Transgender people are crowdfunding their transitions (Creative Commons)
People on the internet are helping transgender people to fund their transitions via crowdfunding sites.
Trans people on Twitter have been using the #TransCrowdFund hashtag to connect donors with often-desperate trans people who are seeking financial support.
Thousands of trans-related crowdfunders have been set up on sites like GoFundMe, with emotional pleas from people across the world who are out of other options for accessing the treatment they need.
Some are seeking to raise thousands to cover the cost of gender confirmation surgery, while others are asking for a small amount of money to cover the cost of hormones or binders.
Transgender people crowdfunding for “life-changing” healthcare treatments
Lily, a 31-year-old trans woman from the UK, is crowdfunding to cover the cost of top surgery.
She told PinkNews: “Being out in the world, around cis people, can be very distressing, and being a woman-perceived person with an undersized chest makes me feel very anxious and judged and wrong. It has contributed to very public anxiety attacks, screaming tears and self harm, and suicidal ideation. I don’t want that to happen anymore.”
Lily added: “It can be difficult to reach out to lots and lots of people and ask individually. It would be rude! But a crowdfunder lets me explain my needs and reasoning one the campaign page, and then people can make their minds up themselves.”
Some trans people spoke about their unstable financial situations, often caused by still-widespread employment discrimination, which has prevented them getting treatments for years.
Mia, a UK-based trans woman also raising money for gender confirmation surgery, explained: “It’s super hard to get by as a trans person. I acutely remember I had recently started hormone replacement therapy and was out of work at the time, and it seemed like no would hire me.
“So the idea that I would not only need to earn enough to get by, but save tens of thousands of pounds to get gender confirming surgeries seemed insurmountable.
“After three years trying to raise the funds it still feels a little like that if I’m honest. I just stay hopeful that one day it will happen.”
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