who care about them.”

For many LGBTQ+ people, dressing in a way that makes them feel like themselves is often the first of many steps toward living a more authentic life. For transgender people in particular, choosing and wearing clothing outside the constraints of assigned gender norms can be a deeply emotional process — and can even come at a personal or professional cost.

“Margie’s Closet is a safe, affirming space for trans, non-binary and gender expansive people to come and shop for affordable clothing,” Veliz said. “It’s hard to explain, but the clothing is just one aspect.”

Now all the safety that Margie’s Closet provides is suddenly in danger.

Unable to afford rising rent costs, Veliz — who runs both Margie’s Closet and its parent organization, Margie’s Hope — said the small non-profit will need to rake in thousands of dollars in donations to secure a new physical location once the current lease expires.

“Really, [Margie’s Closet] is the beginnings of a community center, and now this space is in danger,” she said. “If the community doesn’t step in, we just won’t be here.”

‘The most magical part of our story’

Since the program was founded, Margie’s Closet has operated solely on donations.

Every week, Veliz spends up to 55 hours welcoming shoppers at the front door of the retail space at 1384 W. 117th St. Then, she crafts a personal shopping experience that is often life-changing, particularly for newly out trans and gender expansive people.

Among the racks of vintage clothing and carefully arranged jewelry lies an experience that cannot be bought or sold.

“I see dysphoria melt into euphoria,” said Veliz, who is transgender herself. 

“Over the last few years, I have cried so much in that store with other people,” she said. “People who are just happy when they put on a binder and look into a mirror and see what they’ve been feeling. It instantly changes their lives.”

“There has never been a place like this — ever,” she added. “Not in my lifetime.”

Day after day, Veliz welcomed trans people and their support systems. Over time, she noticed a larger network of support growing among shoppers.

“Trans folks would come in and they would spend all day in the store talking, exchanging resources, making new friends,” she said. “It became about so much more than the clothes.”

Often, shoppers discovered they lived within blocks of one another.

“It’s unbelievable that people live in such close proximity to each other and they can often feel like they’re going through transition or trying to figure out this big gender question all by themselves,” Veliz said. 

“It just took this place for them to converge and to discover one another,” she added. “That is magical — and that will continue to be the most magical part of our story.”

‘Beg, borrow and steal’

Until the lease expires in March, an attorney advised Veliz to “beg, borrow and steal” in order to make rent payments, which have more than doubled.

Veliz is running a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $21,000. As of Jan. 1, it had raised just over $9,000. Veliz said the amount is intended to cover rent until the lease expires, along with the fees and deposits necessary to secure a new location.

The store also accepts donations through PayPal and in person. Veliz mentioned that Margie’s Closet has the same day-to-day expenses of any retail business, like receipt paper and hangers.

Broadway actor and performer Aidan Wharton is also helping raise additional funding for relocation and future rent stability as part of an ongoing fundraising effort he calls The Queer Non-profit Project.

‘It’s our job to save it’

Veliz — who was named a top local clothing designer by Cleveland Scene Magazine — never planned on becoming acting president of a nonprofit organization. 

She began her transition as a high school student and has lived for nearly 30 years in Northeast Ohio as an out, Black, transgender woman. From her own lived experience, Veliz knew her presence alone held real power — power she could use to help other trans people survive and succeed.

Once, while Veliz sat behind a desk near the front doors of Margie’s Closet, a person with a long beard and tattooed arms entered the glass foyer.

“I realized this is a trans woman,” Veliz said. “I ask her right away, ‘What are your pronouns?’ And despite what she looked like, she said, ‘Well, I would like to be called she/her. I don’t live that yet, but I would like to be called she/her today.’”

Around a year later, the shopper returned.

“She comes back in and she is on [hormone replacement therapy],” Veliz said. “She just gives me a hug and thanks me.”

“That was an eye opener for me of what this space is,” Veliz explained. “This space is transformative. It is essential to propelling trans people further into their transition, becoming who they were meant to be. This space is just as essential as gender-affirming medicine.”

“There is no other safe space like this specifically for trans and non-binary people. So as a community with power, it’s our job to save it.”