Chappell Roan has today (October 23) launched the ‘Midwest Princess Project’ to support trans youth and LGTBQ+ communities.
The new, non-profit initiative – which is a sponsored project of the Catalyst Philanthropy Fund – will focus on supporting organisations that provide resources for trans youth and uplift LGBTQ+ communities. It comes after she told fans last week (October 13) that “bringing queer people joy” is one of the main reasons she still performs live.
It launches today with over $400,000 (£300,000) raised from her ‘Visions Of Damsels & Other Dangerous Things’ pop up shows in the US.
In a statement about the project, Roan said: “I am so excited to announce The Midwest Princess Project! These funds will be donated to incredible organisations making a positive impact for trans youth in their communities.”
A further statement about the project said: “At the centre of everything Chappell Roan does is her quest to bring queer joy to the world and give back to the community of fans who have lifted her up and inspired her along the way.
“With that, today she announces the launch of the The Midwest Princess Project, a new non-profit initiative led by Chappell Roan, that will support organisations that provide resources for trans youth and uplift LGBTQ+ communities through action, care and connection.”
It went on to say that $1 (£0.75) from every show from her 8-date run in new York, LA and Kansas will be donated to support organisations that include the Ali Forney Center and The LGBT Center in New York, Trans Wellness Center and TransLatin@ Coalition in Los Angeles, and The GLO Center and The Center Project in Missouri, who provide resources for trans youth.
Roan has additionally partnered with Propeller and eBay to bring bespoke activations in and around her shows that “helped to raise money, in addition to donations contributed from industry, friends and show guests, to go towards The Midwest Princess Project’s efforts,” a statement said.
It continued: “From her earliest days on the road, Roan has been a fierce advocate for grass roots change and has encouraged fans to visit tables set up at her shows to learn more about mental health resources, LGBTQ+ access and rights, voter registration and community involvement in local and global aid.”
It’s not the first time Roan has supported others. Earlier this year, the former NME Cover star won her first Grammy at this year’s ceremony. While collecting the award for Best New Artist, she called out the music industry and “demanded that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and health care, especially developing artists.”
Roan later pledged $25,000 (£19,000) of her own money to donations aiding struggling musicians – other acts like Noah Kahan and Charli XCX have since matched her donations.
Additionally at the Grammys, Roan also spoke out in support of trans women at the 2025. “It’s brutal right now, but trans people have always existed, and they will forever exist,” she said while on the red carpet. “And they will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away, and that has to be protected more than anything because I would not be here without trans girls.”
Following the conclusion of her recent pop-up tour, Roan will return to the studio to resume work on her highly anticipated follow-up to ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’. Back in March, Roan said that she was “so beyond far away from” her second album, adding that she “could not even tell you” when it would come out.
She followed up her debut album in 2024 with the hit song ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, and later with the “full ass country song” ‘The Giver’. Her latest standalone track arrived in August in the form of the highly anticipated single ‘The Subway’.
The US run of shows also follows a huge summer of headline shows at festivals across the globe – one of which was a headline slot at this year’s Reading & Leeds, which was given a glowing five-star review by NME.
“Throughout the performance, there’s a feeling of camaraderie and community in the crowd,” it read. “Strangers become new acquaintances, the ‘Hot To Go’ dance unites everyone in clumsily trying to remember the moves and in the right order, and before ‘Red Wine Supernova’, everyone raises pink cowboy hats and pink bandanas aloft. It feels like tens of thousands of like-minded people who’ve all got the same memo and have been brought together with the same intentions.”