Transgender Man Expresses Dislike for Lack of Medical Care

Yet life didn’t always go swimmingly. In 2013 Ian realized he was born in the wrong body and began his transformation from a woman into a man.

“Dressing and being seen as a man caused something to click in me, and although I had fought the feelings for years, I knew that I had to be myself to save my life,” he writes.

He is a full time drag show performer, director, and host who picked his current name.

“I’ve always loved the name Ian and taking it as my performer name just seemed right,” he says.

Townsley notes that what he enjoys most about being transgender is having a unique perspective of what it means to be a man because living as a woman for most of his life let him be more aware and sensitive than someone who was male at birth. What he enjoys least is “being seen as a threat” and the lack of medical care in America for transgender people.

“The hoops we have to jump through to get medically necessary hormones or even surgeries is appalling. Even when paying for these surgeries ourselves, we have to provide therapist letters, doctor recommendations, and undergo medical testing to ensure we are ‘ready’ to take this step to being ourselves. If a cisgender person wanted to have a surgery to alter their bodies, they don’t have to do the same things, so why should we?” he asks.

Most of his family did not accept it when he told them who he was. However, most of his friends did though many took a long time to accept and use the correct pronouns.

Townsley’s advice to children who feel they are in the wrong body is to educate themselves. He is also the current Mister Texas US of A MI Classic.