Short Version (see longer version below):

Help Iris access life-changing gender-affirming facial feminization surgery (FFS)! Support Iris and Chelsea in thriving and living safe(r), more authentic lives full of queer joy!

If you have been feeling enraged, saddened, flabbergasted, or rendered powerless by the bigoted cultural and legislative hatred directed at trans people this year, here is an opportunity to support a trans person, and a queer couple, that you know and love (or that someone you know knows and loves) in a concrete, tangible, direct, and deeply impactful way.

At the end of June (PRIDE month!), Iris is scheduled to receive gender-affirming facial feminization surgery (FFS). This will make a huge difference to both Iris and her partner Chelsea as they navigate the next chapter of life together. Look to the long version bellow to better understand the magnitude of benefits (and costs) this surgery brings! We have set up this fundraiser to offset the financial burden and stress that accompanies the momentous occasion, and to allow the people who loves us to contribute directly to our pursuit of safety and joy in this world!

It feels deeply vulnerable for us to ask for help, and to be this publicly transparent about our intimate processes, but we know that through community we keep each other safe. We are immensely and deeply grateful to all of you for holding us tenderly in this harsh and scary time.

Longer Version:

Many of you are aware that 2023 has given way to an absolute onslaught of attacks against the health, well-being, and bodily autonomy of trans people across the United States. Y’all, it is a very very very scary moment to be transgender in the United States. Embarking on a life-changing surgery like FFS in this particular moment feels extra-charged, with both risk and possibility.

It is so exciting and life-changing for Iris to be able to access this surgery at all – and it’s also terrifying and vulnerable. In the last few months we have been battling it out with insurance companies and collaborating with medical providers, having deep and meaningful (and also scary, tear-filled) conversations about mortality, bravery, and the worthwhile risk and cost of authenticity, endlessly grieving the reality of living in a country that is actively trying legislate Iris’s very being out of existence, grieving, crying, grieving, scrimping and saving and trying to create a financial plan for the future both near and far, and weighing the costs and benefits of choosing self-actualization over fear. This is a step Iris has wanted to take for a long time (and truthfully feared might not ever be possible), and we have poured so much time, effort, and money into making it happen.

Throughout this entire process, we have been reminded again and again of the liberatory and transformational force of queer love. We feel so lucky to have each other (SO LUCKY, Y’ALL – we’re so in love ❤️ ), and to have friends, family, and community that can help us hold the heaviness of the world.

Differences this surgery will make:

• Allowing Iris to step deeper into her authentic self, and facilitating her reflection in the mirror matching how she feels on the inside. Down with gender dysphoria! Up with gender euphoria and trans and queer joy!

• (Hopefully) create an increase of safety for Iris by decreasing perceived gender “incongruence” as she moves through the world. While striving to be “cis-passing” is a complicated topic in the trans community, it is an unfortunate reality than in this time of elevated hatred and animosity, being able to, for lack the lack of better words, fly under the radar with the general population does increase a trans person’s overall safety, and life expectancy.

• (Hopefully) reducing the amount of trans-related discrimination that Iris faces in the workplace and when searching for a new job.

• Added non-gender specific benefit of FFS – this surgery will also be able to repair Iris’s deviated septum which has stopped her from being able to breathe out of one side of her nose for most of her life! This is a bittersweet full-circle moment, as her deviated-septum was caused by being bullied (and getting her nose broken) for being queer when she was a child. Being finally able to breath fully can only have positive benefits for Iris’s physical, mental, and emotional health.

This fundraiser is to offset the financial burden that accompanies this momentous occasion, and will help with:

• Anesthesia and hospital fees not covered by insurance; medications and post-surgery recovery care.

• Travel and accommodation expenses for the surgery itself.

• Loss of income – In addition to Iris being unable to work during her recovery period, Chelsea is having to take off work for pre-op appointments, the surgery itself, and early recovery care. Due to the (unfortunately obvious) reluctance of local businesses to hire visibly trans people during this socio-political moment, this fund will also help insulate us from financial hardship while Iris looks for a job post-surgery recovery.

• Reducing the financial burden on Chelsea of shared bills, expenses, and food, during Iris’s recovery and job search.

• Reducing the mental/emotional stress on both Iris and Chelsea of worrying so much about the financial impact of this decision.

Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts, for your love and support!

❤️ ✨ ❤️