Jay Grey's Gender Affirmation Fund

Like a phoenix, I have been reborn… as my true self.

 

I spent the larger portion of the last 30 years of my life hating myself, struggling with an eating disorder, depression, PTSD, anxiety, ADHD, and trying to cope with the microagressions and antagonism that come with being queer and trans.

 

You may or may not know that I identify as trans and genderfluid, and have been focusing the last few years of my life on living as authentically as possible. Some parts of that have included being more assertive with my pronouns (they/them), legally changing my name, getting mental health care, and most recently, facial masculinization.

 

Medical treatments for transgender people in the US can cost over $100K, even with insurance. I’m very fortunate in that I am not pursuing the most expensive treatments, and that I have a lot of privilege and decent insurance. Even so, I’m a trans, queer, chronically ill, and neurodivergent person who already spends most of their money on debt repayment, medical expenses, and the ever increasing costs of living in a city. This is before we talk about my large student loan payments, which I’m dreading the return of in January.

 

If you have the means, I’d greatly appreciate any funds you could spare to help me cover these costs and pay off some of the debt I’m accumulating for these expenses. As of today I’ve spent (AKA played credit card jenga to cover) $8K for facial masculinization and my name change process, and I anticipate $4-7k more for this year alone. Then I have the pleasure of factoring in maintenance for the foreseeable future, which will admittedly be cheaper so long as I don’t let my treatments lapse. This is not some frivolous expense, but something to help me look more in line with how I feel, help improve mental health, and affirm my existence. This is crucial, life-saving care for trans people. For me.

 

Outside of trying to fully be me, I spend time volunteering for nonprofits, dancing, painting, playing piano, and spending time with my partners. I'm so grateful for these relationships I have, and realize it's time to focus on the most important relationship: the one I have with myself.

 

I’m more than happy to keep folks updated on the progress if you’re interested but just want to thank you for reading this and hearing me out, even if you don’t donate any money.

 

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More information on gender affirmative medical care

 

In case you’re unaware, insurance covers very little in terms of gender affirmative care, and when it does it requires jumping through many hoops and often filing many appeals. For example, many companies do not cover: voice therapy, voice modification surgery, drugs for hair loss or growth, facial feminization/masculinization, just to name a few.

 

If you’d like more information on the costs associated with gender affirmative medical care here are two articles. They’re not perfect but they can give you some basic information:

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Cover image description since I have no idea how to add one otherwise:
Banner that has two images of Jay over a watercolor philly LGBTQIA2+ pride flag painting (I swear it's mine and I didn't steal art). The left image is Jay posing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris a few years ago. They are wearing maroon vans, black mesh leggings, a Pink Floyd t-shirt, and a backwards snapback. In the center over the rainbow background text says "Support Jay Grey today!"  On the right, there's a close up headshot of Jay. In this photo Jay has short, purple hair that is pushed back, and is wearing a leather jacket with they/them pins on the lapels, and a white t shirt.