Help Maxime Get Gender-Affirming Top Surgery
Donation protected
Hi my name is Maxime Beauregard, my pronouns are they/them, I am a transgender non-binary person.
I need financial help to get to pay for my top surgery. If you know me, you know that I am someone who rarely to never asks for financial help. This is why it’s been so hard for me to do this post and reach out to you all. But as my partner kindly reminded me, each individual can decide whether or not they want to contribute on a volunteer basis.
I am hoping to raise between $6,000-$10,000 CAD (it’s almost Pride Month, if you are planning on giving money to corporations that are using Pride to make profit, please consider instead donating to 2SLGBTQ+ folks and/or supporting 2SLGBTQ+ creators, especially racialized folks). The top surgery alone is $15,000 CAD, but it will cost me $20,000+ CAD including the fees for medical equipment, transportation for both me and my care giver (plane tickets and ubers), Air B&B to stay at for the week post-surgery, rent and grocery during my recovery as I will be on medical leave from work. Here are things you can do if you want to help:
· You can donate, even $1 or $5 can help tremendously
· You can share the Go Fund Me link on your social media
More info on my back story for those who have the time and interest to know more:
Dysphoria is more than just a discomfort, for me it impairs my ability to function, it takes a huge toll on my mental health, emotional and physical well-being. I’ve always been a small-chested person which has been both a blessing and a curse for chest dysphoria. On one hand, I had the privilege to easily flatten my chest and dissociate from my chest on good mental health periods. On the other hand however, it has brought me countless of people gaslighting me, making me doubt and be in denial of my own chest dysphoria on the regular. In 2018, I hit a wall and could no longer bear the denial of my chest dysphoria that was impairing my day to day life. At the time, I had no money and quite frankly, there were so much new changes in my life around my gender identity that I needed some time to digest everything and make proper research on surgery.
In 2019, I started performing as a drag king in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, for the first time ever, I experienced gender euphoria while taping my chest for my drag performances. My chest felt truly aligned and at peace, even though the tape was physically uncomfortable and made it harder for me to breathe. At the time, I had no home in Mohkinstsis, barely enough money to go by, and was under the bearing of student debt.
I found an amazing job at cSPACE King Edward and worked really hard, saving everything I could to lower the bearing of my student debt before even thinking of saving for surgery. In September 2020, I started hormonal replacement therapy and started feeling more and more aligned than ever between my inner and outer self for the first time in my life and I started experiencing a lot of gender euphoria. I finally started feeling like I was maintaining my health like every other cisgender people, instead of constantly struggling to keep myself afloat. It made me realize what it felt like to feel at home and aligned in my own body.
Since that peak awareness of my chest dysphoria back in 2018, I have been focusing my energy on damage control of my chest dysphoria and I’ve had countless ugly cries when I couldn’t suck it up anymore.
Chest surgery for me is a once in a life-time intervention, and what matters most to my core is the consistency of the results of the surgeon. I have yet to find a Canadian surgeon that has as consistent results as Dr. Charles Garramone. I’m also at a stretch here and can not wait unknowingly between 1½ to 3 more years in the public system before I get surgery.
Photo Credit: Alexander J. Slobodian
I need financial help to get to pay for my top surgery. If you know me, you know that I am someone who rarely to never asks for financial help. This is why it’s been so hard for me to do this post and reach out to you all. But as my partner kindly reminded me, each individual can decide whether or not they want to contribute on a volunteer basis.
I am hoping to raise between $6,000-$10,000 CAD (it’s almost Pride Month, if you are planning on giving money to corporations that are using Pride to make profit, please consider instead donating to 2SLGBTQ+ folks and/or supporting 2SLGBTQ+ creators, especially racialized folks). The top surgery alone is $15,000 CAD, but it will cost me $20,000+ CAD including the fees for medical equipment, transportation for both me and my care giver (plane tickets and ubers), Air B&B to stay at for the week post-surgery, rent and grocery during my recovery as I will be on medical leave from work. Here are things you can do if you want to help:
· You can donate, even $1 or $5 can help tremendously
· You can share the Go Fund Me link on your social media
More info on my back story for those who have the time and interest to know more:
Dysphoria is more than just a discomfort, for me it impairs my ability to function, it takes a huge toll on my mental health, emotional and physical well-being. I’ve always been a small-chested person which has been both a blessing and a curse for chest dysphoria. On one hand, I had the privilege to easily flatten my chest and dissociate from my chest on good mental health periods. On the other hand however, it has brought me countless of people gaslighting me, making me doubt and be in denial of my own chest dysphoria on the regular. In 2018, I hit a wall and could no longer bear the denial of my chest dysphoria that was impairing my day to day life. At the time, I had no money and quite frankly, there were so much new changes in my life around my gender identity that I needed some time to digest everything and make proper research on surgery.
In 2019, I started performing as a drag king in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, for the first time ever, I experienced gender euphoria while taping my chest for my drag performances. My chest felt truly aligned and at peace, even though the tape was physically uncomfortable and made it harder for me to breathe. At the time, I had no home in Mohkinstsis, barely enough money to go by, and was under the bearing of student debt.
I found an amazing job at cSPACE King Edward and worked really hard, saving everything I could to lower the bearing of my student debt before even thinking of saving for surgery. In September 2020, I started hormonal replacement therapy and started feeling more and more aligned than ever between my inner and outer self for the first time in my life and I started experiencing a lot of gender euphoria. I finally started feeling like I was maintaining my health like every other cisgender people, instead of constantly struggling to keep myself afloat. It made me realize what it felt like to feel at home and aligned in my own body.
Since that peak awareness of my chest dysphoria back in 2018, I have been focusing my energy on damage control of my chest dysphoria and I’ve had countless ugly cries when I couldn’t suck it up anymore.
Chest surgery for me is a once in a life-time intervention, and what matters most to my core is the consistency of the results of the surgeon. I have yet to find a Canadian surgeon that has as consistent results as Dr. Charles Garramone. I’m also at a stretch here and can not wait unknowingly between 1½ to 3 more years in the public system before I get surgery.
Photo Credit: Alexander J. Slobodian
Organizer
Maxime Beauregard
Organizer
Calgary, AB