Drag Race star Gia Gunn is crowdfunding for surgery to complete her transition
Gia can punch a joke right back (@gia_gunn/Instagram).
RuPaul’s Drag Race alumna Gia Gunn, who wowed audience with her fishiness in Season 6 of the hit reality show, has announced she is to undergo gender confirmation surgery to complete her transition.
The performer has created a GoFundMe page named Gia’s Transition Surgery in order to solicit donations from fans who wish to help her pay for the surgery fees.
In a message to her “fans and loved ones,” Gunn opened up about her journey towards accepting her female identity.
“I had to work through my feelings of confusion and prove to myself that my spirit is female and I am indeed destined to be a woman,” Gunn wrote on Twitter.
“I’ve spent the last 10 years working hard towards this journey of self-discovery and am so grateful to all who have generously shared your continuous support and love,” she goes on, “which has allowed me to reach a point of genuine happiness.”
In 2017, after coming out as transgender in an Instagram video on Transgender Visibility Day, Gunn discussed her transition on YouTube.
“My gender identity is something I have struggled with for quite some time now, and I can’t express to you how amazing and happy I am to finally be living my full truth,” she said.
Gunn explained how she worked for years on understanding herself and her identity and reflected on the possibility of undergoing surgery.
“What I choose to do with my body has nothing to do with the reality of me being a woman,” she wrote.
In the GoFundMe post, Gunn said she has been on hormones for the past three years and revealed the various surgeries she wished to complete.
“I am looking to get full B cup implants and a fat transfer to my butt and hips to create a more feminine body shape, without having to do silicone,” she said.
The two procedures, along with anaesthesia and post-op fees, amount to $29,500.
So far, a total of 100 people have donated $2,520 to Gunn’s GoFundMe page.
Alaska Thunderfuck, another Drag Race alumna, who won the second All Stars edition of the competition, donated $1,000 to Gunn’s campaign under her real name, Justin Honard.
Thunderfuck also called on fans to donate to Gunn’s campaign on Twitter.
Fans of Gunn have been supportive of her transitioning and saluted her decision to undergo gender confirmation surgery.
The performer filmed a 30 day YouTube series documenting her transition, in which she discussed several subjects, including health, humiliation, self-love, coming out, acceptance and drag.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qw7OQj9dkg]
Drag Race host RuPaul experienced strong backlash in March when he said he wouldn’t let a contestant participate in the show if they had fully transitioned.
Discussing Season 9 contestant Peppermint, who was in the process of transitioning when the season was filmed, RuPaul told the Guardian: “Peppermint didn’t get breast implants until after she left our show, she was identifying as a woman, but she hadn’t really transitioned.”
When asked whether a fully transitioned drag queen would be allowed to compete, he answered: “Probably not. You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body.”
Following the Guardian interview and intense criticism, RuPaul doubled-down on Twitter when he compared trans queens to doping athletes, tweeting: “You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics.”
