Hi my name is Lucy Montgomery and I am non-binary. I am looking to get top surgery soon and need help with funds.

My entire life I have known I wasn't exactly a girl, but I was told it was just "being a tomboy". I loved wearing "boy" clothes, playing "boy" sports and video games, and I couldn't stand "girly" talk when I was younger. When I was 15, I was going swimming with my best friends and took a glance in the mirror. I looked like a perfectly proportionate teenage girl and all I could think was "she's gorgeous but that is not me". It was the most out of body I have ever felt in my life and it scared me to not be able to connect to the person in the mirror that had my eyes but not my body.

Following this experience, I chopped my hair, ordered "boy" shorts, and started experimenting with different pronouns. I've been using they/them pronouns since my junior year of high school and have never wanted to go back. Being able to put a word to this identity that I have had my whole life is a very comforting thing. I am very happy to be growing up in an age where gender expression is accepted and encouraged.

The second Trump presidency has already caused setbacks for transgender and genderqueer people. An executive order signed in January 2025 renamed the term "gender affirming care" to "chemical and surgical mutilation" which is a pointed and direct undermining of trans and nonbinary people, and a scare tactic for the uninformed. This executive order restricts the care of trans children, and he included 19 year olds in the term "child", leading many to believe that he will continue to increase this age every year, to make it difficult or impossible for anyone born after the year 2004 to get the healthcare they need. By raising money, I have a better chance of getting surgery before any further restrictions are put in place.

To those in my life that this news might shock, please do not be offended that I hadn't told you sooner or in a more personal manner. Just because you didn't know this does not mean I do not love you and appreciate you in my life. Selfishly, I didn't want to bear the burden of having to educate people close to me on what being non-binary means. The label means a different thing to every person who uses it. For me, I use it to describe that I am neither a boy or a girl and I choose to present in a masculine way.

My gender dysphoria comes mainly from my chest. The clothes I could wear effortlessly before puberty now draw attention to the aspects of my body that make me feel the least like myself. Not only do I not look the way I see myself in my head, I find it very difficult to dress the way I want to. As a vocalist, I can not wear compression binders because they restrict my ribs too much to sing properly. Binders also trigger many sensory issues because of the stitching, constriction of the shoulders, and excess sweat. Top surgery is the only solution that can help to aid my dysphoria and discomfort.

Thank you for reading all of this and learning my story. <3

*Alternatively, venmo is a better option for donation. This donation fund gets a cut taken out of it, where venmo does not. My venmo is @lulumont_

*If I am fortunate enough to have leftover funds after surgery, the remainder of the funds will go towards my education.