Support Leo's top surgery recovery :)

I’m Leo, it's my 40th birthday, and I’m getting top surgery! In lieu of birthday gifts, I’m asking you — friends, family,  lovers, colleagues, nemeses — for support with my recovery in October.

I’m a freelance writer, a vegan cook, and I teach food studies workshops and host pop-up events. And I work in the food industry at two bulk grocery refilleries. I live in New York, where gender affirming surgery is covered by Medicaid, but I don’t work at a job that offers me paid time off for the six weeks I need to heal. 

So, I’m raising $9,000 to cover my rent, to buy food, to pay for my monthly bills, and to purchase items that will make my home more accessible for me as I recover. During recovery, I’ll have to sleep upright, won’t be able to lift more than 5lbs,  and I'll have a very limited range of motion known as T-rex arms — short for Trannosaurus rex.

In the spirit of mutual aid, I'm offering something in exchange for your support, whether that's through a homemade card, a vegan recipe, a playlist, an essay, a workshop, or even a homo-cooked meal. This is an opportunity for me to create, to share my knowledge and taste with you as you generously support my healing.

See donation tiers below. Please note which options you'd like.

Top surgery in my 40th year is a significant milestone. As a late bloomer, the last ten years have some of my life’s biggest and queerest moments. Ten years ago, the year I turned 30, I realized I was bisexual. At age 35, I discovered I was nonbinary and joined the pandemic lockdown cohort of transgenders.

The pandemic solitude is what allowed me to unpack the big box of gender I had been avoiding, and I remember asking myself basic questions: How do I think of myself apart from other people's expectations of me?  How do I refer to myself when no one else is around? What words feel accurate to describe  how I feel about myself These are questions that I often return to still when I need grounding.

As a kid who grew up in rural southern Indiana,  homeschooled, evangelical, and one of nine siblings, I don’t know if my younger self would even recognize me now — but I think they would be proud.

Gender, for me, has never been a linear F to X to M transition — even if that’s  what my government ID says. It’s a lot of socially gendered expectations to unlearn,  and this vast constellation of unknowns to discover. Like, who knew testosterone would function as an antidepressant in my veins? That, when I speak,  I can finally hear myself. And I can now imagine in a future that I am excited to be part of.

There is a future where we all can thrive because our basic needs are met. My transition exists in this context of liberation movements for all people to live free and dignified lives, with healthcare, education, housing and fair wages. To live without the looming fear of surveillance, abduction, arrest, deportation, displacement or bombing.

I don’t ask for support lightly, knowing there is great need around the world right now, so whatever you can share will be received  with all the gratitude my little trans heart can hold. Thank you.

DONATION TIERS

Include your current contact info to receive these offerings

$15 Gender of the day

$25 Scrub Daddy

$45 Trains flag

$55 VCR cleaner

$75 Second puberty

$75 Bottom growth

$100 Father figure

$100 Daddy sock

$250 Biblically accurate angel

$500 Irreversible damage holes

$500 Mommy’s little meat sack

$1000 Carl Hartt Jr.

$3000 My final form