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My name is Kait (they/them), a queer non-binary person living in Toronto, and I am calling upon my professional network to help me raise funds for another trans person in need.
In Ontario where I live, while top surgery is partially covered by OHIP, there is still a major financial barrier that exists for people who are even approved for surgery. OHIP guidelines only cover the removal of the tissue and not the essential reconstruction of a trans or non-binary persons chest. Provincial funding from the government of Ontario only covers the basic mastectomy. However, it is usually not an option for a patient to get “just the free part,” which means Ontario patients (like me) end up footing some couple thousands of dollars worth of surprise bills. According to Rainbow Health Ontario, this “contouring” fee is a result of public health policy in the province, and a decision to only fund part of the procedure at the provincial level, when the fully mental health benefits of the surgery are only realized when the contouring is completed.
This results in the person pursuing the medically necessary and life saving procedure and associated care to pay between $3,000 and $5,000 out of pocket, while...
- Rates of unemployment and underemployment are high in trans populations (1)
- Discrimination and harassment in schools is a risk for completing high school, leading to further economic disenfranchisement and ability to pay for these life saving procedures (2)
- There are disproportionately higher rates of LGBT2SQ-identified youth among homeless and street-involved youth (3)
- There is a critical lack of job security for certain segments of the population, in particular people who identify as trans and/or non-binary (4)
Herein lies where I am asking for help.
I am lucky, so lucky, that I can scrape together the personal financial resources where I do not have to crowd-fund like so many of my peers do to raise the money for the life saving gender affirming surgery that is top surgery, when my workplace insurance does not yet cover gender affirming procedures for trans people.
While I do not have that financial barrier to pay out of pocket for my top surgery, I would be remised if I did not use my amazing network to raise the same amount of funds to help a community member for whom this barrier does exist.
My top surgery is March 18, 2022 and by that date I hope to raise $5,000 that will be directly given through GoFundMe to The519’s Pay it No Mind Fund, a fund that is a low barrier, referral-based for all 2 Spirit, trans, and non-binary communities, and prioritizes those who are 2 Spirit, Indigenous, and/or Black.
Even if you cannot donate directly, you can support my goal of paying it forward for another community member by sharing this fundraiser.
To learn more about the barriers to accessing gender affirming care in Canada, here are some resources:
- https://xtramagazine.com/health/top-surgery-canada-how-to-210478
- https://www.rainbowhealthontario.ca/trans-health-knowledge-base/category/transition-related-surgeries-trs/
- https://camh.ca/-/media/files/transrelatedsurgery-faq-en-pdf.pdf
Statistics referenced:
Funding Breakdown:
- $3000: The average cost of contouring that is not covered by OHIP insurance.
- $2000: Non-OHIP funded ancillary care associated with top surgery (post surgery physical therapy and rehab)
Organizer
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The 519 Church Street Community Centre
Beneficiary