Rikki's Gender Reassignment Surgery
Donation protected
The good news is that my insurance is going to pay for the surgery. But that did not come easily.
Boston Globe: Cape Cod Musician Hopes to Change MassHealth Policy on Transgender Medical Treatment
I'm a pre-op transsexual who's lived a difficult life, full of fear, shame, humility, embarrassment, gut wrenching heartache, and hopelessness.
My trials and tribulations began in 1958 when I was 4 years old, and ventured to the sandlot across the street for the very first time to meet and play with the neighborhood boys. I was badly beaten up by the kids because I looked and acted "like a girl". I didn't even understand what they meant. The next day I gave it another try, this time with encouragement and some good advice from my parents, and I was immediately greeted with a powerful punch in my tender belly, upon which I collapsed and was unable to breathe for what seemed like forever. I can still distinctly remember hearing the boys laughing at me, and hearing someone say, "Look, 'his' lips are turning blue!" in hilarity and delight. As I grew older I began to realize that I FELT "like a girl", and by the time I reached puberty I knew in my heart that deep down inside I WAS a girl, but I was somehow given a defective body when they were handing them out at birth.
I'm right at the brink of the most important event of my life, about to reach the summit of my dreams, achieved after decades of despair, and a hard fought battle finally won.
Throughout the 1960's, 70's & 80's I lived with an unbearable sadness deep inside me. I was all alone in the world. My big secret: No one would ever like me if they knew who I really was. I was unlovable. At times I felt like I would explode because of all these things churning within me. Finally, in 1990 I could take no more and 'came out', living full time in the gender I've always known to be mine, as a woman in pursuit of full gender reassignment surgery. Yet my problems only intensified over the next decade. I faced massive rejection from nearly everyone around me. My wife asked for a divorce. The band I had been playing in for the past 13 years decided they could no longer work with me. I was alone, without music, without a job, and without income. But slowly I regained my footing. And ironically, after 10 years, the very same band that let me go begged me to return. I consented, and we continued on for many years. Somehow, I managed to stay afloat financially, although just barely.
I'm a professional drummer who's earned a living for the better part of my life.
Music is not a profession to enter into lightly. More often than not, it's not a very reliable way to keep the bills paid. But for some, creating it is a calling, the very reason to be alive. Poverty is all too often the price to be paid, but it can be worth it for the fullness it can bring to your life.
As long as you are working.
Last September all of my work nearly dried up on me. And since last December I have had no work at all.
Yet I'm mystified and unable to understand why this is so. After many decades of playing I'm at the top of my game. I have always strived to have my own distinctive style, powerful, yet graceful. People seem to love watching me. Yet after tapping into my massive professional network gathered over decades of great gigs I have come up dry. What's wrong with me? But don't take my word. Watch this video. Can you figure out why no one seems to want to hire me? If the music's not your cup of tea, try to set that aside. Just watch the drummer.
I have fallen way behind on my bills. Food is scarce. I have tapped every charity possible to keep me afloat during this time. The local food pantry has been my savior...
Several years ago I became determined to force my Medicaid health insurance provider (MassHealth) to pay medical costs for a lifelong condition I suffered from. Yet at the time this life saving procedure was specifically prohibited from insurance coverage by law. The discriminatory prejudice and fundamental unfairness of this exclusion made my blood boil. I just knew in my heart that it could not withstand a legal challenge. The growing medical evidence proving medical necessity and effectiveness of this treatment was overwhelmingly in my favor. I decided I had no choice but to take this injustice head on in a legal challenge. I was going to make MassHealth pay for my gender reassignment surgery.
For the past several years I have been on the front lines in the battle for transgender health care in Massachusetts. With representation by attorneys Jenifer Levi, Ben Klein, and Zack Paakonnen of GLAD, I was involved in a landmark case against the state's Medicaid provider (MassHealth), which was successfully settled last year and with a far better outcome than any of us had ever anticipated.
For over 40 years I had known that I desperately needed this surgery to correct a serious imbalance I had been born with. Yet it had always been considered to be medically unnecessary, and socially taboo, even a criminal offense by some.
But as the first decade of the 21st century wore on, compelling medical evidence of the effectiveness of this treatment began to mount. Meanwhile the decades of intense escalating discomfort I experienced began to boil fiercely inside me, until it reached a level I could no longer bear. I began a desperate search to find a way to pay for my gender reassignment surgery. I considered many different schemes to try to achieve my goal, but in the end none of them were realistically feasible. By 2009 I became convinced that the existing medical evidence was so strong that effective legal pursuit could not fail. Yet I had no money to hire a lawyer.
After a few more years of fumbling around, searching for legal advice here, there, and everywhere, I was finally referred to Jennifer Levi at GLAD, and in 2012, with Jennifer's guidance, I began to put the pieces in place to appeal a denial by MassHealth to cover paying for my hormones.
I stood up against my insurance provider's denial to cover the cost of my gender reassignment surgery in a legal appeal and I WON! I am now unemployed, near bankruptcy, and unable to pay my bills. Please consider donating to my fund to help me through my current financial crisis so I can sufficiently support myself during and after my gender reassignment surgery, and cover any additional costs, which may arise during my recovery and transition. I NEED your help.
Boston Globe: Cape Cod Musician Hopes to Change MassHealth Policy on Transgender Medical Treatment
I'm a pre-op transsexual who's lived a difficult life, full of fear, shame, humility, embarrassment, gut wrenching heartache, and hopelessness.
My trials and tribulations began in 1958 when I was 4 years old, and ventured to the sandlot across the street for the very first time to meet and play with the neighborhood boys. I was badly beaten up by the kids because I looked and acted "like a girl". I didn't even understand what they meant. The next day I gave it another try, this time with encouragement and some good advice from my parents, and I was immediately greeted with a powerful punch in my tender belly, upon which I collapsed and was unable to breathe for what seemed like forever. I can still distinctly remember hearing the boys laughing at me, and hearing someone say, "Look, 'his' lips are turning blue!" in hilarity and delight. As I grew older I began to realize that I FELT "like a girl", and by the time I reached puberty I knew in my heart that deep down inside I WAS a girl, but I was somehow given a defective body when they were handing them out at birth.
I'm right at the brink of the most important event of my life, about to reach the summit of my dreams, achieved after decades of despair, and a hard fought battle finally won.
Throughout the 1960's, 70's & 80's I lived with an unbearable sadness deep inside me. I was all alone in the world. My big secret: No one would ever like me if they knew who I really was. I was unlovable. At times I felt like I would explode because of all these things churning within me. Finally, in 1990 I could take no more and 'came out', living full time in the gender I've always known to be mine, as a woman in pursuit of full gender reassignment surgery. Yet my problems only intensified over the next decade. I faced massive rejection from nearly everyone around me. My wife asked for a divorce. The band I had been playing in for the past 13 years decided they could no longer work with me. I was alone, without music, without a job, and without income. But slowly I regained my footing. And ironically, after 10 years, the very same band that let me go begged me to return. I consented, and we continued on for many years. Somehow, I managed to stay afloat financially, although just barely.
I'm a professional drummer who's earned a living for the better part of my life.
Music is not a profession to enter into lightly. More often than not, it's not a very reliable way to keep the bills paid. But for some, creating it is a calling, the very reason to be alive. Poverty is all too often the price to be paid, but it can be worth it for the fullness it can bring to your life.
As long as you are working.
Last September all of my work nearly dried up on me. And since last December I have had no work at all.
Yet I'm mystified and unable to understand why this is so. After many decades of playing I'm at the top of my game. I have always strived to have my own distinctive style, powerful, yet graceful. People seem to love watching me. Yet after tapping into my massive professional network gathered over decades of great gigs I have come up dry. What's wrong with me? But don't take my word. Watch this video. Can you figure out why no one seems to want to hire me? If the music's not your cup of tea, try to set that aside. Just watch the drummer.
I have fallen way behind on my bills. Food is scarce. I have tapped every charity possible to keep me afloat during this time. The local food pantry has been my savior...
Several years ago I became determined to force my Medicaid health insurance provider (MassHealth) to pay medical costs for a lifelong condition I suffered from. Yet at the time this life saving procedure was specifically prohibited from insurance coverage by law. The discriminatory prejudice and fundamental unfairness of this exclusion made my blood boil. I just knew in my heart that it could not withstand a legal challenge. The growing medical evidence proving medical necessity and effectiveness of this treatment was overwhelmingly in my favor. I decided I had no choice but to take this injustice head on in a legal challenge. I was going to make MassHealth pay for my gender reassignment surgery.
For the past several years I have been on the front lines in the battle for transgender health care in Massachusetts. With representation by attorneys Jenifer Levi, Ben Klein, and Zack Paakonnen of GLAD, I was involved in a landmark case against the state's Medicaid provider (MassHealth), which was successfully settled last year and with a far better outcome than any of us had ever anticipated.
For over 40 years I had known that I desperately needed this surgery to correct a serious imbalance I had been born with. Yet it had always been considered to be medically unnecessary, and socially taboo, even a criminal offense by some.
But as the first decade of the 21st century wore on, compelling medical evidence of the effectiveness of this treatment began to mount. Meanwhile the decades of intense escalating discomfort I experienced began to boil fiercely inside me, until it reached a level I could no longer bear. I began a desperate search to find a way to pay for my gender reassignment surgery. I considered many different schemes to try to achieve my goal, but in the end none of them were realistically feasible. By 2009 I became convinced that the existing medical evidence was so strong that effective legal pursuit could not fail. Yet I had no money to hire a lawyer.
After a few more years of fumbling around, searching for legal advice here, there, and everywhere, I was finally referred to Jennifer Levi at GLAD, and in 2012, with Jennifer's guidance, I began to put the pieces in place to appeal a denial by MassHealth to cover paying for my hormones.
I stood up against my insurance provider's denial to cover the cost of my gender reassignment surgery in a legal appeal and I WON! I am now unemployed, near bankruptcy, and unable to pay my bills. Please consider donating to my fund to help me through my current financial crisis so I can sufficiently support myself during and after my gender reassignment surgery, and cover any additional costs, which may arise during my recovery and transition. I NEED your help.
Organizer
Rikki Bates
Organizer
Orleans, MA
