$1,642 raised
·28 donations
Bye bye boobies, see ya later eggies!
Donation protected
A lot has changed since the last time I wrote something like this. It was three years ago, and I was getting ready to bike from SF to LA in the AIDS LifeCycle for the second time. I had just moved into a co-op in Seattle. My hair was a silver bob.
That year I was faced with challenges which ultimately became blessings in my identity journey. I shattered my elbow, delaying my long awaited bike trip. I fell in love and it was messy. During that relationship I realized I was polyamorous. This realization lead me to ask some hard questions about my relationships and the roles I play in them.
I started with questions surrounding romance norms. Why do we give so much value to the acquisition of a romantic partner? Why is it normal to only date one person? When I began to realize I only valued monogamy because I had never known another option, I began to wonder what else I was blindly taught to value. That's when I started to question my gender. Since trans people have existed for all of time worldwide, and gender is not defined by physical anatomy, I was lead to the ultimate question: what even is gender, and why is it defined so narrowly?
These questions forced me to examine everything I thought I knew to be true. I came out as non-binary and trans in November of 2016, and in the years that followed I slowly began to peel away ideas about gender, relationships, and myself that did not serve me, and maybe even harmed me. I discovered that compulsory heterosexuality, monogamy, the gender binary didn't make sense for me. In the process of learning to deconstruct values around desire, I started to realize what I value about myself. I started to get to know myself better.
I've found that modern media provides little to no queer representation, so I looked to my friends as role models. I studied consent culture and witnessed peers take agency over their bodies in radical ways. Whether it was through playing with gender presentation, tattooing, hormones, or surgery, the more I saw fellow queers living for themselves, the more I could allow myself see my body in ways previously barred to me by societal constructs. I'm still figuring it all out, but one thing is certain.
I'm ready to take medical steps to affirm my gender identity. This takes real work in a world that rarely validates the identities of people who do not fit traditional gender roles.
Depending on how many more hoops my insurance company makes me jump through (I've been denied twice!), I hope to schedule top surgery for the beginning of Fall 2019. I want to start testosterone as soon as I can, but seeing as there is a chance of infertility after long term use, I need to bank my eggs first. I wanna carry a baby one day!
Sadly, being trans is expensive. Even after getting insurance to pay for it, top surgery will still be around $3,000 out of pocket, expenses during recovery around $850, and egg freezing (not covered by insurance) a whopping $15,000. Yikes!!
In the past I've probably asked you to donate to AIDS LifeCycle, an organization that helps with prevention, care, and research for those living with HIV/AIDS. This is a great cause that I've raised around $10,000 for, all thanks to your generosity! Now I'm asking you to help out the gays in a more direct way--by assisting your resident queer to navigate this world in a less painful and more authentic way.
Any donation helps! Truly! Whether it's $5 or $500 your contribution is one of hope, healing, and love, and I am incredibly thankful for any amount that is in your capacity to give. When I raised $10,000 for AIDS LifeCycle, it was predominantly from a ton of smaller donations of $5-25. You are helping change my life, and I cannot do this without you. Your partnership in my physical and mental health truly means the world to me! I am so excited to take this next step in my journey and I am incredibly grateful for community support.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! This is a monumental step in my life, and I am happy to be able to share it all with you.
Love,
Livvy
They/Them
That year I was faced with challenges which ultimately became blessings in my identity journey. I shattered my elbow, delaying my long awaited bike trip. I fell in love and it was messy. During that relationship I realized I was polyamorous. This realization lead me to ask some hard questions about my relationships and the roles I play in them.
I started with questions surrounding romance norms. Why do we give so much value to the acquisition of a romantic partner? Why is it normal to only date one person? When I began to realize I only valued monogamy because I had never known another option, I began to wonder what else I was blindly taught to value. That's when I started to question my gender. Since trans people have existed for all of time worldwide, and gender is not defined by physical anatomy, I was lead to the ultimate question: what even is gender, and why is it defined so narrowly?
These questions forced me to examine everything I thought I knew to be true. I came out as non-binary and trans in November of 2016, and in the years that followed I slowly began to peel away ideas about gender, relationships, and myself that did not serve me, and maybe even harmed me. I discovered that compulsory heterosexuality, monogamy, the gender binary didn't make sense for me. In the process of learning to deconstruct values around desire, I started to realize what I value about myself. I started to get to know myself better.
I've found that modern media provides little to no queer representation, so I looked to my friends as role models. I studied consent culture and witnessed peers take agency over their bodies in radical ways. Whether it was through playing with gender presentation, tattooing, hormones, or surgery, the more I saw fellow queers living for themselves, the more I could allow myself see my body in ways previously barred to me by societal constructs. I'm still figuring it all out, but one thing is certain.
I'm ready to take medical steps to affirm my gender identity. This takes real work in a world that rarely validates the identities of people who do not fit traditional gender roles.
Depending on how many more hoops my insurance company makes me jump through (I've been denied twice!), I hope to schedule top surgery for the beginning of Fall 2019. I want to start testosterone as soon as I can, but seeing as there is a chance of infertility after long term use, I need to bank my eggs first. I wanna carry a baby one day!
Sadly, being trans is expensive. Even after getting insurance to pay for it, top surgery will still be around $3,000 out of pocket, expenses during recovery around $850, and egg freezing (not covered by insurance) a whopping $15,000. Yikes!!
In the past I've probably asked you to donate to AIDS LifeCycle, an organization that helps with prevention, care, and research for those living with HIV/AIDS. This is a great cause that I've raised around $10,000 for, all thanks to your generosity! Now I'm asking you to help out the gays in a more direct way--by assisting your resident queer to navigate this world in a less painful and more authentic way.
Any donation helps! Truly! Whether it's $5 or $500 your contribution is one of hope, healing, and love, and I am incredibly thankful for any amount that is in your capacity to give. When I raised $10,000 for AIDS LifeCycle, it was predominantly from a ton of smaller donations of $5-25. You are helping change my life, and I cannot do this without you. Your partnership in my physical and mental health truly means the world to me! I am so excited to take this next step in my journey and I am incredibly grateful for community support.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! This is a monumental step in my life, and I am happy to be able to share it all with you.
Love,
Livvy
They/Them
Donations
Organizer
Livvy Greenfield
Organizer
Seattle, WA