Help Me Escape Tennessee

***UPDATE 08/10/2024***

As of this post, the overall funds saved is at 40 percent. I can't thank you all enough for your help, and I promise, I will not repeat the blunders I made following finding my mother's suicide note.

I am counting everything toward the overall goal: Every penny I make via commission on the TikTok Shop, every art sale I make on my Mercari Art store, and all of the money I make off of views on TikTok- it's all going into the fund on top of donations.

I will close this fundraiser permanently when we reach 100 percent, regardless of the means. Whatever I don't use will be donated to someone else who needs to escape as well.

***UPDATE 07/10/2024***

A lot has happened, and the unfortunate fact is that the goalposts have been moved back. The fault is my own. I was waiting on my ex, Natalie, to graduate. During that time, I found my mothers suicide note, and Natalie and I broke up. The end result is that I fell into major depression, and had to take a leave of absence from work to cope, stabilize, heal, and process from everything. During that time, I was making virtually nothing and had to rely on all of the donations just to live, especially since I was still paying 90 percent of the bills while Natalie was living here. After she left, I wasn't able to go back to work until March, but by then, the damage was done. Nothing is left. So I am starting at square one again.

I am so sorry for disappointing you all, and I am doing everything in my power to save up and get out regardless. Even without Natalie, I still need to leave. Now that she is gone and my mother is dead, nothing is keeping me tied to this state.

Everything will go to getting out. I promise.

If you're here, then you're well aware of just how dire things are in the state of Tennessee.

The latest bill, the Anti-Drag Bill as we have come to colloquially call it, is not the first concerted effort against the LGBTQ+ community in this state, but is one of the most concerning thus far; especially for people like me: Open and Public Transpeople.

The Tennessee GOP has made it very clear that they seek to eradicate our presence in this state one way or another, and with the Anti-Drag Bill, they have successfully added language to the latest addendum that could give them the best opportunity to achieve their goal.

"Male and Female impersonators . . . regardless of performing for consideration."

*Regardless.* They intentionally used the terms male and female. Not man and woman. Not masculine and feminine. Male and Female, the biological markers that put a focus on sex over gender. I was born male. I identify as a woman. I dress as a woman. I live as a woman. My partner sees me, knows me, and experiences me as a woman. But to the TN GOP, my life and my experiences will only ever be marked by the unfortunate event I had no control over: my birth as male.

This wasn't the latest bill against my community. The bathrooms have already been taken away from us. Trans children aren't allowed to receive age appropriate gender affirming care until 18 years old. No one born in the state will ever be allowed to change their gender marker on their birth certificate, regardless of trans affirming care and procedures that they may take to align their bodies with their hearts. Tennessee has also passed bills to make medical, gender affirming care illegal to fund under Medicare/Medicaid and other sponsored insurances in the state. They will even pull funding from schools that refuse to participate in anti-trans policies.

This is not only an egregious attack on Transpeople and our fundamental human rights; but it's a clear attack on the American Constitution as well. The First Amendment, the one the Right touts for Freedom of Speech also guarantees our right for Freedom of Expression. If our right to our lives and our needs are continuously denied, they're not just attacking the small minority of transpeople in the state. They're attacking everyone's First Amendment Rights in the process.

Tennessee is only going to get worse at this rate. I need to leave and go somewhere safe, somewhere I know my rights and my life are both protected. I have a small plan, and some time to enact it. But I still need to move swiftly, because time is short.

I know the cost to move for me would be roughly $11,000. That's a lot, I know. I have broken it down piece by piece:

Break Lease - $3000

U-Haul - $600

Movers in Tennessee - $1000

Movers in Another State - $1000

First Month Rent - $1600

Last Month Rent - $1600

Deposit -$800

Pet Deposit - $500

Fees - $150

Utility Setup - $350

Gasoline - $400

I tried to break this down as best as I could, the final amount being $11,000. I am trying to sell things I own little by little to help make the moving process easier overall; but on my own, without some otherworldly miracle, I won't see even a quarter of that, let alone the amount necessary to get out with.

I hate asking for help. I hate asking people who have consistently been so kind and generous and loving to me. I hate running away and not standing my ground. But I recognize the redline is quickly approaching and soon it will be too late to escape. But I can't escape on my own. And I feel that my life is threatened by staying longer.

I have 90,000 followers. I'm asking, begging, pleading, imploring for just a dollar from 11,000 people to help me get out of here. To help me run, not with my tail between my legs, but to a future I can survive in, thrive in. I need help, and as much as I hate asking, my mother said it best when she was alive: My life is worth so much more than my pride.

Help me escape. Help me live. Please.