March 29, 2024

Trans kids are using GoFundMe to pay for their transitions

The internet crowdfunding site GoFundMe does not hesitate to cancel fund-raising efforts which it deems objectionable. It froze millions of dollars in an account supporting Canada’s anti-mandate truckers. It cancelled a fund-raiser to pay the legal fees of Australian rugby star Israel Folau over allegedly homophobic social media posts. It recently suspended a fundraiser by conservative star Candace Owens.

So it is a bit surprising to see that it supports crowdfunding by teenagers who want to finance transgender transitions, which can involve surgery as radical as double mastectomies.

One example is a fund-raiser by a British teen, Emily, who was transitioning from boy to girl when the UK’s gender identity clinic had to close its doors after the Keisha Bell case. To raise funds to support puberty blockers, Emily and his mother turned to GoFundMe. They easily reached their goal of £13,000. At least two anonymous donors gave £1,000.

The Daily Mail reported that a doctor who has been deregistered in the UK has set up an internet site in Spain to help children transition. Helen Webberley advises them on how to use GoFundMe effectively to raise donations. “GoFundMe have indicated that they are happy to host and release the funds for crowdfunders raising money for trans kids to get private transgender healthcare and puberty blockers prescribed by GenderGP,” says the website.

Webberley gives tips like: use brightly coloured graphics, use engaging videos, create an emotive script, share the fund-raising link widely, and post regular updates.

The Daily Mail claims that “hundreds” of children in Britain are crowdfunding to pay for their transition.

A group lobby against transgender transitions, Transgender Trend, told the Daily Mail: “What is happening is dangerous for a whole generation because no one knows the consequences. Crowdfunding has meant that vulnerable young people can go to private doctors in the UK and abroad, who take their money for drugs and surgery with fewer questions asked.”