Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is backing a new initiative that provides LGBTQ “queer and trans” migrants with vouchers worth up to $500 for services like haircuts, massages, and wellness activities—even as the city faces a budget shortfall nearing $50 million.
The program, described as “wellness allowances,” is being distributed through the nonprofit OUTnewcomers with support from the office of the Boston Mayor for Immigrant Advancement, the organization announced Wednesday, the New York Posts reports.
Boston is providing $250 to $500 wellness vouchers to certain low-income LGBTQ+ migrants for services like fitness, meditation, and other non-clinical care through a nonprofit partnership. The program, backed by Mayor Michelle Wu, is drawing criticism because it comes amid a… pic.twitter.com/KVQL2H63lD
— Hot Takes Nobody Asked For (@HotTakesNobody) April 16, 2026
According to promotional materials, “We’re offering $250–$500 wellness allowances for LGBTQ+ migrants in Boston, Massachusetts to support their mental health and well-being through non-clinical care including yoga, meditation, creative healing, peer support, hair salon/ acupuncture & massages appointments and gym memberships etc.”
The initiative being promoted by Boston Mayor Wu, called “Belonging Matters,” is framed by organizers as a response to the challenges many migrants face. “Project: ‘Belonging Matters’ is our way of saying: you deserve rest, healing, and community. Many LGBTQ+ migrants carry trauma, isolation, and survival on their shoulders often without access to care,” the group stated.
Vouchers from the initiative from supported by the Boston Mayor range between $250 and $500 and must be used within the city. Priority is being given to “low-income, isolated queer and trans migrant, asylum seekers and refugees,” according to the nonprofit.
The up to $500 vouchers for haircuts and spa visits program has drawn criticism online, with some questioning the use of public funds. “WTF. Democrat Boston Mayor Michelle Wu launched a program that gives $250-500 vouchers to ‘LGBTQ+ Migrants’ so they can get free yoga classes, salon visits, massages, gym memberships, and MORE. All funded with YOUR tax dollars,” one user wrote on X.
Another added, “And you thought they were just gonna waste all that money you sent them today.”
GENDER GOBLINS OF THE WORLD UNITE: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu funds new program giving ‘queer and trans’ migrants up to $500 for massages, yoga classes and creative healing; city running $50 million deficit [nypost] https://t.co/azTA7T25bO
— 5NYC.com (@5NYCCOM) April 16, 2026
Boston officials have not clarified how much taxpayer money is allocated to the initiative, which is currently accepting applications. The rollout comes as Boston contends with a $48.4 million deficit, while Wu has proposed a $4.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2027.
OUTnewcomers was founded by Sal Khan, described on the group’s Facebook page as a “queer activist” and drag performer who serves as its executive director, the Daily Mail reports.
The 33-year-old, who performs under the drag name Miss Chilly Masala, has also referred to himself as an “angry brown queer” on Instagram. In September 2022, Khan launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking financial support to address his “legal challenges,” according to the fundraiser.
Khan said he moved to the United States from Pakistan in 2019 “seeking freedom and safety in Massachusetts.” Once here, he said he has “built a life for myself by volunteering with local organizations that advocate for homeless women, LGTBQ+ rights, and immigrant justice.”
He told the court he ran into trouble on May 7, 2024. That night, he said he “experienced a major relapse” and was arrested after allegedly “resisting arrest and trespassing” on an MBTA bus. He was later booked into an ICE detention facility, he added.
“Unfortunately, instead of receiving medical help, I was detained for the night at the MBTA transit police station and later on transferred to an I.C.E detention center in Plymouth, Massachusetts for 57 days where I faced further discrimination, mistreatment and dehumanization,” Khan wrote.
While detained at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, he said he was “sent to solitary confinement twice for non-violently advocating for better accommodation, medical care and unrestricted access of communication with my family, friends and lawyer on phones.”
The fundraiser was created to help cover legal expenses so he could “fight this case,” Khan added.
The rollout of the program comes amid other recent controversies involving Boston Mayor Wu, including criticism for skipping a longstanding St. Patrick’s Day breakfast in South Boston—held at the Ironworkers Local 7 Union Hall—just weeks after attending a Ramadan Night Market. The annual breakfast, which Wu attended the previous year, typically features politicians from across Massachusetts trading jokes, songs, and lighthearted barbs.
