One of the reasons I recently left my home state of Missouri to try to make my home in Los Angeles is because I'm a bisexual feminist but don't always feel safe being myself. In fact, my main goal now is to put down roots in a place of progress. Given the current state of our country’s political climate, I know I’m not the only queer person who feels this way: Last week, I read Frank Bruni’s New York Times article, “ America’s Most Gay The bad (and best) thing about it,” and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it ever since. As Bruni said, “If the Trump administration doesn’t protect gay people, we’ll be at the mercy of our zip codes.” “Even though same-sex marriage has been federally legal in the United States for more than two years, that doesn’t mean that the U.S. government, or even the American people as a whole, are queer-friendly.
Legalizing same-sex marriage is undoubtedly a big step forward in the fight for LGBTQ rights, but the fight is far from over. Indeed, LGBTQ rights have been under attack of late. Last May, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation protecting faith-based adoption groups that refuse to place children with gay parents — and Texas followed suit shortly thereafter. Just last week, Trump ordered the U.S. military to stop accepting transgender men and women as recruits. As if that wasn't disturbing enough, 20 states currently do not have hate crime laws that specifically protect LGBTQ individuals.
Fortunately, it's not all bad for LGBTQ people in America. From sea to shining sea, there are cities and even entire states that welcome and protect LGBTQ people and their families. Unfortunately, under the Trump administration, it’s become more important than ever to know where it’s safe to be queer in America. Read on to learn more about the best and worst LGBTQ cities in America.
For LGBTQ working people
Fast Company reported in 2016 that only 19 states and Washington, D.C., have passed laws protecting LGBTQ employees from employer discrimination. In these states, including Washington and Oregon, employees cannot be discriminated against based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Three other states, including New York, have laws protecting employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity. In 26 states, including my home state of Missouri, there are absolutely no statewide protections for LGBTQ people. To make matters worse, states like Tennessee and Arkansas have actually banned local LGBTQ protections in more progressive cities like Little Rock.
California, on the other hand, takes discrimination against LGBTQ people so seriously that it recently banned government-funded travel to states it considers dangerous discrimination. Speaking of...
For future LGBTQ parents
Despite a 2016 federal ruling by U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan declaring blocking adoptions by same-sex couples unconstitutional, as many as 33 states still have no laws allowing second same-sex parents to adopt. In Texas and Alabama, taxpayer-funded adoption agencies and child welfare agencies can legally refuse to place children in homes with gay parents. For LGBTQ parents-to-be in America, going the biological route isn't always an option. Seven states, including New York, have laws banning gestational surrogacy.
Fortunately, the Human Rights Campaign reports that more and more birthparents are actively choosing same-sex partners over opposite-sex ones. Additionally, there are LGBTQ-friendly adoption agencies across the country. From Burlington, Kentucky, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, there are agencies that welcome and support hopeful LGBTQ parents and families.
For LGBTQ Teens
According to a study conducted by San Francisco State University, LGBTQ children who are "rejected" by their families and/or undergo gay conversion therapy have three times the risk of contracting HIV and STIs than other children. Eight times more likely than other children to commit suicide. Still, 41 states currently do not have any statewide laws to protect LGBTQ youth from gay conversion therapy, and Vice President Mike Pence has actively supported the practice throughout his political career. This is despite the fact that gay conversion therapy—sometimes called “sexual orientation change efforts” or “reparative therapy”—has been condemned by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association as both highly ineffective and extremely dangerous. Medical Association.
The good news is that gay conversion therapy for minors has been banned in Connecticut, California, Nevada, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New York, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. It is also encouraging that some traditionally more conservative states, such as Ohio and Florida, have banned abuse in many more gay-friendly cities. Just last week, people in Athens, Ohio, joined Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo and Dayton in voting to protect the city's LGBTQ youth from conversion therapy.
Additionally, in places like Grass Lake, Michigan, schoolchildren are encouraged to use bathrooms that match their gender identity. Several southern states, namely Kansas City, Missouri, have a variety of resources and safe spaces designed specifically for the well-being of transgender children.
For LGBTQ people who don’t want to leave red states
I can tell you from experience that there are many reasons why many LGBTQ people can’t or simply don’t want to leave red states. In fact, some of the most queer-friendly cities in America, like Seattle and New York, are also the most expensive. Also, if you or your partner were born in Kansas, you probably don't want to move all the way to Portland. Indeed, many LGBTQ people want to change their communities rather than flee them for a friendlier political climate.
Fortunately, even the most anti-LGBTQ countries have their own progressive havens. If you're a queer person living in Missouri, Kansas City welcomes you. If you are an LGBTQ person living in Tennessee, Short Mountain Shelter is your safe space. If you're a queer person in Alaska, Anchorage is the place to be. If you're an LGBTQ person living in a red state not mentioned here, check out this list of the most gay-friendly cities in each red state in the United States. Because no matter where you live in America, you deserve the right to exist and have a place you can safely call home.
