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Transgender Performance Artist Crowdfunds Gender Reassignment Surgery
By
Lauren Evans
Published Nov 18, 2013
Modified Nov 18, 2013
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Nov 18, 2013
Modified Nov 18, 2013
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Those who can crowdfund, do. Which is why 32-year-old Shakina Nayfack is now raising money online to help finance her gender reassignment surgery through the site YouCaring.com, which helps users pay for "personal causes & life events."
Nayfack, a performance artist and theater director who lives in Washington Heights, turned to the site to help raise the $52,500 required to undergo a complete transformation, including facial feminization, in order to "finally be able to live and enjoy my life in a body that makes sense to me," she told the Daily News.
YouCaring.com spokesman Brock Ketcher, however, is a bit scandalized by Nayfack's use of the site, the mission of which is to help pay for "medical expenses, memorial/funeral expenses, tuition help, adoption fundraising, mission trips, animal/pet rescue or helping a neighbor in need." Despite that gender reassignment surgery very clearly falls within the parameters of "medical expenses," Ketcher told the tabloid that he finds Nayfack's mission "disturbing."
"Individuals are free to use our site for causes that are personally important to them, even if it may not line up with our personal views or morals," Ketcher told us in a statement. "Obviously, we never intended for our site to be used for causes such as this, but if an individual is sincere and abides by our terms of service we wish them the best."
So far, Nayfack has only raised $1,421, which is $2,419 less than Jessi Arrington raised for the World's Largest Rainbow Birthday Parade and $24,183 less than was raised for Grilled Cheesus. Because that's the world we live in.
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crowdfunding
gender reassignment surgery
Lauren Evans
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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