A picture I drew in 2021.
When I think about my transness, one thing that I believe is inherently intertwined with that aspect of my identity is my fatness. I find there to be power in the body. But the combination of being trans and fat, particularly due to the lack of representation of fat bodies in trans spaces, is something that has always bothered me.
Read more: I Love My Fat, Trans BodyIt’s one reason I really enjoyed this article (https://medium.com/@sbearbergman/please-come-and-be-fat-cc04ed4d8772) that I found online some years ago. It really spoke to me as someone who struggled to pursue top surgery due to being fat. I had to pay out of pocket for this life changing surgery because the only surgeon in the state that accepted my insurance had a BMI limit; which, if you did not know, BMI is an outdated practice – a BMI limit for top surgery instead shows a lack of effort on the surgeon’s part to learn to work with fat patients, a problem which would be solved with more representation – more patients, more outreach, more effort.
Top surgery was monumental in my journey to loving my body. It saddens me so incredibly much to hear other fat trans folks talking about the lack of representation in our community, because I’ve also seen how much we get talked over by our thin counterparts. Even within the trans community, the lack of representation of fat bodies has lead to many thin trans individuals not understanding the unique struggles that come with being a fat trans person.
I love my fat, trans body, and I want everyone with the same experience to be able to say that.
Unruly Bodies 
I find this post is incredibly inspiring. The embrace of yourself, especially in a world where your identities are often overlooked or marginalized, is such a powerful statement of self-love and resilience. The lack of representation of fat bodies in trans spaces is a real issue, and it’s heartbreaking to hear how you writer struggled to access top surgery due to BMI limitations, which reflect a broader systemic failure to accommodate and respect fat trans bodies. Yet, the way you continue to love and advocate for your body, despite the challenges, is truly empowering.
It makes me so happy to see people get to experience this kind of freedom and joy and self love and so sad to see the hurdles that are repeatedly shoved in front of people trying to experience it – especially such arbitrary ones such as BMI and insurance acceptance. I’m lucky enough to have good coverage through my parents’ state jobs but have watched so many of my loved ones struggle to receive the care they need because insurance decided that they should have gotten better with what they’d gotten already and refused appeal or have to through DIY means to recieve HRT because of payment complications.
I also ADORE this drawing – the heart nipples and spirals on the joints are so lovely and whimsical and express so much of that love for yourself and your body.