Crisis Support for Taiwanese Trans Man Abroad

7/31 UPDATE: After being attacked in an attempted mugging and a break-in incident for which Bob's landlords blame him for, Bob must now find a new place to live. Please see my July 31st update for full details. I will update the expense breakdown for this GoFundMe once I have a better sense of how much temporary housing, moving costs, and the new rent amount is.

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Hi everyone,

My name is Daniel and I am helping my Taiwanese friend Bob (pseudonym) organize this GoFundMe because he is currently going through both a mental health and financial crisis while abroad in Australia. Bob is currently struggling with severe mental health issues (depression, anxiety, and symptoms resembling psychosis and dissociation that have yet to be formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist) and unemployment; he does not have enough money to make it to the end of July and desperately needs your help!

Bob is a trans man from Taiwan who moved to Australia at the end of April on a one-year working holiday visa so that he could save up enough money for bottom surgery. Taiwan currently requires people assigned female at birth to have their breasts, uterus, and ovaries removed in order to change their legal gender. While Bob is actively involved in transgender rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and feminist advocacy in Taiwan, he primarily lives stealth in his everyday life. Because his legal gender is female, he is frequently outed by his identification documents; this unfortunate reality that many trans people in Taiwan face has contributed to Bob’s ongoing depression and anxiety, which have only gotten worse since he moved to Australia for working holiday to save up for surgery to get his legal gender changed.

Bob worked as a package delivery driver during his first month in Australia, but sustained a minor knee injury while on the job that prevented him from working for two weeks. During this time, he was replaced and lost his job. For the past two months, Bob has been struggling to find employment and spiraling deeper into his depression and anxiety; he has also developed symptoms resembling psychosis and dissociation. It has gotten to the point where he is unable to leave his room on most days and has lost over 11 pounds of body weight due to depression-related changes to his dietary habits. Furthermore, Bob does not have health insurance in Australia, so he is paying out of pocket for his antidepressants, anxiety, and insomnia medication; it is unclear at this time whether Bob will need to go on anti-psychotics.

I am reaching out to potential donors in the US for this fundraiser because Bob is not out to anyone in Australia and is partially out to some of his social circles in Taiwan. Doing public fundraising in either Australia or Taiwan has the risk of outing him as a transgender man and exacerbating his current mental health crisis.

I am hoping to raise 3 months of living expenses for Bob to get through this current mental health crisis and get back on his feet. Bob’s therapist in Taiwan has agreed to do online therapy sessions while he is abroad. However, counseling services are not covered under Taiwan’s national health insurance, so Bob will need to pay for these sessions out-of-pocket. I have also put him in touch with local mental health crisis support resources in Australia. Bob’s current monthly expenses total to $1,545USD (~$2,300AUD) per month and are as follows:

Rent: $800USD/month (~$1200AUD)

Food: $200/month (~$300AUD)

Prescription Medication: $135USD/month (~$200AUD)

Therapy: $360/month (~$2800TWD/session/week)

Public Transportation: $50USD/month (~$75AUD)

The current goal of this GoFundMe is to raise three months of living expenses and mental health care costs for Bob. Factoring in GoFundMe’s platform fees, this fundraising goal amounts to $5,000USD. All funds from this campaign will go directly to the expenses detailed above.