Kenzie’s Medical Expenses

Kenzie is my best friend. We have helped each other through good times and bad over the last decade — crushed dreams, grueling jobs, natural disasters, global pandemics, health emergencies, etc. — but frankly it is getting difficult to help my best friend without help from the community. As a trans woman, Kenzie is part of a group of people whose mere existence has become a hot topic of debate that has brought out brutal, genocidal hatred as a mainstream opinion.

With states passing anti-trans legislation seemingly daily, and open calls for total elimination of trans people, it is a very scary time to be alive and trans. It’s a scary time to be alive, period. I am so scared for my friend, for myself, and for this country. Maybe you are too. What can we even do? For me, I have to focus on my friend and my community. This is tangible change I can make. You can too. Let me tell you about Kenzie.

When I met Kenzie she was in EMS. The hours were abysmal, the work sounded awful and terrifying to me, the pay was basically minimum wage, and she couldn’t get enough of it. She only cared about helping people, and learning more so she could help even more people. I’d never met anyone like this before, and I felt compelled to be as helpful to her as I could be. She had not come out as a trans woman yet, and would not for some time. She has told me she always knew, but she did not feel safe to be herself. Maybe this is something you have felt too, maybe as a teenager wanting to do something but knowing you’d be made fun of for it… Imagine feeling like that all the time, every glance in the mirror, touch of your own clothing, feeling of your own hands on your own skin. Instead of just being made fun of, you’re afraid of being ostracized, abandoned, or killed. This is what trans people are experiencing when they don’t live as themselves. Kenzie lived like this most of her life, and was still the nicest person I’ve ever met who also has happened to save the most lives as well.

Kenzie has found happiness and freedom in living as herself, but it has not come easily or without cost. She feels very privileged to have been able to get bottom surgery to help ensure her comfort and safety as a trans woman, but there have been complications. The surgery itself is grueling and expensive, and the recovery takes time. Revision surgeries are often necessary, and Kenzie is in need of a revision surgery to make sure she will continue to be able to do basic things such as use the bathroom.

To further complicate matters, Kenzie lost her job recently and her industry is currently at a standstill in terms of hiring. She only has her insurance through the end of this month, so she must move forward with her revision surgery despite not being financially in a good position for it.

I am asking for your help to keep Kenzie healthy, safe, and alive. If you are able to spare a few dollars, or if you can share this with others who might, you will be helping protect our trans community.