A trans couple from Edinburgh are undertaking a fundraising campaign for transition treatment for themselves - as well as others in the trans community.
Josie Giles and Darcy Leigh have organised the fundraiser - named ‘Help Darcy and Josie Embody Butch and Femme Joy’ - through GoFundMe.
The loved up couple say that they want to raise £30,000.
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They say that the total amount would be used to pay for some of the medical transition costs for one another. As well as this, a further £10,000 will be used to support more marginalised members of the trans community that have been unable to afford medical transition costs.
They say that although they come from a position of privilege - with having a job, home and being white - they are still unable to afford the costs by themselves and so they are asking for support from the wider community in order to be able to “live their trans lives with less distress.”
The healthcare will “...help us embody our femme and butch selves more wholly and joyfully.”
Unfortunately the couple are unable to access this life saving treatment on the NHS. This has led to the lovebirds joining forces to support one another in their journey to become their true selves.
The couple introduce themselves on the GoFundMe site by stating: “Josie is an autistic femme from the Northern Isles of Scotland. She is a writer and performer, who also works for better trans healthcare. She’s helped run community spaces and workers co-ops, and she makes poetry, theatre and games.
“Darcy is a Jewish butch who is deep in DIY culture, makes a lot of zines, and is proudly Mad. Darcy works at a university, writing and teaching about colonialism and fascism while also trying to burn down the ivory tower.
“Together, we made and run Easter Road Press, an insurrectionary transfeminist zine press, from our living room in Leith, Scotland.
“Yes, we’re also in love.”
On the motivation behind the fundraiser, they shared: “We thought a lot about whether and how to do this fundraiser, which included thinking hard about what we have and what we don’t. We have some degree of social capital, some housing and job security, thanks in part to whiteness. We do not have enough money to access the healthcare we need, or a government that will provide it. Neither of us can get what we need through the National Health Service, even if we survived the waitlists: many transfeminine treatments like those Josie needs aren't covered by the NHS, and fat people like Darcy are often refused treatments they need.
“Based on all this, we decided that we wanted to raise money for other people’s trans health fundraisers alongside our own, sharing what we have (like access to people who'll donate to a fundraiser) to get us all closer to getting the healthcare we need. We're focussing on fundraisers that are struggling to reach their targets, particularly for trans people of colour and for Mad, disabled and working class trans people. Whatever we raise, we’ll split donations three ways: a third to Josie’s costs, a third to Darcy’s, and a third which we will donate directly to other trans health fundraisers.”
They added: “We need help with transition-related healthcare costs. This money won’t cover it all but it will get us a good way along. We don’t want to give you all the blood and guts: we don’t think support for trans health should depend on revealing all the details. But here are some of the things we need funds for: cutting body parts off, adding body parts on, putting hair on, taking hair off, shaving bones, redistributing body fat, and getting past gatekeepers.
“Yes, we're being jokey and political about it because it's difficult sharing intimate details on the internet and asking for money, but in all seriousness this will make an immeasurable difference to us. We need healthcare that will help us embody our femme and butch selves more wholly and joyfully, and that will help us live our trans lives with less distress. We can't access or afford this without help. We wouldn't be here if there was any other way.”
Those wishing to support the couple in their quest to embody Femme and Butch respectively can also do so through their company Easter Road Press.
All proceeds from sales of their zines (fanzine style magazines) from Easter Road Press will go into the fundraiser pot for the length of the fundraiser. Although it is worth noting that Zines raising funds for other projects will continue to send funds only to those projects.
Alongside this, supporters are invited to keep an eye on the businesses Instagram page in order to attend any upcoming fundraising events.
If you wish to support this cause, then please visit the GoFundMe page here.
