Donnie's Top Surgery
Donation protected
Update: 12/15/16
I do not anticipate to receive $11,000. The total was updated to reflect the total that would be need to be raised in order to pay for Top Surgery with Dr. Beverly A. Fischer on January 31st, 2017 in Maryland, 2 round trip tickets (Greyhound there, Amtrak back), and hotel accomodations for a week, as well as the percentage that GoFundMe takes as a fee for using their platform. I am eternally grateful for the out-pouring of support I've received, and Rebecca and I are working hard to procure the remaining funds to make this surgery scheduled for next month a reality. Please see below for more information, and thank you for your love and compassion.
MY STORY:
My name is Donnie Cianciotto and I am an actor and performer who also happens to be a transgender man living in New York City.
I have been fighting for chest reconstruction surgery (top surgery) for over two years now, and with every step forward it's been two steps back. I was denied by my insurance company in Arizona 3 times, and was recently denied by Medicaid in NY, a state required to cover this type of life saving surgery, and a previous fundraising attempt - though very rich in emotional support - unfortunately came nowhere close to the cost of the procedure.
With the outcome of the 2016 election, my fiancee and I decided to get married. We are absolutely terrified that Trump and the administration he is building will roll back the clock on LGBTQ rights, and as a result of us getting married before he takes power I am no longer eligible for Medicaid despite our financial situation not changing at all. Though I will be able to eventually get on my wife's health insurance, we do not yet know if it will cover transgender related healthcare and, like many other LGBTQ people in the USA, are afraid for not just our rights, but our lives.
It is because of these recent events, and also a transphobic verbal and physical assault I suffered on the NYC subway in early December, that I come to you now humbly asking for your help. I'm scared, and I cannot do this alone. I fight every day with gender dysphoria that is so bad that I don't want to leave my house, with severe anxiety and depression, constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is going to hurt me, and this very real fear just came true. The amount of pain is becomming staggering - both emotional pain, and physical pain from wearing a binder (chest compression device) that hurts my back, my ribs, and makes it hard to even breathe. I am dealing with PTSD from the attack, which is making everything even worse.
I have taken every chance I have been given to speak out about my experiences as a transgender man. I have done panels like #IdentityWeek with Playbill, Samuel French, and Howl Round. I was the subject of an Emmy Award winning documentary short movie called "Donnie." I performed in "Broadway Voices for North Carolina" to fight against the hateful "bathroom bill" HB2. I was, to my knowledge, the first transgender man to play a transgender man off-Broadway in "Southern Comfort" at The Public Theater. Rebecca and I had a documentary reporter from McClatchy newspapers film our wedding, and the story will be released online in mid January. And the day after the election, an article came out in the Arizona Daily Star about transgender health care featuring my picture and my story and I am too afraid of the comment section to read it. (You can do so here: http://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-building-reputation-as-a-good-place-for-transgender-patients/article_a77637d8-fef6-5e2f-b0fc-4b6b340072cf.html)
I have always tried to give back to the community, to raise awareness, and to educate and entertain. I have a loving wife and a wonderfully supportive family, but without this surgery I am functioning at 10%. I need this to be the best version of Donnie that I can be - productive, happy, healthy. I need this even to continue pursuing my chosen career in the arts. I need this to feel safe walking around in Trump's America. If you can help, even the slightest bit, me and my loved ones would be forever in your debt.
The cost of this procedure is $8650 - I am planning on seeing Dr. Beverly A. Fischer in Maryland. After the cost of travel for 2 (Greyhound there, Amtrak back) and hotel accomodations for 1 week, the total cost is close to $10,000. With the precentage that GoFundMe takes, I would need to raise $11,000.
Because I decided to be an actor and not a doctor or a lawyer, that goal has always been desperately out of my reach, no matter how hard I worked. We are at a critical time as a country, and I'm hoping to have this surgery as soon as I possibly can. I need to feel safe, and I need a future.
If more money than is needed is raised, I will very publicly donate all funds raised to an LGBT charity to combat the hateful legislation we can all anticipate from Trump/Pence.
I never wanted it to come to this, but if you can help, you will literally be helping to save my life. The future is unknown and scary, but I want to be here for it. Please help me be able to continue fighting the fight. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
I do not anticipate to receive $11,000. The total was updated to reflect the total that would be need to be raised in order to pay for Top Surgery with Dr. Beverly A. Fischer on January 31st, 2017 in Maryland, 2 round trip tickets (Greyhound there, Amtrak back), and hotel accomodations for a week, as well as the percentage that GoFundMe takes as a fee for using their platform. I am eternally grateful for the out-pouring of support I've received, and Rebecca and I are working hard to procure the remaining funds to make this surgery scheduled for next month a reality. Please see below for more information, and thank you for your love and compassion.
MY STORY:
My name is Donnie Cianciotto and I am an actor and performer who also happens to be a transgender man living in New York City.
I have been fighting for chest reconstruction surgery (top surgery) for over two years now, and with every step forward it's been two steps back. I was denied by my insurance company in Arizona 3 times, and was recently denied by Medicaid in NY, a state required to cover this type of life saving surgery, and a previous fundraising attempt - though very rich in emotional support - unfortunately came nowhere close to the cost of the procedure.
With the outcome of the 2016 election, my fiancee and I decided to get married. We are absolutely terrified that Trump and the administration he is building will roll back the clock on LGBTQ rights, and as a result of us getting married before he takes power I am no longer eligible for Medicaid despite our financial situation not changing at all. Though I will be able to eventually get on my wife's health insurance, we do not yet know if it will cover transgender related healthcare and, like many other LGBTQ people in the USA, are afraid for not just our rights, but our lives.
It is because of these recent events, and also a transphobic verbal and physical assault I suffered on the NYC subway in early December, that I come to you now humbly asking for your help. I'm scared, and I cannot do this alone. I fight every day with gender dysphoria that is so bad that I don't want to leave my house, with severe anxiety and depression, constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure no one is going to hurt me, and this very real fear just came true. The amount of pain is becomming staggering - both emotional pain, and physical pain from wearing a binder (chest compression device) that hurts my back, my ribs, and makes it hard to even breathe. I am dealing with PTSD from the attack, which is making everything even worse.
I have taken every chance I have been given to speak out about my experiences as a transgender man. I have done panels like #IdentityWeek with Playbill, Samuel French, and Howl Round. I was the subject of an Emmy Award winning documentary short movie called "Donnie." I performed in "Broadway Voices for North Carolina" to fight against the hateful "bathroom bill" HB2. I was, to my knowledge, the first transgender man to play a transgender man off-Broadway in "Southern Comfort" at The Public Theater. Rebecca and I had a documentary reporter from McClatchy newspapers film our wedding, and the story will be released online in mid January. And the day after the election, an article came out in the Arizona Daily Star about transgender health care featuring my picture and my story and I am too afraid of the comment section to read it. (You can do so here: http://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-building-reputation-as-a-good-place-for-transgender-patients/article_a77637d8-fef6-5e2f-b0fc-4b6b340072cf.html)
I have always tried to give back to the community, to raise awareness, and to educate and entertain. I have a loving wife and a wonderfully supportive family, but without this surgery I am functioning at 10%. I need this to be the best version of Donnie that I can be - productive, happy, healthy. I need this even to continue pursuing my chosen career in the arts. I need this to feel safe walking around in Trump's America. If you can help, even the slightest bit, me and my loved ones would be forever in your debt.
The cost of this procedure is $8650 - I am planning on seeing Dr. Beverly A. Fischer in Maryland. After the cost of travel for 2 (Greyhound there, Amtrak back) and hotel accomodations for 1 week, the total cost is close to $10,000. With the precentage that GoFundMe takes, I would need to raise $11,000.
Because I decided to be an actor and not a doctor or a lawyer, that goal has always been desperately out of my reach, no matter how hard I worked. We are at a critical time as a country, and I'm hoping to have this surgery as soon as I possibly can. I need to feel safe, and I need a future.
If more money than is needed is raised, I will very publicly donate all funds raised to an LGBT charity to combat the hateful legislation we can all anticipate from Trump/Pence.
I never wanted it to come to this, but if you can help, you will literally be helping to save my life. The future is unknown and scary, but I want to be here for it. Please help me be able to continue fighting the fight. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Organizer
Donnie Cianciotto
Organizer
New York, NY
