Jamie Bond's Top Surgery
Donation protected
Hi Everyone! Many of you are already pretty up to date on what's going on in my life lately. For those who haven't been filled in yet, here it is. I'm in the process of a gender transition and feeling amazing about it! I'm making some changes to my body that will help put it into alignment with how I feel on the inside and have always seen myself.
I don't fully identify as "male," though my outward characteristics will soon present in that way. I've always felt more comfortable presenting on that side of the gender spectrum, starting as soon as I was able to make decisions for myself around age 3-4. But I am non binary, which means I don't really fit in on either side of the normally expected "male" or "female" in our society. Over the years of feeling incredibly uncomfortable with my assigned gender at birth, I have learned that gender is way more complex than 1 or 2, black or white, male or female. Gender is a spectrum, a sliding scale, something way more malleable than rigid. If you think of gender as a rainbow with female on one side of the spectrum, Red, and male on the other side, Purple, I'm somewhere in the middle of it all - more like a green or blue. My pronouns are they/them. I'm always happy to talk about it, so if you have questions about gender and me, you are welcome to ask anytime.
I am making physical changes and I am very excited about it. I have a sense of confidence that I have never felt before and it is truly liberating. I started Hormone Replacement Therapy on May 2, 2018, so it's been just over 3 months. I take weekly testosterone injections that will eventually result in my voice becoming deeper, facial hair, and increased muscle mass. In addition to HRT, I will be undergoing a gender confirmation surgery on September 6, 2018. This particular procedure is known as "top surgery," which will flatten my chest so that I will no longer have to wear restrictive and uncomfortable binders to make my chest appear flat just to feel comfortable leaving the house. I can't wait to just get it over with.
Top surgery is a mix of being a pretty big deal and also not a super huge deal. I won't be able to use my arms for quite a while, which will get in the way of many things, including work, but supposedly the pain isn't too bad - so I'll be immobile but not too uncomfortable. I have health care through the city of SF, so the surgery itself is paid for. This fundraiser is to cover basic needs and bills while I am healing, including housing for the first month of recovery because the place where I currently live is not a safe place for me to heal. I won't be able to work at all for 4-6 weeks after the procedure. The work I normally do- carpentry, landscaping, and general construction - will be out of the question for the next 6 months, as I won't be able to raise my elbows above shoulder level. I will be seeking other forms of work that aren't as physically demanding, I just don't know what that will be yet. If you have ideas, please let me know!
So here is list of the things I will need to cover. If you are not able to donate $ but are able to help in other ways (food? visits? help with errands? rides to the doctor? a benefit show?), please let me know, especially if you have some sort of magical guestroom that is cat free.
+ Sublet a room for 1 month, September 2018
+ Rent, phone, truck insurance for two months
+ Food
+ Supplies directly related to the surgery- pillows, button down shirts, bandages, etc.
With all of this going on in my life, I have become increasingly aware of how incredibly fortunate I am. I have access to safe and supportive healthcare, and I have a vastly large supportive community here in the Bay Area. On top of that I am deeply thankful that my family supports my decisions and supports me as a person that they love.
Sadly, this is not the norm for an enormous amount of transgender and gender variant individuals worldwide. Trans youth have among the highest suicide rates of all young people because they get bullied at school, shunned by their families, and disregarded by their teachers. Trans women of color are being murdered, at one of the highest rates in the world, just for existing and being true to themselves. In some countries you can receive the death penalty from your own government if you are outed as a trans person, which forces people to spend their entire lifetimes in the closet, unable to live as their actual selves. The injustices that transgender people face, especially women of color and sex workers, need to be talked about. We need to have this become part of our daily discussion. This is how we can protect our sisters, brothers, siblings, and children from some of the hardships that they are facing and help to keep them safer. I want everyone who hears my story today to please don't forget to think about all of the other people who need support as well. If this fundraiser goes over my goal, or if my needs are met with less than I anticipate, I am going to donate whatever remains directly to the St. James Infirmary, a healthcare clinic in SF, and the Trevor Project, a national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth.
Thank you all so much for being so supportive of me during this wonderfully special time in my life. Since I'm going to have some free time it would be great to get in some quality hangouts with pals who live in the Bay, so call me! XOXOX
With Love, Power, and Solidarity,
Jamie Bond
I don't fully identify as "male," though my outward characteristics will soon present in that way. I've always felt more comfortable presenting on that side of the gender spectrum, starting as soon as I was able to make decisions for myself around age 3-4. But I am non binary, which means I don't really fit in on either side of the normally expected "male" or "female" in our society. Over the years of feeling incredibly uncomfortable with my assigned gender at birth, I have learned that gender is way more complex than 1 or 2, black or white, male or female. Gender is a spectrum, a sliding scale, something way more malleable than rigid. If you think of gender as a rainbow with female on one side of the spectrum, Red, and male on the other side, Purple, I'm somewhere in the middle of it all - more like a green or blue. My pronouns are they/them. I'm always happy to talk about it, so if you have questions about gender and me, you are welcome to ask anytime.
I am making physical changes and I am very excited about it. I have a sense of confidence that I have never felt before and it is truly liberating. I started Hormone Replacement Therapy on May 2, 2018, so it's been just over 3 months. I take weekly testosterone injections that will eventually result in my voice becoming deeper, facial hair, and increased muscle mass. In addition to HRT, I will be undergoing a gender confirmation surgery on September 6, 2018. This particular procedure is known as "top surgery," which will flatten my chest so that I will no longer have to wear restrictive and uncomfortable binders to make my chest appear flat just to feel comfortable leaving the house. I can't wait to just get it over with.
Top surgery is a mix of being a pretty big deal and also not a super huge deal. I won't be able to use my arms for quite a while, which will get in the way of many things, including work, but supposedly the pain isn't too bad - so I'll be immobile but not too uncomfortable. I have health care through the city of SF, so the surgery itself is paid for. This fundraiser is to cover basic needs and bills while I am healing, including housing for the first month of recovery because the place where I currently live is not a safe place for me to heal. I won't be able to work at all for 4-6 weeks after the procedure. The work I normally do- carpentry, landscaping, and general construction - will be out of the question for the next 6 months, as I won't be able to raise my elbows above shoulder level. I will be seeking other forms of work that aren't as physically demanding, I just don't know what that will be yet. If you have ideas, please let me know!
So here is list of the things I will need to cover. If you are not able to donate $ but are able to help in other ways (food? visits? help with errands? rides to the doctor? a benefit show?), please let me know, especially if you have some sort of magical guestroom that is cat free.
+ Sublet a room for 1 month, September 2018
+ Rent, phone, truck insurance for two months
+ Food
+ Supplies directly related to the surgery- pillows, button down shirts, bandages, etc.
With all of this going on in my life, I have become increasingly aware of how incredibly fortunate I am. I have access to safe and supportive healthcare, and I have a vastly large supportive community here in the Bay Area. On top of that I am deeply thankful that my family supports my decisions and supports me as a person that they love.
Sadly, this is not the norm for an enormous amount of transgender and gender variant individuals worldwide. Trans youth have among the highest suicide rates of all young people because they get bullied at school, shunned by their families, and disregarded by their teachers. Trans women of color are being murdered, at one of the highest rates in the world, just for existing and being true to themselves. In some countries you can receive the death penalty from your own government if you are outed as a trans person, which forces people to spend their entire lifetimes in the closet, unable to live as their actual selves. The injustices that transgender people face, especially women of color and sex workers, need to be talked about. We need to have this become part of our daily discussion. This is how we can protect our sisters, brothers, siblings, and children from some of the hardships that they are facing and help to keep them safer. I want everyone who hears my story today to please don't forget to think about all of the other people who need support as well. If this fundraiser goes over my goal, or if my needs are met with less than I anticipate, I am going to donate whatever remains directly to the St. James Infirmary, a healthcare clinic in SF, and the Trevor Project, a national 24-hour, toll free confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth.
Thank you all so much for being so supportive of me during this wonderfully special time in my life. Since I'm going to have some free time it would be great to get in some quality hangouts with pals who live in the Bay, so call me! XOXOX
With Love, Power, and Solidarity,
Jamie Bond
Organizer
Jamie Bond
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
