Hey everyone, thanks for all the ways in which you’ve supported our team and our writers over the years. Mutual aid is the foundational principle behind much of what we do, and it’s encouraging to see how far such a simple concept can take us.

Supporting each other through good or ill, we’re stronger together than we are on our own. Even in my own life, this community has helped me through a good few tough spots. One of the people who was always there to help was C4SS writer Kelly Wright.

Now, Kelly needs us to pay it back! She’s pursuing gender-affirming surgery that, as most probably know, tends to be prohibitively expensive and a difficult process to navigate. Click here or below to donate!

Kelly has long been a part of our network and she’s a powerful writer on transgender rights, police brutality, and militarism. You can see her work for C4SS, including a recent piece on Facebook’s ban of anarchist users and groups, here.

Here’s Kelly’s call for support:

Creating this fundraiser was probably inevitable, though I put it off as long as I could in the hopes of self-funding this major life milestone. Unfortunately navigating the bureaucracy of my insurance company is time-consuming and soul-deadening, and so I humbly turn to the philanthropic impulses of my social network.

Ideally my insurance company will eventually reimburse me for some of the costs associated with bottom surgery, but in the meantime I am on the hook for a considerable portion of the cost, including a $2,000 deductible.

The money generated through this fundraiser will go toward paying for my deductible, as well as other ancillary costs that my insurance company won’t pay for, like hygiene products and other costs associated with my recovery. I am already in the hole ~$800 as I am forced to pay out of pocket for electrolysis hair removal in advance of bottom surgery which is the primary roadblock standing between me and a surgery date. My insurance company is doing everything in its power to slow walk the reimbursement process and it will likely be months before I see that money.

Should I eventually get reimbursed by my insurance company, the funds will be reallocated toward other transition related costs, such as prescriptions, compensating various caretakers for their time and energy, copays, and therapy, among other costs.

I am anticipating actually having bottom surgery at some point in 2021, likely in the summer or early fall. I won’t have a definite surgery date on the schedule for a few more weeks, but will update this fundraiser as the timeline develops.

Any amount helps, and if you can’t contribute sharing on your social networks is greatly appreciated!

Major thanks to @AllyMenthol for help with the thumbnail 🙂