Marshall's transgender medical fund

UPDATE 2: My boss fired me on Friday, January 6th for "tardiness" (she threw me under the bus by not taking ownership of her poor communication skills after I did exactly what she and supervisors had instructed in front of the regional manager ) so now I owe $600 for COBRA benefits in February and March if I want to get this top surgery done. "Why don't you just wait and reschedule it?" you ask, to which I say, I've been working towards landing a scheduled top surgery since 2017 and I'm not giving up that easily!

I've been hustling on Doordash and Instacart to pay into the surgeon's fee, so I will be updating the fund accordingly to reflect the true total needed! So an updated outline of my goals:

• $1418 by Wednesday, January 25th
• $600 COBRA payment by February 1st
• another $600 COBRA payment by March 1st
• $1500 by March 8th for travel/lodging to the Bay Area

UPDATE 1: I've increased the fund amount by $1908.14, as that is my current balance on my coinsurance payment, which is due by January 25th! I'm working to find medical grants in the meantime since I haven't been qualifying for loans, but would appreciate any support towards this goal in the meantime! Thank you so much for your support <3

Hi, my name is Marshall. I'm a 25-year-old transgender artist and jewelry maker from Reno, Nevada who has used his talent and passion for novelty and kitschy, queer aesthetics to earn savings for his gender transition.

I came out as a trans man in 2017, but my transition was delayed because I struggled financially, causing relapses in healthcare coverage and homelessness. In 2018, I was living out of my car going into my third year of university when it was stolen alongside the rest of my belongings, and I was forced to drop out of college and lose my scholarships. I've since then rebuilt my life from the ground up, and now live with my wonderful boyfriend, Forest, and our two cats, Beans and Toast.

Between helping Forest during his on-and-off battle with cancer, and struggling with chronic fatigue myself as a long-haul COVID symptom, I've finally been partially approved for female-to-male mastectomy (better known as "top surgery") through Aetna. I'm currently appealing their denial of complete coverage, and hope my persistence pays off.

Gender dysphoria, to me, is an experience similar to looking at an old photo of yourself taken at a time when you didn't feel like yourself, whether it was because of misplaced anger, uncertainty about your life and using escapism to avoid the question, or for any other reason. When people you love still treat you like the person in the photo, it's a dismissal of a truer, healthier version of yourself you're working towards to bring yourself joy and peace. Top surgery is a significant step for me in reclaiming and loving myself and my body. With your help, I can start this new chapter of my life.

My top surgery date is scheduled on Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 with Dr. Alexander Facque, at San Francisco's Gender Confirmation Center. Since medical billing will continue after the procedure, I've set my goal at $1500 for now to cover travel and lodging in the Bay Area, but will likely increase this amount in the future if medical bills pile up. Donations exceeding the goal will go straight toward the medical balance.

I appreciate your time reading my story and hope you'll find it in your heart to donate or share my fundraiser. Thank you, and Happy New Year!

Please note: Had I known of a top surgeon here in Reno that accepted insurance at the time I was looking for one, I would have stayed local, but as far as my research told me then, the only top surgeon who accepted insurance was in Las Vegas, which is much farther away from Reno than SF!