Across the world, transgender youth are suffering simply because they do not have the resources to live as themselves. All the things a basic human being would do, waking up, showering, having a conversation, are 200x harder for those whose body is not that of their mind. The constant internal battle between mind and body is what drives our future generation to drastic measures; as one of these youths, I would know.

I came out as a trans man nearly five years ago. My GP referred me to a Gender Identity Clinic in 2018 - I have only just started hormone replacement therapy this year. For the "best years of my life" I was stuck in a healthcare limbo; life was hard growing up, made even harder by the fact that I felt like a social outcast, one thing I would always tell myself "things would have been so much easier if you were just born normal". Now that I have grown up, I can see that it has made me stronger, but no child deserves to feel like they don't belong simply because they don't understand why they feel different to everyone else.

The waiting times for Gender Identity Clinics in the UK are shockingly long and it’s hurting the trans community. We are sick and tired of being told to wait 14-18 months, we are sick and tired of actually waiting 25-31 months and we are sick and tired of being so physically exhausted with the way that we are that it is driving us to the edge.

According to the BBC in, over 13,500 trans and non-binary adults are on waiting lists for NHS gender identity clinics in England. It’s unacceptable - and I’m calling on the Government to urgently provide more funding for these life-changing services.

The Government are the only ones with the power to help, so we are appealing to you now. Help us. We are struggling to fight any longer, with the rapid increase of transgender population percentage, it’s time to fund the clinics we so desperately need. We as human beings have a right to expression, and a right to life, those of us that cannot afford to live, let alone pay for doctors appointments and excessive prescriptions fees, are being deprived of those rights.

Most of us can not afford to pay for private health care, it can cost up to £50,000 to pay privately. Many say that these could potentially be classed as cosmetic and therefore don’t have to be Government funded, well to that I say this:

Our way of life (completely unchosen and unwished for) causes mountains of mental health problems that are infecting us, as a collective.

We need your help, desperately. All you have to do is sign this, it won’t harm you or your way of life in any way, it’s just enough for us to be heard. Please support the trans and non-binary community by signing my petition today.