Marianne's Gender-Affirming Surgery Fund

Hi, my name is Marianne and as many of you know, I have been undergoing medical transition for some time. I am now at a place where I am ready to move forward with having surgery as the best thing for myself and my well-being.

This has been a long process to get here, and I am immeasurably grateful for everyone along the way who has supported me and shown me love. I continually do all I can to support myself and am quite proud of how far I've come and of the life I've built for myself, and I am truly so privileged to be cared for by the people around me who've kept me going.

I wish we lived in a world where the healthcare that I and other trans women need was accessible to us, and I wish I had access to the wealth and resources necessary for such costly medical needs. This procedure is very expensive and will be very demanding on my body and health, and the goal I am trying to meet reflects the overall price of the procedure + hospital fees and recovery costs alone, not including my own costs for travel and care afterwards.

While I know it's an ambitious goal, I am going to do my best to find a way to move forward with this and recover safely and soundly in the aftermath. I believe it will be the best thing for alleviating my crushing daily dysphoria, for helping with my physical safety navigating this world, and for my general well-being. In the past years since coming out, I have been stalked, followed in vehicles, pulled into strangers' cars (unsuccessfully, thank god), physically attacked, assaulted. Something I've learned intimately in this time is that many trans folks are afforded different levels of safety and insulation from violence and risk, some by their class, some- including me- by their whiteness. But none of us trans people are without risk completely. And as someone with some insulations but not others, I accept that I live in a world where I must be used to and prepared to incur risk often. Thankfully, I'm surrounded by people who love me and places of great care, so I am still here. And by the moxie and tenacity we girls from the South have in our spirits as well, I am still here.

But despite all this, despite how rough this past year has been, I refuse to undergo any of my transition out of fear.

Part of why it's taken me so long to be ready to move forward with surgery is because it takes time to learn to love yourself better, especially as a trans person. And I am at a place now where moving into these procedures gives me life, makes me joyous, is expansive from the love I already feel for myself and my body, rather than urgency or despair or panic. I'm excited to continue to bloom.

Thank you for your time and care in reading this and being here for me. It means truly so much. If you or your loved ones have the means to donate and share this page with others, any amount of support would be immensely helpful. Much love!

best,

Marianne