gender confirmation surgery

  • Jazz Jennings on embracing her body and uplifting the trans community

    Jazz Jennings has spent most of her life in front of the camera, sharing her story as a transgender teenager on the show, I am Jazz. From her mental health to medical appointments, Jennings has remained open about her struggles along the way, and in the upcoming 7th season, the LGBTQ+ activist gets candid about her weight. Last summer, Jennings posted a photo wearing a swimsuit on the beach, after doctors suggested that she lose weight before having a medical procedure. “That moment last year was really important because I was showing my from the surgery — the gender confirmation surgery. Because I had to undergo a special surgery, they had to use extra skin graphs, so in most people don't have scars like that, but because of my special surgery, I have those scars and I'm proud of them.” Though Jennings has gained weight since taking that photo, she assures fans that her focus on weight loss has little to do with vanity. She remains committed to living and eating better for her health, not her size. “I love myself and my body every shape and size that I am. You know, even being a bigger girl now, I still love my body and I love being me,” says Jennings. Now 20, Jennings is ready to tackle her next challenge. After taking some time off after high school, Jennings is excited to start college and embark on a new chapter in her life — dating. Identifying as pansexual, Jennings says that the only thing she is looking for in a potential partner is authenticity. “I look at a person's soul and energy rather than their exterior shell. I think the body is just a vessel and that a person's core lies within, and I'm just more attracted to a person who has a beautiful soul. So whether they're transgender, cisgender non-binary, whatever their religion, sex orientation is, it doesn't really matter to me. I just love a person for being them," says Jennings.

  • South Dakota House Approves Bill That Would Jail Doctors For Treating Transgender Youth

    LGBTQ groups have blasted House Bill 1057, which would make it a misdemeanor for physicians to offer gender confirmation surgery to patients under 16.

  • Jazz Jennings Shares Scars From Gender Confirmation Surgery To Encourage Self-Love

    "I call them my battle wounds," the 19-year-old transgender activist said.

  • Jazz Jennings puts scars from gender confirmation surgery on ‘full display’ in swimsuit photo

    Transgender activist Jazz Jennings puts her scars from gender confirmation surgery on display for the first time in a new swimsuit photo.

  • What I Wish I Knew Before I Had Top Surgery

    Among other things, I didn't expect for it to feel terrifyingly lonely.

  • Pentagon To Pay For Soldier’s Gender Confirmation Surgery

    The surgery Tuesday was the first to be approved under a waiver allowing military payment.

  • Trans Folks Now Have A Safe Space To Recover From Gender Confirmation Surgery

    "A space like Rhys's Place is desperately needed not just in Chicago, but all over."

  • Stunning Before And After Photos Depict The Journey Of Gender Confirmation Surgery

    "Freedom, progress, diversity, respect." These are the goals photographer Claudia Gonzalez expressed to The Huffington Post. Contemporary Cuba has made great strides in LGBT rights since the 1960s, when many gay men were forced into labor camps under Fidel Castro's rule.

  • Doctors Who Perform Gender Confirmation Surgery 'Need To Go To Jail,' According To This Right-Wing Source

    Peter LaBarbera of Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality took aim at the transgender community in an appearance on “The Janet Mefferd Show” last week, arguing that doctors who perform gender confirmation surgeries were "exploiting" their patients. "This is one of the most grotesque things," LaBarbera, who claimed to have attended a "transgender conference," said in a broadcast, as Right Wing Watch first reported.

  • Trans Woman Explains Why Gender Reassignment Surgery Can Be 'Life Or Death' Procedure

    Transgender performance artist Shakina Nayfack sat down with HuffPost Live this week to discuss her efforts to crowdfund the cost of her gender confirmation surgery. A theater director, writer, producer, and performer, Nayfack has been out as transgender since 2001. Check out the clip above to hear Nayfack's whole story, or click here to watch the whole HuffPost Live segment.

  • Great News For Duke University's Transgender Community

    Duke University has now joined the growing list of universities and colleges that offer health insurance coverage for  gender confirmation surgery for transgender students. Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek confirmed that administrators signed a new contract with the university's health insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, that will include up to $50,000 to cover gender confirmation surgery, according to the Duke Chronicle. Wasiolek also stated that all pivotal aspects of transgender health care such as counseling, hormone therapy and surgery will be included in the coverage.