Help Lillie Unleash Her Inner Self

Hi, my name is Lillie. Some of you know me as Lillie Spears, some of you know me as Princess Lillie of the Stars, and some of you may not know me at all. I'm a transgender girl of Choctaw descent living in rural Oklahoma.

 

 

 

 

I've been out publicly as transgender for a few years now, but I've known something was wrong for much longer than that. I've been gender-incongruent since early childhood and elementary school; when I was two and a half, I asked my mom in the middle of a Walmart when I would get to be a girl. Later in elementary school, I became obsessed with the children's television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It wasn't until high school that I realized I wasn't the only one and that it was possible to transition. I came out to my parents and friends, and I started seeing a doctor who prescribed me the standard course of hormones. Thankfully my hormone treatment is covered entirely by SoonerCare, Oklahoma's Medicaid program, which is the only healthcare I have aside from access to the Indian Health Service.

 

At first, I wasn't interested in any of the surgeries or changing my voice. I just wanted to get started on the hormone treatment and develop a more feminine body, and I would figure out the rest later. However, as time has gone on and as the hormones have taken a more profound effect, I've become progressively more dysphoric due to my voice and certain other parts of my body. I now consider voice training and gender affirming surgery vital to my transition, and living without them is making my pre-existing anxiety and depression much worse.

 

Typically you'd save up for voice training and use insurance to cover the surgery; however, I live in a rural Oklahoma town with little to no local jobs, and I have a paralyzing fear of driving. I'm also mentally disabled, making it difficult to do any entry-level, public-facing jobs. In short, I can't get a job without lots and lots of assistance. SoonerCare doesn't cover the surgery or voice training as they don't consider it medically necessary, and no doctors in the IHS will do either. I've exhausted all other resources, which leads me to open this fundraiser.

 

Should this fundraiser succeed, I'll be using the funds to pay for the following:

 

It's very important that I make some progress within the next few years, and I hate to ask for help (especially for such a large amount of money), but I'm not ready to give up on being myself. If you're not in a good financial position to help, then I ask you to please share this fundraiser around in the hopes that it will reach someone who can help. If you are in a good position financially, I ask you to please consider donating to my cause. Thank you all so much. I love all of you.

 

~ Lillie