Help Albanian Trans Activist Become The Man He Is

A message from David:

"Dear friends,

I’m David Hardy, an LGBTQ+ rights activist based in Tirana, Albania and the first transgender man to come out publicly in a small patriarchal Eastern European country in the Balkans.

This campaign aims to support a lifetime dream of mine: living in the right body for me. 

Thanks to the encouragement of my friends and some personal finances, I was able to have my first sex transition operation, mastectomy or breast removal surgery recently. But, as you may know, this is only the beginning of my journey to being the man I am.

The healing process is taking longer and costing more money, and the Albanian Health Ministry has been unable to respond to any requests to begin providing basic services to the country's trans community, such as hormones (in my case testosterones) or a psychotherapist who specializes in giving written consent for this therapy. To obtain these services privately, I will need to travel to Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, which will be a costly endeavor for someone living in a poor nation like Albania, where the minimum pay is only 213 euros per month. I have also started a human rights case with Albanian Authorities to allow trans community in Albania to change their names while being free to choose their gender identity.  

I am hopeful that with your assistance, we will be able to demonstrate Albania's transgender community that they do not have to live a hidden life of denial, that change is possible, and that we should dream proudly.

I've been an active member of the collective effort in Albania and the Western Balkans for the past 5 years to instill equal rights and develop a greater knowledge of gender equality for the LGBT+ population.

As a photographer, I've always perceived art as a means of mobilizing and raising public awareness and sensibility about all human rights in my country and beyond, which is why I've created a number of visual arts projects promoting LGBT rights and documenting the lives and struggles of members of my community.

Dealing with the everyday struggle of living in a society that is accustomed to inequity and judgment has proven to be a difficult challenge, leaving many personal and emotional wounds in its wake.

Since April 2021, I’ve openly come out as Trans in Albania leaving behind my former gender, while many of you may know me by my old female name of Loreta Cuka. I am happy that a large sum of people has been reached though my Instagram and Tiktok accounts gathering more than 300k engagements. 

Today, at 29 years old – I believe I’m strong enough, to leave behind the myriad of judgments, oppression and fear of violence, in order to achieve personal fulfillment by seeking to live in the body that is right, for me.

I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to anyone who for one reason or another, feel that they want to offer their contribution and become a part of my journey and a dream, that is so detrimental to me and I am certain that after seeing this positive example, many other members of the LGBT+ community in Albania will leave their fears behind and fight to find themselves, just like I did.

Thank you, to everyone and to all those that shared this!"

This fundraiser is organized by Anxhela Koka, a close friend of David living in Germany to support David in his cause because Albania is not directly allowed to create gofundme campaigns. I publicly pledge that all the donations will be transferred to David's bank account in Albania and I can anytime provide proof of the transfer.