Where I began and where We are
I was asked yesterday, by a friend, why I chose a hunger strike as a form of protest, because it's usually a last resort effort after all other avenues have been pursued. He went further and stated that it's usually a practice done by prisoners with no other means to protest. My answer is quite simple. I've been living with chronic infection since 1996 when I was date raped. If 21 years of pursuit to resolve this problem isn't a prison, I don't know what is. I also added the recent development in which my car and belongings were ruined as I finally had the solution: a transgender reassignment surgery on the west coast & Medicaid covered the expenses.
This person knows me, so he is privy to more information than you know, but to be clear, I didn't decide to be transgender overnight. I considered pelvic surgery in 2006, and asked my mom to come with me for support during the consultation. She said, "If you have a hysterectomy and a colpectomy you won't be a woman anymore." I argued that it wouldn't change my gender, but after a while I began to think, "What if I AM entitled to be a more complete person." I cancelled my appointment & embarked on the long road of deciding if I truly was transgender.
There's a lot more to my background than this one conversation with my mother which makes me now, fully, identify as male, but for brevity this is where my journey began. Eleven years later I am convinced that transitioning is right for me, but then the family physical abuse started and delayed my plans to leave home many times. I was no longer hiding that I was transgender from my family, and that was probably a mistake. Some people, many people, will never accept any aspect of the LGBTQ community, and I shouldn't have been so naive thinking that my parents would make this easy for me.
Regardless of the past, or my parents' position, I'm now unable to move, and even if I die standing for myself and other transgendered men & women in Virginia, all of the states of America, and for every available form of health care: We deserve medical coverage regardless of what you or others want to label our circumstances, so you can be "ok" with it.
I'm not asking for money, because very few people have the guts to endorse a cause that they aren't hosting or 100% in support of the message involved. This may be the loneliest shout ever made, but I'm shouting. However, it's coming from a very peaceful place. Whatever this mission, the hunger strike brings, I will know that I did pursue every avenue before it ends. To some the ending is already clear, but it isn't to me, because I am doing everything in my power for this cause; it's the only thing keeping me holding on.
This person knows me, so he is privy to more information than you know, but to be clear, I didn't decide to be transgender overnight. I considered pelvic surgery in 2006, and asked my mom to come with me for support during the consultation. She said, "If you have a hysterectomy and a colpectomy you won't be a woman anymore." I argued that it wouldn't change my gender, but after a while I began to think, "What if I AM entitled to be a more complete person." I cancelled my appointment & embarked on the long road of deciding if I truly was transgender.
There's a lot more to my background than this one conversation with my mother which makes me now, fully, identify as male, but for brevity this is where my journey began. Eleven years later I am convinced that transitioning is right for me, but then the family physical abuse started and delayed my plans to leave home many times. I was no longer hiding that I was transgender from my family, and that was probably a mistake. Some people, many people, will never accept any aspect of the LGBTQ community, and I shouldn't have been so naive thinking that my parents would make this easy for me.
Regardless of the past, or my parents' position, I'm now unable to move, and even if I die standing for myself and other transgendered men & women in Virginia, all of the states of America, and for every available form of health care: We deserve medical coverage regardless of what you or others want to label our circumstances, so you can be "ok" with it.
I'm not asking for money, because very few people have the guts to endorse a cause that they aren't hosting or 100% in support of the message involved. This may be the loneliest shout ever made, but I'm shouting. However, it's coming from a very peaceful place. Whatever this mission, the hunger strike brings, I will know that I did pursue every avenue before it ends. To some the ending is already clear, but it isn't to me, because I am doing everything in my power for this cause; it's the only thing keeping me holding on.
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