Meet the bakery sending care packages to LGBTQ+ customers receiving gender affirming treatment

A few days before Cameron Griffith was scheduled to have top surgery last year, he and his girlfriend stopped inside their favorite Nashville bakery, Guerilla Bizkits. That’s when the owners of the vegan spot pitched Griffith with an idea they’d been thinking about: care packages for their local transgender and gender-nonconforming clientele to help recover from major surgery.

Five miles away from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the punk-hardcore-styled bakery’s two owners said their customers inspired them to fill the gaps in community support following someone’s gender alignment surgery.

Alex Humbrecht said they noticed customers stocking up on the bakery’s frozen take-and-bake products ahead of surgery to ease the burden of cooking afterward. The realization inspired Guerilla Bizkit’s Post-Surgery Program, a free care package initiative for Nashville residents undergoing gender affirmation surgery.

“I know how it feels to not only have your gender affirmed but to have unconditional enthusiastic support from your immediate community, especially when simply existing can feel like an obstacle sometimes,” said Humbrecht, who is nonbinary and originally from outside Philadelphia.

While there are scattered care package and resource initiatives around gender-affirming care, Guerilla Bizkit’s package, which includes half a dozen ready-to-bake biscuits, housemade jam, cold brew, and a custom embroidered hat, appears to be the first of its kind directly from a bakery.

“A lot of people look past the South, assuming that all of the people who live here are regressive and conservative,” said Griffith, 24, Guerilla Bizkit’s first care package recipient. Griffith is also originally from the Philadelphia area and now lives in East Nashville. “But the Nashville queer community is bright, bold, and one to be reckoned with. We know the only people we can rely on are one another, and because of that, community aid and support are very much alive. We take care of each other.”

Across the country, rights and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community remain a polarizing issue. More than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were signed into law this year according to the Human Rights Campaign, centering around topics including bathroom bans, sports participation bans, drag show bans, and overall LGBTQ+ erasure.

On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear President Joe Biden administration’s challenge to a ban on transgender care in Guerilla Bizkit’s home state of Tennessee. The state law — which was enacted last year — bans both hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors and penalizes doctors who violate the restrictions.

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According to the Human Rights Campaign, nearly half of the country’s states have enacted bans on transgender care for minors. Several states also prohibit public funds from being used to provide transgender health care for anyone — including adults who need critical health services — barring them from access through Medicaid.

Advocates like Humbrecht and Guerilla Bizkits co-owner Zach Halfhill say their care packages are an attempt to affirm their local community members and supplement the gaps left behind by the state government.

“As our state government’s legislation against trans and gender nonconforming people grows, the reliance on and need for direct action and community grows too,” Humbrecht said. “Post-surgery care is a void we have the ability — and thus the obligation — to fill.”

Since launching, Guerilla Bizkits has distributed three care packages with a fourth scheduled for July.

Besides the edible treats and the custom swag, the package also includes practical aftercare items like compostable bendy straws — because raising arms can be difficult after surgery — and a box of gloves for post-surgery cleanliness.

“Generally, people coming out of such an invasive surgery are dealing with loss of income due to having to take time off, the vulnerability that comes with needing a short-term caretaker, the isolation that comes with recovery, and mental and physical exhaustion,” Humbrecht said. “However, it is also a very exciting time when someone’s gender is being affirmed physically, which we aim to help the receiver celebrate with a cheeky gift.”

Regarding the gift’s “cheeky” quality, Guerilla Bizkits partnered with fellow local business Ranger Stitch, an embroidery company donating hats with funny sayings to the recipients. Griffith’s said “I got my t — removed at Guerilla Bizkits.” Another recipient’s hat said “Bizkits N’ Bottom Surgery.”

Still, for Griffith, the care package was about more than its contents.

“When [Guerilla Bizkits] posted photos of me with the care package on their Instagram to spread the news of their program, so many other small businesses were commenting, asking if they could contribute as well,” Griffith said. “It shows how one act of kindness can inspire more businesses and community members to join in supporting the LGBTQ+ community in meaningful ways.”