I am so darn hungry, and that says a lot about what this process takes. I spent nearly 4 years researching methods. I traveled all over the country interviewing surgeons. I had to navigate years of health insurance roadblock's just to get them to cover some of the work. Now, I am moments away from my vaginoplasty and a correction neck lift, and even in a short moment like this, you can feel how much planning, sacrifice, and emotional energy goes into gender-affirming care. For trans people, these procedures are not random or cosmetic little extras. They are part of being able to live in our bodies with safety, dignity, and peace.

This is bigger than me. Every trans person trying to access gender-affirming care runs into barriers that people outside our community rarely see clearly enough: cost, delays, gatekeeping, misinformation, and systems that act like our care is optional. It is not optional to us. It is our healthcare, our autonomy, and our ability to move through the world as ourselves.

That is why I am calling on state leaders to protect access to gender-affirming care for trans adults and stop allowing medically necessary care to be treated like something shameful or disposable. We need policies that keep this care legal, accessible, and available without unnecessary obstacles. We need decision makers to listen to trans people and the medical providers who understand what this care actually means in our lives.

If you believe trans adults deserve the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies and access the care we need, please sign this petition. Stand with me and with every person trying to get through this process while being questioned, delayed, or denied. We deserve dignity, and we deserve care.