Hello! My name is Milo and I am a transgender/non-binary person. It’s been a long time coming but I think it’s important to make this step. My story:I first came out when I was 13/14 and it as genderfluid, when I’d freshly heard of this term, not even knowing what that could truly mean for me, I just knew it fit a bit better than female. Being at an all girl’s school made this particularly difficult too. And so eventually it ended up with me, after not really being open about this label to begin with, taking it back and “going back in the closet”. For 5 more years I lived as a girl, feeling wrong, and taking any opportunity in my theatre based lifestyle to play men and discover myself a bit more in my private life. This last year I have officially made more steps to living as my true self and as who I know I am, and tried to help other people do the same. Being at drama school, a place rooted in traditional gender roles and industry based expectations for gender has been a challenge and has taken a lot of emotional and mental energy. One big part of this is in putting as much work into my community as I can, I haven’t been able to actually focus on my own journey. And a large part of the pain I feel in my own identity and my expression is the level of dysphoria I feel on a daily basis. I constantly wear a binder, feeling the need to wear it everyday, through my university classes (dance, singing and acting) and at work. The dysphoria I feel is often crippling, making me struggle to get out of bed, to do daily tasks and severely affecting my mental health. To have my top surgery would be an unbelievably large step for me to finally be how I feel, and to finally be comfortable in myself, giving me more security and stability and improving my mental health. It would save me. So I’m starting to make the steps I need, and I hope you can help me in anyway. If you don’t have anything you can donate, please share it anywhere you can. Please, help me achieve my goal, and achieve this big step in my journey.