In the last two years, I have hosted several events in my backyard. I’ve hosted a play that ended up going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a queer artist showcase, a comedy show, several clothing swaps, an art market, and several themed parties. My final one was by far my favorite.
A couple of months ago my friend told me that they were considering getting gender-affirming surgery, but the cost made it all feel unrealistic. I assured them that their community would be there for them and I would help them to figure it out. We teamed up with another friend also getting gender-affirming surgery to host a fundraiser that would take place in my backyard. This event was a huge success! For the first three hours, attendees could play games and pay for a tattoo, a piercing, or a haircut from our licensed vendors! We also included concessions and a merch table with polaroids, jewelry, and art that would all go toward the fundraiser. We concluded the event with a talent show put on by several friends. We had a range of acts from juggling to drag to bands to comedy. In the end we raised about $3,000 after our expenses to go toward my friends' gender-affirming surgeries. I am constantly in awe of the community of queer people here in New York and cannot believe how successful this event ended up being.
I am sadly leaving my current apartment soon and will no longer be able to host events at this scale in my space anymore. (However, I am considering taking this as a sign to get into event planning, during my off seasons for photography of course.)
While we raised a lot of money, gender-affirming surgery is still expensive Consider donating to Ro or Em’s gender-affirming surgery funds:
