Trans man from Eastbourne is raising money for surgery

Tyler Gillett is hoping to get chest surgery – known as top surgery – privately, as he could have to wait another two years on the NHS.

The 22-year-old has been binding his chest for five and a half years so his body better matches his gender identity.

But this is uncomfortable and can even cause breathing problems.

Tyler said getting the surgery would be, “the biggest relief physically and mentally. It would be a breath of fresh air.

“I would be able to breathe properly for the first time, it would be the biggest opportunity.”

At 17, Tyler started binding his chest to alleviate the dysphoria he was feeling.

Gender dysphoria is described by the NHS as a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity.

For Tyler, who was born biologically female, he realised he was a man just after his 17th birthday.

He said, “It’s the feeling of disconnect from my body and my identity.

“It’s something I have been dealing with most of my life that only came about in later teenage years.

“I was seeing photos of myself and looking in the mirror and not agreeing with what I saw

“That’s when I really identified [as male] and started to do something about it.”

Wearing a binder, he says, quickly became the crux of his identity.

“I knew that without hormones,” said Tyler, “I wouldn’t be able to change how I looked or sounded, so I cherished my binder and the appearance it gave me.

“Since then, I have worn my binder every single day and now, I can’t leave the house without wearing it.

“There are some days where I can’t even be in my own flat without wearing it because I feel so uncomfortable in my skin.”

By the age of around 21, he started taking testosterone, which deepened his voice and meant he started to grow facial hair.

He has been wearing the binder since January 2015, and says he has got used to the discomfort.

Tyler said, “It’s an ache that feels like a part of you but at the end of the day there’s a sense of release, your ribs have been compressed.

“After so long it only does so much. It’s knowing I can’t do certain things... I haven’t been swimming for about five and a half years.”

Current government guidelines for gender reassignment surgery waiting lists are officially around three months – but Tyler says this is more like 18 months or even two years in reality, and could take even longer due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Other trans people he knows have had their surgery delayed or got ‘lost in the system’, said Tyler, which he called ‘heartbreaking’.

He received a referral for top surgery in March 2020, but he believes it would take a significantly shorter time if he went private.

Tyler needs to raise around £6,500 to do so, and said his need for the surgery has grown more desperate as his dysphoria has spiralled.

“There have been days where I’ve not left my bed and moments where I’d rather die than have to continue living in the skin that I’m in,” he wrote on his online fundraising page.

“I’m not saying this for shock value or to get you to feel sorry for me, I’m just being plainly honest about my emotions and how I came to make the decision I’m making.”

He said, “I didn’t feel like I deserved to do this and I don’t feel like I’m entitled to the help but it is something that is truly important to me and I feel is necessary to get where I need to be.”

A lab technician, Tyler says he will be adding his own savings to the online fundraiser, which is on GoFundMe.

Visit: https://gf.me/u/yfi6pi

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, here are some resources which could help.

• NHS advice on gender dysphoria

• The Gender Identity Development Service, a clinic to support young people by the NHS - call 020 8938 2030/1

• The Gender Research and Education Society

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