We too have the rainbow flag out for almost a year now. And you got friends over here too.moonshadow wrote: ↑Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:38 pmNow let's stop that.
There is nothing statistically to fear in the U.S.
Are things a little more dangerous for a trans person as opposed to any other group? Perhaps, but the risk is still small. For every one trans-person who has a physical confrontation here, there must be tens of thousands who don't.
The biggest threat to trans-people is financial, by ways of employment discrimination, an issue you won't face as you'd be a visitor.
I occasionally see trans women out and about in places like Kingsport TN, and Johnson City TN.
My advice, if you change you mind, is to use common sense. Not to be insensitive, but you must be honest with yourself as to whether you "pass" or not. I know many Trans people reading this are probably getting offended, but your safety is more important in certain situations.
If you're getting "sir'ed" often enough, then yes, you stand a chance of being assaulted for entering a women's restroom, so in that case, just use the men's. Some states mandate this anyway.
States shaded blue on our map likely have transgender protections codified in law. Red states probably don't. ASSAULT IS ILLEGAL IN ALL STATES... YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO LIVE YOUR LIFE IN PEACE FROM CALIFORNIA TO MAINE, ALASKA TO TEXAS.
AND our constitution applies to visitors too.
In any case, take time to familiarize yourself with the local (state) laws of any U.S. state your are planning on visiting.
Read the book: Real Queer America by Samantha Allen, who writes about her experience as a trans-woman living in the south... there are challenges, but it's not as bad as you'd think.
I picked this up at the Kingsport TN 2018 PRIDE celebration. It's a good read.
And don't forget, you have friends here!
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I've had this out since early December (it replaced my other PRIDE flag that was fading, having been out over a year now)...
... nobody has harassed us yet... no scraping eggs of the house, no cleaning toilet paper out of the trees, no busted windows... we did have one homophobic neighbor move away... but is that really a bad thing
But some US state law do not recognize the form of marriage my wife and I have. (same sex marriage) You can say that this is not a big deal, until you end up in a hospital. Then we don't got the same rights that you and Jen have.
Over here in Europe there are countries that are not save for LGBT people, like Poland and Hungary. The Netherlands is not perfect, but it is a save place to be with the same rights for LGBT people as any other people living here.
We just sit and wait, and have our holidays in Norway instead until things turn to normal in the USA.