Crowdfunding success for transgender surgery campaign

By JAMES WONG

A Northcote man has successfully used crowdfunding to raise money for chest surgery as part of his transgender transition.

Spencer Gorman started his campaign through crowdfunding website Chuffed and reached his target of $5000 in under 48 hours.

“It was really overwhelming watching the crowdfunding take off. To see how many people I knew, and also didn't know, donate,” Mr Gorman said.

People sharing the campaign on Twitter and Facebook were a part of its success,  he said.

"I had a heap of really cool people on Twitter share it,” he said. “I had lots of cis-gender, heterosexual friends share it. They had their friends share it. It was everyone coming together and looking at it.”

Mr Gorman chose to crowdfund his chest surgery because of a lack of other funding options. The surgery is considered elective and is not eligible for Medicare funding.

“Unfortunately in Australia there's no public coverage for chest surgery and it's something that I don't really see as an option as far as whether or not I get it,” Mr Gorman said.

“I need it to feel comfortable … so it was just about how I was going to fund it.

“It's seen to be elective; it's really not elective. That's the rationale, they see it as an elective procedure and I don't. No trans person I've ever met has gone, 'yeah it's definitely a choice’.”

Transgender Victoria executive director Sally Goldner said the need for transgender people to turn to crowdfunding was a major failing of Australia's health system.

Ms Goldner blamed the problem on both a lack of understanding about the needs of transgender people and prejudice against them.

“Part of the problem is what I would have to believe is a breach of Federal discrimination laws. That this is not being done in the public system due to plain prejudice," she said.

“There's virtually no teaching of trans and gender-diverse, and for that matter all of LGBTI in tertiary education and in TAFE courses.

“It just hasn't caught up with the issues. In terms of existing health professionals … a lot of them are unaware."

Both Mr Gorman and Ms Goldner said progress was being made towards recognising the needs of the transgender community in Victoria.

Transgender Victoria has been working with the medical community to better educate healthcare professionals about the needs of transgender people and public awareness of transgender issues is growing.

Mr Gorman said trans people had become "a lot louder" in the past year or two.

“The public knowledge on trans issues has gone from a comedian on television in a dress being Frank-N-Furter, to being real people who have real lives and who do real things and who work in our community," he said.

“I am so hopeful for the future. I've seen so much change just in the last few years and I hope it only just gets better and better for my young friends and my older friends.”

The next step for Gorman is hosting a fundraising music gig at The Old Bar in Fitzroy this Thursday, May 5. It will feature local Melbourne artists, including Wil Wagner, Two Steps on the Water, and Georgia Maq.

Tickets for the event are $15 and proceeds will go towards Gorman’s surgery and recovery.