I'm writing to request mutual aid on behalf of my partner, Celine, as we navigate the next steps in her gender transition journey. We moved from St. Louis to NYC this year in order to access essential surgeries for Celine that are fully covered by Medicaid in the state of NY. As these surgeries can sometimes cost up to $80,000, we would not have been able to afford them otherwise.

While we're so grateful for the amazing medical care that she is receiving from Amida Care and Mount Sinai, and the progress she has made toward aligning her biological sex with her gender identity, we are still struggling to afford cost of living due to the systemic oppression and marginalization of trans people in America. While some things are better now than they were historically for queer people, many of us still need to rely on mutual aid as a crucial form of survival, filling gaps where mainstream institutions fail to provide adequate support.

Trans women especially continue to navigate ongoing employment discrimination, which I've seen Celine struggle with since transitioning socially and identifying as trans on resumes and in person at interviews. This makes it nearly impossible to find stability when it comes to basic necessities - income, housing, food and transportation. While we hope that completing her full medical transition over the next year or so will prevent discrimination and help her find and keep stable employment, we aren't quite there yet.

After 6 months endless applications, she finally landed a job in retail (yay!), and Celine got her first gender affirming surgery on August 11th. After about a month of recovery she was finally able to return to work recently. We also found a longterm apartment to provide a safe space for her to recover from future procedures, and navigate her medical transition comfortably, however all of our belongings are still in storage in St. Louis. We move into our new place in Brooklyn October 1st and are hoping to be able to ship our storage boxes in order to access a bed, furniture, dishes and other essentials.

What the funds will go to:

Moving expenses: Uhaul shipping costs + truck rental = ~$2,300

Food, transportation and any other surgery recovery necessities: remainder of funds

More about Celine:

"Celine has known since the age of 6 that her gender is different from the sex assigned at birth but did not have the language for the female experience until the age of 23. Celine is a transgender woman and has lived in the gender role that corresponds with her true gender identity since the age of 24. At this time, Celine has experienced the expected changes due to the treatment that can be expected from hormone therapy alone. However, Celine continues to experience severe anxiety, depression, distress, and other continued mental health concerns due to the continued presence of the male sex characteristics. Celine's severe gender dysphoria has not been adequately treated with hormone therapy, and therefore the next steps in her gender transition is surgery. Celine has a strong support system that includes the long-term partner Celine lives with, the two dogs they take care of, a supportive aunt who resides in Brooklyn, many friends both within in person and online communities, and medical and mental health supports that she accesses at least once per week. I find these surgeries to be medically necessary for the health of Celine. I also find that this surgery is not a cosmetic procedure because the purpose is not solely to improve physical appearance, but instead to surgically alter a secondary sex characteristic, and treat well-documented gender dysphoria." - an excerpt from Celine's letter of support from her treatment team

As Celine's partner, I've seen this transition empower her and bring her more alignment and happiness than ever before. She recently quit smoking cigarettes completely, is sober from drugs and alcohol and is advocating for herself in ways that didn't seem possible pre-hormones. But it hasn't come without struggles, as we've been sleeping on couches since January of this year, and we’ve had to rely on friends, acquaintances, my family in Missouri and my job (that I love but is not making me rich) for survival.

If you feel able to help us, we appreciate any amount, sharing the link with your network, or support of any kind! <3 <3 <3 <3

Irene and Celine