As Andrea Martin, author of the spontaneous memoir Lady Parts, once said, “It's really important to me to keep growing and keep finding new things,” which is exactly what I am doing. I have been on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) for the last two-ish years of my life but have been practically feminine ever since I can remember. Throughout late elementary and most of middle school, I would spend nights fantasizing in bed about what life would be like if I was born a girl, some nights pleading to God for a chance to spend just a single day as one and if I liked it enough I could stay that way forever. There I was, captain of the JV cheer team, standing up to the bullies who were picking on kids for being gay and liking anime (a projection of my then-current self). I also imagined the straight boys that I secretly had crushes on actually liking me back because I was this beautiful girl with hair as curly as my mom's. Even in Pre-K, before my nightly femme-filled, fanciful desiring became a habit, I would wear princess dresses during playtime and reenact Snow White’s fateful slumber with a leftover apple from lunchtime. While in High School when I was pulled aside by the administration after being nominated for Homecoming Queen and asked "do you think that you are a trans woman?" I replied, “I am a person who just so happens to look fabulous in dresses.” But through all of my Adolescent Shakespearean Drag Shows and Pubescent Yearning of Womanhood, I never rationalized that I am Woman. I was just a kid having fun. Now, after gaining access to the proper language and safe spaces to explore and express myself in, I know that I am Woman.

I was recently given the beautiful news that my insurance will cover a fair majority of most of the affirming procedures I have only ever dreamed about having. Covering from electrolysis all the way to the surgery. However, these procedures are not going to be fully covered and will still carry a hefty price tag, which is why I am creating this GoFundMe in tandem with meticulous budgeting and saving. This fundraiser will be used to fund what insurance can not cover and to also support me through my eight-week, bedbound recovery.

I am excited for what this next chapter brings and to share it with the world around me. For any and all support, be it monetary or emotional support, I thank you. Thank you for giving a gal like me a chance and for helping make the world a more loving and inclusive space.

 

With much love and appreciation,

Allie Faulkner (They/She)