Help Holland Access Gender Affirming Care

Hi!

If you don’t know me, my name is Holland. I am a 22-year-old New York transplant from Cleveland, Ohio. I mainly work as a performer—singing, acting, and dancing—but have been no stranger to picking up other jobs to support myself, like being a dance teacher, a night janitor, an administrative assistant, and a program recruiter. Over the past few years, I have come to understand my gender identity as a transgender woman and have begun to take steps to pursue my medical transition. Unfortunately, I have also come to understand that transitioning is very difficult to afford, and much of it is not covered by insurance.

Gender dysphoria, the feeling of not having your outward appearance line up with the gender you know yourself as, has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. I don’t think I’ve had one day where I haven’t fixated on the things that I wish so desperately I could change.

Transgender women typically have a few obstacles to overcome, especially when they have gone through a male puberty. Because estrogen can only add, not take away the effects of testosterone on the body, typically many more invasive procedures are needed to help mitigate and reverse those effects.

For me, I need help affording hormone therapy, facial feminization surgery, electrolysis, gender reassignment surgery, and body feminization.

So, why donate?

Well, because I need help. The experience of being trans is different for everyone, but it is rarely an easy one. I find myself at a crossroads of having to choose between the thing that I love most in the world (performing) and transitioning so that I can live as my most authentic self, free of the dysphoria I have felt every day for as long as I can remember. I want to be free to live my life, and pursue the things that bring me joy without this dark cloud over my head. Every little bit helps.