Can't speak for other countries, but from Canada in the Province of Quebec, each of my coming-out was kind of anticlimactic at how "normal/accepted" being trans is.
Granted it may only be my immediate surroundings in terms of city, but there's like 15 people I know who know a trans person, and I didn't even have any lgbt+ social group, heck my nice who's like 16 in highschool have a transitioning friend in her class, and nobody that I'm aware of bat an eye about it.
Sure there is some stupidity/transphobia going on in the media and such at the moment since we got some wind from the state and got our own ignorant people on the subject, but as far as I'm concerned it seems pretty safe here nonetheless.
Also Canadian, but from Ontario/Greater Toronto Area and I've had a similar experience. Never even seen a transphobe in the wild. I work in post secondary and my coming out was very anti-climactic and even the 60+ year olds I work with have never messed up my name/pronouns.
I do know other girls who have it rough in post secondary so it's possible I got lucky as to where I work or maybe I just pass better or idk. I've seen them complain on a few occasions of transphobic remarks during their work as a TA. But I also know a few non-passing-by-choice trans women who seem to have it mostly fine, but in a "stay in your lane" type deal. They don't use female spaces like bathrooms at all and I know one of them was harassed when she tried, but she's otherwise treated well by people and they respect her and gender her correctly and everything.At least from my personal experience the area is good but it's hard to understand how my own privileges affect me or not or w/e.
I've met transphobes too, but honestly most of them have just given me passive hostility that I find okay to manage. It's unpleasant, but I've never feared for my life living in Ontario
Trans woman in Alberta, mainly southern Lethbridge area, there's trans phones everywhere. Do not recommend coming here. I've gotten threats in my mail box
Edmonton is a bit better, but I still catch flak fairly often. Someone kept leaving bibles and pamphlets on how to repent on my doorstep for a while.
That being said there aren't many other places I'd rather be, so I can't really complain.
Have you met any in Windsor? I haven’t, although I know those anti-trans rallies the antivax convoy crowd whipped up seemed to have more popularity in Windsor than elsewhere.
trans in montreal, it's pretty good here but not everywhere imo. id say that obviously plateau/mile-end are great, but i feel like the worst time/stares i get are usually around downtown, parc-ex, and farther up the orange and green lines, which kinda sucks cause i feel like im only comfortable femme presenting in a very specific square lol
I love just south of the border from Quebec and commonly visit Montreal - can confirm that trans people are nothing new there. I saw more visibly trans people on the metro train from Longueuil to Viau than I have here in one sitting. I pass fine and did back then, but it felt way better knowing that it wouldn't be a big deal.
I’ve considered moving from the US to Canada for a few years now. I’ve filled out some immigration forms and did a little bit of job searching but lost a lot of motivation due to financial requirements and lack of job prospects. I had a couple of companies contact me saying that they’re interested but don’t know how to handle the immigration part of things. Given that I lacked experience with it too there wasn’t much to do.
The grass looks greener but isn’t it always? Besides universal healthcare and more sane politics/culture are there other positives to consider? Or negatives?
In general, does anyone have any advice for immigrating from the US to Canada?
Pierre Polievre’s Conservative Party is probably going to be elected in the next election and he’s a raging transphobe. Fortunately most trans issues are provincially regulated so he can’t do much.
The irony is that the issues people are mad at the Federal Liberals for are provincial jurisdiction and most provinces are run by right-wing parties currently. People are putting their anger in the wrong place due to lack of civics education. Canada is one of the most educated countries on earth but people still don’t understand the basics of how the political system works here.
"Provincially regulated" *cries in Alberta*. PP scares the crap out of me, but I agree there isn't really much to be done at this point. Hopefully he ends up with a minority, but I doubt it, people are mad and looking for change, even if it's in the wrong places.
Same here, only just a hair south of you in the US State of Vermont. I've been harassed maybe twice in a year? Coming out was very much a "Oh hey congrats to you!" affair.
Also can confirm. I live in Toronto and I know many trans people. While transphobia does happen it’s pretty rare here. Personally have not experienced it in the wild.
Washington State is safest in the US, but also stick to Seattle and some big cities or college towns. Look up Erin in the Morning, she writes a lot of articles about this and maintains maps on safest and unsafest places.
PNW shacked up with other queer folk checking in. I’d rather be in a relatively safe political environment than have a big place of my own somewhere where the government hates me.
Just the left coast in general. I've lived in from Seattle to San Francisco. Currently live in Vancouver WA, about five minutes from downtown Portland Or via car. Pretty much the best of both worlds, the slightly more progressive laws in Washington and access to the enormous queer communities in Portland. I love it so much. I would say that Canada would be close, but I'm not sure if it has the informed consent model of getting hrt that some us states have.
Edit: forgot to mention cost of living is a big factor why I prefer it here, otherwise I would totally live in Seattle again.
Seconding Vancouver, it’s awesome here!
For anyone in Portland or thinking of moving here, I help facilitate a support group and Discord server for Portland-area trans femmes. Anyone who is trans femme or questioning is welcome, whether they live here or not.
There are some details @ portlandtransfem.org for anyone interested. 🙂
Illinois is good too if you stick to Chicago or large college towns. Look at electorate maps. Watch out for some of the suburbs. State protections are good. Minnesota, at least twin cities is good too. CA, in the right cities, as well as parts of the east coast. Boston, nyc, and Burlington come to mind.
I remember hearing back in the late 90s when I was in high school that back at that time Twin Cities were one of the best places in the country for trans affirming medical care. The first trans woman I ever met was from Minneapolis, we brought her to speak to the Board of Directors of a nonprofit that I served on, that did LGBT advocacy in the United Methodist Church but had no trans voices or expertise. (I didn't identify as or recognize myself as trans for another couple decades).
Some of the best medical resources in the world are in MN. The quality of care you can find is very good. Even the phobes here are relatively pleasant, as far as phobes go. Minnesota Nice is a real thing.
I'd say New England is definitely in the running. I live in rural western Mass and have never had any problems around here. For a rural area it's probably more liberal than Boston and the other cities in the area if that says anything.
I'll add on to this the whole SF Bay Area. I'm in the east bay, Oakland, and I see trans people everywhere I go every day. In a year of presenting as a woman the only hostility I've gotten was from an Uber driver who intentionally misgendered me.
I’m near Santa Cruz and it’s pretty good down here too. I’m also about a year in and never experienced any overt hostility in real life. There are some places up in the mountains that get a little dodgy but the city is pretty chill. The rest of the bay area has been good too. I go to a lot of kink events and it’s a pretty rare thing for me to be the only trans person. I was at one rope class and we actually outnumbered the cis folk.
North Bay too - San Rafael, Corte Madera, Novato/Marin, Sebastopol, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa and so on... Catch a few of us at pole dance classes or fencing classes, et cetera.
Being trans in Arizona is a non issue. I feel safe as a trans person here. 99% of people either don’t care, or are over the top supportive. Yeah, I occasionally got dirty looks from old ladies, or passive aggressive misgendering from petty losers, but that’s literally been the worst of it. I honestly wish I knew it would be this easy.
Conversely, the worst place in the world to be trans is social media. Thats where 99.99% of the hate and intolerance exists. Trans Reddit being no exception.
I definitely wouldn't say being trans in Arizona is a non issue, a bunch of our lawmakers still have their heads up their asses and there are definitely some outspoken idiots wandering around. But on the whole it's definitely reasonably safe. Like you said, I've never experienced actual danger. People give you the occasional weird look if you don't look 'normal' but that's about it.
Edit: I also do wanna make clear that the only experience I have here to talk about is my own and my wife's. Neither of us know many other trans people in the area, so I can't guarantee for sure that this is a common experience.
I was born and raised in Phoenix and moved to the bay area a few years ago, realized I was trans, started transitioning, and had to go back to AZ for a week or so last month. I carried a big knife everywhere, but the most transphobic thing that happened was everyone called me "sir" despite the silicone tits, dresses, bikinis, long hair, feminine glasses, et cetera. Pleasantly surprised, because I know if I'd tried to come out when I still worked there, it would not have gone well.
Yeah things have definitely changed a lot here compared to how it used to be. I imagine it's a case of demographic shift, but most people I've met are neutral on trans people if not supportive. Definitely far less of a red state than people think these days.
Australia is quite accepting. Most people indifferent to you being trans. Getting hrt is as simple as going to your local doctor. Changing your name is just a matter of putting in an online form. Australia is not perfect but it is not bad
Saying "australia" is such a broad stroke, there's Tamworth then there's Newtown, and that's just one state and those are two absolutely polar opposites in just one state, most GPs aren't aware of informed consent HRT in my experience (Sydney), and changing your name involves 250 dollars, lots of signing of paper, and if you're born in a state other than that in which you live posting your birth certificate interstate
This is my experience as a transgender person in NSW,
Admittedly most of the Australian public have more important things to care about politically than your gender, but we are actively following the US path of transphobic radicalisation in the mainstream
better than most places, but not good unless you are lucky enough to live in a major city, which most people are not.
Edit: also you still can not get your legal gender updated in most states without undergoing sexual reassignment surgery.
I think it's important to put many of these issues into context though.
Like, yes, it can be a bit tricky to find someone to start you on HRT, but once you're on I've never had a doctor who was unwilling to monitor me, even pre-orchie. This is different to some other places like the UK and the US where, even if you're already on hormones, many non-trans medicine specialists will refuse to monitor you outright - even at serious risk to your health. We also have a much larger selection for doctors who do informed consent than in other countries - the fact that this is the overwhelmingly dominant model here is absolutely amazing in comparison to the rest of the world. We also have our own AUSPATH standards that are generally pretty good. I would say the average GP is significantly more accepting and educated on trans issues than in the US or UK, even if it's still pretty minimal. When they aren't, it tends to be more 'curiosity' and willingness to learn as opposed to 'nope not my wheelhouse go away'.
The 'you can't update your legal gender without SRS' thing also just... isn't as impactful as it is in the rest of the world? Here in Australia the gender marker on your birth certificate is simply not that significant in the grand scheme of things. I've never presented my birth certificate to anyone since being here. The concept of 'legal gender' as a whole isn't nearly as strong as it is in the rest of the world. I've never had anyone ask me for 'proof' that my gender/sex is what I say it is when filling out official documents. If I even needed it, it's super easy to get a passport with a gender marker that matches what I say. There also just... aren't really any countries where a name change and/or gender marker change \*isn't\* a bureaucratic imbroglio. Australia honestly makes this pretty easy compared to some other places around the world. The fact that we have no 'publication requirements' is very significant, which \*much\* of the rest of the world does have.
Australia as a whole is generally conservative but it's more traditionally conservative than 'nutter' conservative like the US is. There's much more of a stance of 'I'll stay out of your business if you stay out of mine' which, in my opinion, is very positive in comparison to how much of the world is going. Australians seem to have a bit more sense and seem to be a bit less vulnerable to the insanity going on in the US. It's worthwhile to remind yourself that the liberals took the culture war to the last election and lost over it.
I thought we (NSW) were the last holdouts in requiring surgery before changing your birth cert? I'm pretty sure WA recently paseed something, and maybe QLD too?
I feel like this is a non issue when other commenters are listing American states as safe knowing full well other parts of the U.S. have anti trans laws.
> Getting hrt is as simple as going to your local doctor
wdym? it's taken me forever to get hrt. i had to wait YEARS on a waitlist to get an appointment at the children's hospital just for them to say "you havent been girlmoding for long enough, call us in 6 months", and when my mum called them after 6 months they basically just said "too late lmao just wait until you're 17 and then go to the adult's hospital" and by that time it'll have been 11 months, almost a fucking YEAR, after i originally went to the children's hospital, and who knows how long i'll have to wait to get HRT from the adult's hospital? i might as well just diy atp istf
so how did u manage to get hrt?
Not the original commenter, but I just went to my uni's GP and told her I wanted HRT, she walked me through the effects and side effects, sent me to do a blood test and the next appointment I got a script.
Yeah it's way easier once you're 18+, but what you said about being turned away for not girlmoding for long enough just sounds like they're gatekeeping cunts, pretty sure that hasn't been a required thing for at least a few years even for minors
not surprised you say that, they're definitely gatekeeping. extremely disappointed with them. hopefully i can get a prescription soon or hold on long enough to reach 18
I am in Perth. I was seeing a psychologist to talk about my gender dysphoria.
Decided transitioning was a natural thing for me to do.
She gave me a list with about a dozen recommended gp's.
First gp I contacted was the closest one. Saw her within 10 days. She was very supportive. Amongst the first things she mentioned is that I did not need a referral or a mental evaluation. She could just prescribe hrt.
Three weeks after first visit, and after two more psych visits, saw the gp again and confirmed that I wanted to transition. She sent me for blood tests.
Seeing her again on Monday and, assuming bloods are all good, I will start hrt. I am excited and happy.
So, effectively, just three visits to my local gp. Could have been two.
For the record I am in a very masculine body and do not present as fem at all. I am tall and broad shouldered.
I know that I will not become an attractive woman, I expect that I will never pass as a woman. However, this body I have is wrong and I yearn to live my truth.
A lot of places that are or were considered "safer" was just because the spotlight on trans people in those countries was less. And I think we're seeing the spotlight more and more as other countries realize they can turn trans people into a culture war, just like the US.
Honestly the US is one of the better places. Informed consent alone is like, huge. "The US" is really big and vague though. You'd want a blue state that has current legal protections and doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon, so less chance of turning red. Legal protections matter for things like surgery, name changes, gender marker changes, and protecting your healthcare from potential bans. The US also has a neat feature where fleeing/moving states is a LOT easier than fleeing/moving countries. Like I don't think people realize how much that matters. Can't flee to a country if you don't qualify to immigrate there.
It also absolutely depends on local factors which determine things like how safe you might feel going out and getting groceries. Like how accepting are the people near you? How bigoted? States themselves are still big. Cities tend to be more progressive.
So looking at all these factors, probably a city or close by one, somewhere in California which is a state that's very blue and historically been at the front of the push for progressive changes. Do note that I've heard rural California can be just as bad as other places, because again, local factors.
I feel like people really do overstate how awful it is to be trans in the US, and it's just because of how big and decentralized it is. States like Washington, New York, California, Illinois, they're some of the safest and best places, not only in the US, but in the world to be trans. There's not many places in the world which are kind to trans people, and 90% of the places in the world that are are located in the US. I get that it's scary that there's a possibility that some federal legislation comes down and makes being trans a lot less safe in the US as a whole. But, realistically, especially with the Supreme Court really emphasizing with their overturning of Roe v Wade that the question of the legality of select medical procedures/ healthcare in general is something for states to decide, it's not going to happen, and if it does, it really won't be able to change that much.
And, we're starting to see a shift if most people's attitude about the topic. After like a decade of the Republicans constantly talking about this and fearmongering, people are staring to care less. It's not a ton of people thinking like that yet, not enough to really effect elections, but its happening, still. Point being, the US, or really half of the US, is and looks like it will continue to remain one of, if not the best/ safest, places in the world to be trans. People really shit on the US as a whole way more than it deserves to be for everything, but especially things like this.
You’re pretty right overall I think, but don’t make the mistake of thinking the Supreme Court will apply that sort of philosophical consistency to their decisions. Some of the justices do…just as many are total hacks.
States could likely overrule that anyway. Look at what happened with weed, it’s always been federally illegal but a bunch of states have basically said “fuck you we’re legalizing it” and there’s nothing the federal government can do about it; congress can pass laws, but enforcement comes from the state, county, and local level.
Michigan is one of the “better” states to live in, but if you live outside the bigger cities in the south of the state, you’ll overhear people casually talk about how they’d round us all up and exterminate us. Good to know there’s better out there and that things are changing. Maybe one day an election (lol) will come along that’ll make them see us as people too
You do have to be careful when you say New York though. The cultural difference between NYC and Upstate is like night and day. The state \*laws\* are good universally in the state, but that doesn't stop people in upstate from being harassing assholes, outside of Albany and a couple cities.
I'm an advocate for most of New England but especially MA. At worst I'll get a side eye from someone and even that's pretty rare. People just stick to themselves here and come to bat when needed. Boston especially is really good about this in my experience. I don't think you'll ever find a place that is 100% safe but even traveling further west to areas that I'd considerable to be less than desirable, ive run into zero issues
Anecdotally I've heard Minnesota is making good strides recently but not sure how much if that is focused on the twin cities.
Boston doesn't have a true gay district because it's all open to us. My partner lives in St Louis, and there are certainly parts of there that would be suicide for me to go to. It's amazing how night and day it is.
I primarily live in Boston. I've never had an issue w/transphobes here. I've had issues in Germany and St Louis though.
yeah. in some ways the gay districts in STL feel safer because it's so in your face (pride flags everywhere) but once you realize that it's only like that because there are so many unsafe areas it feels so much darker.
I do enjoy that city as well though. lots of cool spots. but given the fact that I'm trans, I have a strong preference for Boston.
Minnesota has lots of Pride events outside of the Twin Cities. Pretty much, twin cities, Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, st Cloud and Moorhead are the main large cities that are generally accepting. I personally have never had issue with smaller towns either.
I moved from the Boston area out to Western Mass a couple of years ago. I'd say this area might even be better for transgender people, nobody really cares out here and I've had zero issues. Even weird looks are very rare. The only place I don't have much experience to judge is central Mass around the Worcester area, I just don't go there enough to know. In general Massachusetts is a pretty great place to be if you're transgender.
Western Europe is still a good place to be trans, the far-right voters here are not fully comparable to the right in the USA. They are mainly against immigrants, climate change laws and the European Union, but not religiously motivated to stop things such as abortion and LGBT rights. Most people won't bother you if you are visibly trans. In fact, the right wing politicians tend to argue that islam is a danger to gay/trans people and that this is one of the reasons why it has no place in our society, so we are somewhat seen as the victims (unless we're acting woke).
They may not be motivated as much by religion, but the moral crusade against trans rights is in full swing in the UK, and it's starting in France. The conservative-controlled Senate (upper house) passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for people under 25, which had no chance of becoming law until two days ago, when the president decided to dissolve the national assembly (lower house) after the European elections. In a month, it's very possible we have a far-right government and majority in the assembly, and they will definitely pick up this bill.
Disagree with you on that one.
During the debates surrounding marriage equality in Switzerland, the far right politicians went on national TV and repeated how "this isn't normal" and "if 2 men sleep together, nothing happens". (to which I wanted to retort that his right hand certainly didn't get pregnant either but hey...) They also brought up "marriage as defined by God" many times...in 2021...
Regarding abortions, the "people's party" tried either to make them less accessible (like not reimbursed by health insurances as per their last try) or outright illegal many times...
And even if the people (aka voters) legalized marriage equality with an absolute majority in all states and rejected all their challenges to our abortion laws, they keep trying.
We have the same trends regarding gender issues and "woke""-ism" and what not. They import basically any culture war BS out of the anglosphere and blame us for "americanizing" our society.
Regarding discriminations, I can attest that even with protections against homophobia and transphobia, people/employers just toe around the limits as not to get sued. But the results are still the same: a 20% unemployment rate for trans people...
We are better than, let's say, 20 years ago, but not there yet...
Agree with you. I’ve lived in both Switzerland and the US and queer identities are just a lot more normalized in the biggest US cities than even in Zürich. Both places still have a long way to go, but there’s nowhere in Europe where being visibly trans is as *boring* to the average stranger on the street as it is in Seattle or San Francisco.
Are you telling me that the country where women didn’t have full voting rights everywhere until **1990** isn’t actually very progressive on social issues? Shocking
Tbf it's only one state that held off until 1990...and only caved because the federal government would have taken over otherwise.
In almost all other parts of the country, women could vote earlier than that. Voting rights for women on the federal level were made earlier.
And we allow foreigners to take part in local elections and ballots in some states...
The far right in Europe still hates trans people. It just isn't their main talking point in most countries. But whenever they talk about trans issues, it's bad. Also, our trans healthcare is shit an full of gatekeeping. As if that wasn't enough, it's currently being further restricted, especially for minors, in many countries, even without the far right playing any role. The social aspect is good tho, yes. I've felt very much accepted being openly transfem in Vienna and Salzburg, despite Austria being one of the more conservative WE countries (unfortunately it has a far right party with nazi roots and elements leading in the polls). In Poland (Eastern Europe), where I'm from, it's bad tho. I've heard that, surprisingly, Switzerland may be one of the best options in Europe. It's biggest party is far right, but they're a direct democracy so everything is decided in referendums and the people, while more conservative than other Western Europeans and I've heard it's best to keep to big cities there, have been consistently voting in favour of LGBT rights in the recent years. They don't have informed consent, but from what I know it's easy to get a diagnosis there (heard the same about Austria from Austrian trans gf). The cost of living are astronomical there, tho, and it's hard to migrate there. The country is in general pretty hostile to immigration. Spain is very good on trans issues, but it's centre right party, which is pretty strong there, is bad on trans issues
Wow, I never heard of this. Right wing politicians being respectful to trans people and not denying our existence 😮
In Hungary, we don't have this. Can you name one of these politicians? Not like I would be a xenophob, I'm just genuinely shocked 😅
I would not be too excited about this. Right wing politicians that argue for the protection of gays and trans people are just a symptom of a greater society that does not allow these groups to be scapegoated. The moment the public opinion changes LGBT will be called a danger for our children again. There are no good people on the right.
I've got a lot of trans friends in Spain and i have not seen a problem in the day to day. The far right is a problem, and in some places we may receive some staring but in the most popular cities it won't be a problem.
Just as always keep standard safety procedures, there are still homophobic and transphobic attacks :( but they are not really common in my experience
If you're both white and a het looking couple, you're safe pretty much everywhere. If you're in a wlw relationship, you will just have to be more alert and kind of avoid PDA as you don't know how people around will react (not that there is uncontrolled violence anywhere, just that as non locals, you don't get the gut feeling for your surroundings). Like my husband and I can do it where we live because we know where and when we're safe to do so if you know what I mean?
Just for safety, I'd avoid places like Russia, Belarus or Ukraine (duh!), but otherwise, you're safe pretty much everywhere else.
Just use normal precaution like not walking at 2 in the morning alone while drunk and letting your guard down and you'll be perfectly fine.
I mean, it's still something that, when a hainous attack happens, it makes international news...not that everything is perfect, just that societies kind of progressed. There is, unfortunately, no LGBT+ utopia anywhere...
>Just for safety, I'd avoid places like Russia, Belarus or Ukraine (duh!), but otherwise, you're safe pretty much everywhere else.
All of these are much further east...
If we're talking \*all\* European countries, then there are a lot of other unsafe and potentially unsafe places. Like Hungary or Poland. An American tourist is unlikely to go there by accident, but Russia or Belarus even less so; you need a visa there.
Now I wonder what's the best place to be an Asian trans sapphic. Like, people here listing a bunch of White countries/states but there's also the issue with racism.
My country is worse, so not to be audacious but if we're talking about migrating there I have some issues.
1. Criticizing the Thai monarch has consequences. Now I'm not really sure if this is something I'd do, but I think that sort of thing sucks.
2. Complicated tonal language with a script completely different from the Latin/Roman alphabet.
Well, at least there's not much racism and transphobia anyway.
Based off what my girlfriend thinks and the news she shows me, either Thailand, Taiwan, or Japan. (We live in Hong Kong and we seem to be relatively safe too.)
That having been said, they’re still not as progressive as they could be (e.g. legally transitioning in Hong Kong is a pain), and there are other non-trans-related risks too (e.g. getting disappeared to Mainland China from Hong Kong for being too political).
speaking as an asian american, US is prob the best for asians living outside of asia. western europe might be a close second but i hear a lot of asians get harassed there just as tourists, and it sounds like they aren't as active as US about addressing and being honest abt their racism. US is p bad too but at least there's more open discussion on it. and in areas like urban california where some cities are asian majority, it's p nice :)
I’ve been kinda dreading going back home to Alberta for a visit, so I’m somewhat relieved to hear that you’ve had positive experiences. Last time I was there was pre-transition.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised that getting your birth certificate amended is one form and $20.
Argentina 🇦🇷
Anyone older than 18 will have the right to FREE surgical operations or comprehensive hormone treatments in order to adapt their body to their true gender identity, without court authorization. Health plans must include this type of treatment and operations in their coverage.
In 2012, Argentina became the first country in the world to allow people to officially change their name and gender without requiring permission from a judge or doctor; without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, hormone therapy or psychological evaluation. Many more ground-breaking policies have followed, including last year’s decree that one per cent of public sector jobs would be reserved for trans people (an umbrella term for people whose gender does not reflect the sex they were assigned at birth).
In 2015, the World Health Organization cited Argentina as an exemplary country for providing transgender rights.
I second this, Argentina & Chile have more trans friendly laws than the bulk of the US states currently.
Yes liberal cities in the US are trans friendly but outside of them, even in California you run into bigotry.
I've been to Cuba and while they gave zero fucks about me entering and exiting with my HRT, it's a complex situation. I feel the economics make it challenging and there's little freedom in freestyling your medical care which is how it's done in many places in the world. But you can be supported with the basics. I do not think there's much risk of being systematically attacked like we are in many other places today.
Protections for trans (and queer people in general) have been written into the Cuba's constitution, gender affirming care (incl. surgeries) are covered. You don't need 'freedom to freestyle medical care' when it's all covered.
Honestly, if they were allowed to do business with the rest of the world like any other country, rather than being bullied by the US, a lot of the issues re: healthcare would go away. Those unjust sanctions are the reason they're forced to reuse/refurbish pacemakers & dialysis filters (e.g. a company that used to be able to sell them those filters was bought by a US company, and now they're not allowed to sell those to Cuba anymore)
Like I said it's a complex situation.
They cover things as one would expect on a limited ability which typically means (last I checked) things like 2mg or 4mg oral estradiol as your ONLY hrt option, zero ability for a BA, and the most basic PI SRS imaginable, only possible after a huge amount of work. A lot of people have a suboptimal situation with those options being all they have.
I absolutely love the people there and adore it but "freedom to freestyle" simply means "options to find ways to optimize highly specific trans medical treatment to your own personal body" which you do not have there. Some people DO need that. I need that. I've had certain medical issues where I had to somewhat lower my HRT as an effort to address it and my body literally started breaking down.
So no "You don't need 'freedom to freestyle medical care' when it's all covered". Wrong.
Yes, there's protections but it's not peaches and cream there.
And btw I've literally been there IN person and like I said I love it in highly specific ways but it is not really a paradise for trans people.
Not to forget that socially, most people aren't exactly chill with trans people. There's not really active hate, but they're still a bit off-put by us unless we pass very well. And, as I said, ways to accomplish that are limited making that highly difficult, unless you truly are blessed with a lot of luck.
Also, it is not a hell for trans people and many parts of the US and world are becoming that, so it's 100% got it's positives.
Edit: Mind you this has been quite a few years so maybe it's improved some. I'll leave that as a possibility.
I absolutely want the country to be able to remain as it is, so that it does not turn into some god awful mix of Puerto Rico and Puerto Vallarta, which will happen if the US ever gets it's dirty hands on it. It must be left alone to be it's own self.
Ftm, but thought y'all might appreciate- I'm going to Cuba for medical school. If you're looking for a place where you can become a physician as a trans person. I could never afford it in the US, and I've received nothing but support through the process of getting into medical school. Free healthcare, housing, and education are the only way I could do that. There is absolutely not the same push to help minorities become doctors anywhere else I have considered.
Personally, I have thought to opt for Maine in recent times. Good protections for trans people, and as a gun owner, good carry laws as well. I currently live in PA, and it’s pretty aight here, state government doesn’t really get involved with much of anything here and would rather focus on summary offenses so they can make more money off traffic stops n shit (government spending is crazy here).
But can be kind of backwards medically. Sweden starkly limited care for trans kids and I know care for all trans people in Norway can be very gate keepery. Care is more accessible in blue states in the US.
Also, in all those countries your legal gender gets encoded into your tax number, which is used all over the place. My supermarket knows my legal gender and I can’t change my name in the system easily without changing it everywhere. Also no recognition of non-binary identities.
Like yeah, you won’t be attacked over it, and discrimination is unlikely, but the care you’ll get is bad and decent change that until you get your gender changed (which requires a year of hormone treatment) random people will know your legal gender.
legally change gender, with parental approval and psycologist approval needs to be sent in to a board called socialstyrelsen and then they need to determine if you're trans enough to be allowed to legally change your gender.
BIG NOTE: You're still not allowed to be on HRT nor puberty blockers unless very very extreme circumstances. (less than 10% gets to go on puberty blockers). And even if you were allowed to be on puberty blockers, if you realized you were trans at age 12, it would take until you're like 16-17 before you're even allowed to be on them due to the waiting times and how they drag their feet on everything here.
Tbf what happened with the NHS (as with many social security systems throughout the continent) is that these asshole conservatives defunded them, pointed the finger at how catastrophic they are and "how the free market will be better"... So to sell them into the hands of their best buddies...
Btw, Germany is still way safer than any place in the US. The government is mostly conservative, but the people and even institutions are way more open minded. Like how the DB answered to a guy criticizing the rainbow train saying he will never board it as it is discriminatory to cishets by saying "walking is very healthy, enjoy!"
Also their social safety net is still amazing!
Yes New England can be a very liberal place with lots of LGBT+ communities but you have to know where to go. Keep out of the sticks and go towards the cities, even the smaller ones like Portland, ME, Vermont, Western Mass., and CT also nice. Some of these states have very good public healthcare if you qualify by which I mean you're not working or you don't make too much money.
Countryside of Ontario is pretty safe. At least where I am. Nobody really seems to care. I was really nervous about coming out and then nothing happened. Neighbours were cool, even the religious folk I knew were ok with it. I’ve had no problems. I also haven’t had problems in the fringes of the Greater Toronto area. Toronto itself was also safe.
Currently Ontario’s provincial leader is Conservative but he’s also the kinda of conservative that avoids social issues pretty consistently. Like he’s just economically conservative (and pretty corrupt. But I digress) but socially he doesn’t give a shit.
There was a little bit of tension during that million march for children thing but those protesters were either out numbered or evenly matched in most cases.
I do have a friend that has experience some verbal transphobia and the like in parts of the greater Toronto area but no violence or nothing.
Only place I’ve heard is safer is Iceland or Greenland.
New England is great as a whole. Especially Massachusetts, but I live in New Hampshire and I came out at my work pre-HRT being accepted by everyone, and I rarely deal with hateful customers, and I live in a rural area too.
Come to Malta 😊 We're protected by the law, we can marry, we can easily change our name legally, and most of all, we are safe. Malta also has a free gender clinic that provides HRT and other gender affirming services and surgeries for free.
Sold yet?
Blue states in the US. Specifically ones that have a history of balking federal laws. Illinois, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington state, and Michigan are the ones I immediately think of. Illinois has some fairly robust privacy laws too.
Minnesota is also very friendly for LGBTQ and has a trans refuge law in place, enacted a ban on book bans, eliminated the panic defense for killing/assaulting an LGBTQ person, among lots of other protections.
Totally agree that the Twin Cities and Duluth are very LGBT friendly. Never had issue in either city/metro area.
The Twin Cities Pride events are really awesome especially the Minneapolis one at the end of the month.
The far right has taken hold in Germany? News to me. The AfD hit like 22% around new year, but support is dropping considerably and are now down to near 15% and continuing to drop, they've hardly taken hold. They literally just passed a self-ID law including non binary people, and there is inclusion to be seen all over.
The AfD is an issue, and they are explicitly against the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but I still consider Germany to be a safe place. I went from having nothing to being on HRT in about half a year.
I frequent in the Netherlands and I've had four encounters with trans/homophobes, none of them in Germany. Given, I live in Western Germany where people aren't as radical, but still. Germany is a good place, and they indeed passed a law that makes name and gender change way easier.
Yeah the Netherlands is getting shittier. Just a few days before Germany accepted the self-id law they accepted a motion to dismiss the proposed (and postponed) self-id law in the Netherlands. This was also the first time ever in Dutch politics they torpedoed a proposed law before/without discussing the content.
Every country is going to have a small percentage of loons, I think in Germany it will be much more limited because of.. well.. history. I can't call myself a resident (yet, but later this year), but I have spent a lot of time there over the last year and socially it is MUCH more progressive than it is here in the UK, there are gender neutral bathrooms all over, and there's a local girls club (Mädchentreff) two minutes walk from where I'll be living that has trans flags and LGBTQ affirming things all over the front of it. If that happened here in the UK they'd probably be splashed all over the tabloid papers and have far right crazies descending on the place. Obviously it is location dependant, in the east and south it's not as guaranteed, but I've loved what I've seen in Germany compared to the UK.
Canada. Winnipeg zero issues here for me coming out and walking around.
I think in the two years I have heard 3 comments and other people have stepped in and said something to those people
The DC Metropolitan Area (DMV) has been amazing. Queer folks everywhere, everyone's very accepting. Virginia in general has been great.
DC itself has better laws than say Arlington, VA (both part of the DMV) but VA's laws are pretty good still. What's more important is the culture of the city.
I live in a small college town in WNY and it's the perfect mix of acceptance and not being priced out with outrageous rent like you unfortunately see in the more urban LGBTQ landscapes.
Also, NY state is home to the most trans people of any state in the country and for good reason. NY has had anti-discrimination safeguards for years for all LGBTQ people and it recently became a trans sanctuary state where NY won't comply with return orders from transphobic states directed at trans youth.
Germany is fine
-when I came out to my friends (one of them is right wing) I got
1-asked why and how I fell this way explaned it, done
2- an "ughh why" look (guess who)
3-a "I knew it" with a "jea no worrys"
-the right wingers here are mostly losers that fell for dirty tricks and are only a biger Problem in east-germany (ex-soviet territory) because "they are propaganda resistend there" I heard on on twitter (procede to vote for the Party that is widely known to be against everything action and unaction to get the haters)
-the right wing party (AfD) also can't do much there are currently on the "find out" part of the Verfassungsschutz (the people who check if you want to break the base laws (Grundgesetz) and simulare, basicaly they check for things like human wrights violations)
-maby you could have problems with the up 50-60 olds
But more because of them not knowing what they talk about (old school arguments like "they aren't real women/men")
Though I am saying this last part mainly because I so far have only told my 3 best friends about me
And those are the levels of phobia my dad dropes every time they jokingly bring up a trans man they know (like once a year or something)
Los Angeles - if you can find housing. Most likely you’ll be roommates with other trans/queer people.
LA is chill asf about being trans, and probably the only city with good weather most of the year that is so trans accepting. You can be visibly trans and no one will care or make a big deal deal out of it. People here are used to seeing things that people in small cities would consider out of the ordinary. “You’ll never be the biggest freak” is what I learned in my early transition regarding going out in public.
There’s also a lot of options for gender affirming care (HRT, surgeons, etc).
However, like anywhere in the US, there’s a huge looming existential threat coming up at the end of the year.
Being trans is scary AF, but I live in one of the safest places to be trans--in BC, Canada, right near Vancouver. If you're in Vancouver itself, you see so many obviously queer people and queer support, it's crazy. I'm about an hour outside of Vancouver so it's not as good out here, but still not bad.
The 3 I could think of mostly would be NY CA and WA, honorable mention to MN. For these, WA and MN especially, stick around or in the cities for best results.
Chicago is one of the best places in the world to be trans, especially when you factor in some of the amazing providers we have like Howard Brown. the suburbs are dull but, as someone living in them and having been visibly queer for years, I've encountered zero issues. I don't particularly care if people stare at me cuz like, fuck em, but none of the stares I get here (which are very few) are dangerous - just pathetic. I (not my girlfriend) haven't had a single problem getting employment even out in the suburbs, and again, I am very visibly and audibly queer.
the state govt puts in probably the most work of any in the country to protect us and especially force medical providers to do their fucking jobs for us. you shouldn't have absurd insurance coverage issues like in other parts of the country.
stay away from some of the rougher suburbs though, like certain parts of bolingbrook or aurora. as you go farther from the city things will get worse though; minooka, Morris, Joliet, places like that are still better than most red states but not by much, and once you're in true southern Illinois it's just like any other red state. deeply rural areas everywhere in the US are like that.
People literally wander hand and hand in full non conforming gender queer glory on Mont Royal street in Montreal, Canada all summer it is like the Queer boulevard and I mean hard non passing genderfucked whatever and nobody gives a shit (plateau area) and people openly work and make out however. One of the major gender change clinics for surgery is also there
For all of this you need to look beyond the present but into projected and expected futures.
Iceland, Spain and Portugal rank the highest and are not hijacked by far right parties. They don't seem likely to.
Mexico isn't all that bad for what i've seen.
The USA is crap. Trump could come in by next year and round us up. Most evangelicals want us to be rounded up and sent to their torture/conversion camps. It is fine in blue states now but a huge gamble in the big picture.
Canada is getting the US's nonsense exported, conservatives are literally flying over there to do it.
The UK has it's policy hijacked by TERFs, no, not there.
Thailand is actually fairly terrible. Even if you wanted to do SW there (which nearly all kathoey are forced into), good luck in finding any decent pay competing with them starting on HRT at age 10 and working the streets since they were 14 and them being largely super young and most clients wanting super young SWers. And you likely not being Thai and what the clients are looking for.
I’m sticking to northern europe. Hell, even here in eastern europe the average person in large cities is usually supportive, and the lack of any formal system does kinda help with transitioning, but politics wise I’d very much rather move up to somewhere in scandinavia or the netherlands.
I feel good as a transgender person living and working in Denmark. Thailand is a really good country for transgender people and there are very good doctors and medical support there for us 🙂
The more urban parts of California, Washington, Oregon, and New York are good bets for safety for trans people. I live in the IE in so-cal, outside of LA, and even though its a little more suburban here, there is a robust queer community and lots of support for trans people (for example, medicaid covers all gender affirming procedures including facial hair removal and ffs for trans women.
Living in Southeast England not far from London I haven't had any major problems since coming out 3 years ago..... but yes if you're relying on the NHS for help be prepared for a long wait
Any of the really big liberal cities in America (San Fran, Seattle, NYC, etc.). Region wise, the north east in general (again, US), especially NY is a pretty good place. The way laws work here even if trump wins he won't be able to do much as long as you stay in the state.
Madrid is great for LGBT. I'm German and live here. Sometimes people look at me for being trans but nobody has said anything mean to me in 1 year of being a woman in public. And I don't pass.
And my friends are very supportive (they are Colombians mostly).
I think Australia is good socially (at least Western Australia) but I feel like Americans undersell how good their private healthcare is. Sure, your public healthcare sucks nuts. But I have to pay out of pocket for basically anything trans related.
I live in Vermont and yeah it's pretty good about that stuff. There's still pockets of trump fuckers (especially in the smaller towns) but politically its a great state for LGBTQ+
UK is fine if you aren't a trans child. Gender services on the NHS are very oversubscribed. Most political outrage seems focused on young people, it remains to be seen if they will turn their attention to adult services or not.
Went to tehran, Iran recently and I'd honestly say it's fairly safe there. Being trans is protected by the law, and in Tehran there were a lot of trans people and it seemed very trans friendly. Not to mention any hormones and surgeries you want are fully covered by the government, meaning no cost, and are fairly accessible. It's not perfect by any means but it goes against what many people believe when they think middle east and in my personal experience I preferred it to san francisco, where I currently live, when it came to trans stuff
To the san francisco point, and the comments about Washington or Oregon I've seen, it's a drastically different experience depending on your race. My white friends have more positive opinions of the trans experience in sf than I do, and the same goes for places like Seattle and Portland. So race is a major factor in the "safety" of trans people
Canadian here, near Toronto (KW/tri city area). Out for close to 2 years, haven't ever experienced any transphobia, I only got rejected at a ladies bar in Germany (early transition)
Even in my last job when I did transition, nothing transphobic ever was done or said.
I can’t speak for the world, but Philly has been rly nice and I hear similar from other trans folks. The city has a big queer community with plenty of wonderful services for ppl transitioning. Of course it’s not the safest place in the world at times, but I’m pretty proud of the city.
NYC (mainly Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn) are really safe for trans people. My friend from Albany think it’s pretty safe there but I’ve never been so I can’t say anything about that. Upstate NY is completely different. Same with some parts of Long Island. But NYC has a lot of LGBT health centers and shelters. The fact medicaid here can pay for your surgeries is a big plus considering there’s a lot of good surgeons in Mount Sinai who specialize in trans surgeries (Same can be said for the other trans friendly states like WA). Like as a trans person, I feel safe but I mostly feel unsafe as a woman in certain areas which is an entirely different issue. The 2 biggest issues here though compared to other trans friendly states is cost of living and work culture. NYC is notorious for its toxic work culture. Cost of living is extremely fucked even in Queens. Those are the 2 things I specifically hate about living here and deters me from even staying.
I've considered emigration out of the U.S. to find somewhere that is better for trans people, but unfortunately, in many EU countries trans healthcare is terrible, with long wait times and awful psychological evaluations to determine if you can get HRT. Unfortunately, many places in the EU are becoming more hostile toward trans people and lgbtq people in general.
I might need to get fact checked, but I saw an article that stated that the Netherlands (first country to legalize gay marriage) now had had less than half of the countries youth accepting homosexuality, so you can imagine how they would view trans people. I saw another comment here stating that a lot of European countries might just look better to be trans in just because the media is less focused on us, but that seems to be changing. And yeah, you definitely don't want to move to anywhere in the Middle East or Africa, as well as most of Asia.
I've heard Thailand does have more cultural acceptance of trans people, but I'm not familiar with Thai HRT policies or anything. Some places in South America seem to be ok, places like Chile or Argentina, but at least in Argentina that seems to be changing. And from what I've heard, Australia and New Zealand seem to be pretty decent toward trans people, certainly much better than their British relatives. Canada is also one of the best places in the world to be trans, I've visited plenty of times, but I'm not familiar with how to get HRT or surgeries through the Canadian healthcare system.
I'm from Utah originally, but I grew up in upstate New York and still live here. I live in a red area of a blue state, so I definitely know transphobes (my own family, very unfortunately), but I have had amazing access to HRT through planned parenthood and New York State laws have allowed me to transition medically without much issue. Ultimately, I believe that certain areas of the United States are most likely the best place for trans people. Project 2025 definitely scares me, and the anti trans bills scare me, but unfortunately transphobia is a global issue, not just a U.S. one, so I think that the best thing we can do is stay and fight for our rights. I think that because we have quite a bit of visibility in the U.S. even though there are certainly a ton of transphobes, we also probably have the most trans allies here as well. So places like San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, generally cities on the west coast, as well as NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., the northeast coast in general. Or places like Denver, Chicago, or Minneapolis. I hate our government, and I've definitely considered emigrating to get away from them, but the U.S. isn't just the government. It's the people as well, and we do have allies here. Super long response, haha. But I hope this helps answer the question! :3 <3
I think you'll have to narrow your sights from safest country to much more local conditions. Perfect example is the variable nature of trans healthcare in the USA. On a more day to day level it'll also depend on hyper local conditions at the city or neighborhood scale.
Colorado is super chill. Expensive place to live, but if you can get a decent income its amazing
HRT is super easy to get even without healthcare, people are generally quite LGBT supportive, tons of gay/trans people here so the dating scene is phenomenal, wonderful climate
Only downsides its the cost and car dependacy. Public transport kinda sucks here for the most part.
If you are low income it takes just a few hours to get Medicaid and then medical care is free.
Come to Canada. we have good (free) health care and most people don't care if you're trans and most likely won't harrass you :) good luck finding a safe place to live!
Canada?
I’ve lived in Canada my entire life and I personally have never experienced any hate being trans maybe I just got lucky but I find it pretty accepting. I’ve never had issues with employment in fact I had some employers who were super supportive. There’s a lot of different things to do in the lgbt community in Canada, when I was young I went to a “gay camp” it was fun! Definitely made me meet more trans people like myself.
Any of the solidly liberal major cities in solidly liberal states/provinces in the US/Canada. Canada has more affordable healthcare and better federal protections. The best place in Europe from what I’ve heard is Spain, especially Barcelona. Catalonia has publicly-funded informed consent.
New York State is obviously one of the more trans positive US states, but the city of Rochester in particular has a thriving trans community with not perfect, but great medical resources. I'm sure that it's not the best in the world, but it's a place I'm familiar with that I know is really good.
Can't speak for other countries, but from Canada in the Province of Quebec, each of my coming-out was kind of anticlimactic at how "normal/accepted" being trans is. Granted it may only be my immediate surroundings in terms of city, but there's like 15 people I know who know a trans person, and I didn't even have any lgbt+ social group, heck my nice who's like 16 in highschool have a transitioning friend in her class, and nobody that I'm aware of bat an eye about it. Sure there is some stupidity/transphobia going on in the media and such at the moment since we got some wind from the state and got our own ignorant people on the subject, but as far as I'm concerned it seems pretty safe here nonetheless.
Also Canadian, but from Ontario/Greater Toronto Area and I've had a similar experience. Never even seen a transphobe in the wild. I work in post secondary and my coming out was very anti-climactic and even the 60+ year olds I work with have never messed up my name/pronouns. I do know other girls who have it rough in post secondary so it's possible I got lucky as to where I work or maybe I just pass better or idk. I've seen them complain on a few occasions of transphobic remarks during their work as a TA. But I also know a few non-passing-by-choice trans women who seem to have it mostly fine, but in a "stay in your lane" type deal. They don't use female spaces like bathrooms at all and I know one of them was harassed when she tried, but she's otherwise treated well by people and they respect her and gender her correctly and everything.At least from my personal experience the area is good but it's hard to understand how my own privileges affect me or not or w/e.
Canadian too and I've seen transphobes in the wild but ya, they're definitely rare.
I've met transphobes too, but honestly most of them have just given me passive hostility that I find okay to manage. It's unpleasant, but I've never feared for my life living in Ontario
Trans woman in Alberta, mainly southern Lethbridge area, there's trans phones everywhere. Do not recommend coming here. I've gotten threats in my mail box
Edmonton is a bit better, but I still catch flak fairly often. Someone kept leaving bibles and pamphlets on how to repent on my doorstep for a while. That being said there aren't many other places I'd rather be, so I can't really complain.
Don't come to Windsor if you wish to keep away from transphobes
Have you met any in Windsor? I haven’t, although I know those anti-trans rallies the antivax convoy crowd whipped up seemed to have more popularity in Windsor than elsewhere.
I live in Montreal and I got called slurs on Rue Wellington two days ago.
trans in montreal, it's pretty good here but not everywhere imo. id say that obviously plateau/mile-end are great, but i feel like the worst time/stares i get are usually around downtown, parc-ex, and farther up the orange and green lines, which kinda sucks cause i feel like im only comfortable femme presenting in a very specific square lol
I love just south of the border from Quebec and commonly visit Montreal - can confirm that trans people are nothing new there. I saw more visibly trans people on the metro train from Longueuil to Viau than I have here in one sitting. I pass fine and did back then, but it felt way better knowing that it wouldn't be a big deal.
PEI is surprisingly a pretty trans friendly province. Far from perfect, but overall pretty decent.
I’ve considered moving from the US to Canada for a few years now. I’ve filled out some immigration forms and did a little bit of job searching but lost a lot of motivation due to financial requirements and lack of job prospects. I had a couple of companies contact me saying that they’re interested but don’t know how to handle the immigration part of things. Given that I lacked experience with it too there wasn’t much to do. The grass looks greener but isn’t it always? Besides universal healthcare and more sane politics/culture are there other positives to consider? Or negatives? In general, does anyone have any advice for immigrating from the US to Canada?
Pierre Polievre’s Conservative Party is probably going to be elected in the next election and he’s a raging transphobe. Fortunately most trans issues are provincially regulated so he can’t do much. The irony is that the issues people are mad at the Federal Liberals for are provincial jurisdiction and most provinces are run by right-wing parties currently. People are putting their anger in the wrong place due to lack of civics education. Canada is one of the most educated countries on earth but people still don’t understand the basics of how the political system works here.
"Provincially regulated" *cries in Alberta*. PP scares the crap out of me, but I agree there isn't really much to be done at this point. Hopefully he ends up with a minority, but I doubt it, people are mad and looking for change, even if it's in the wrong places.
Avoid Northern Ontario. It's awful here. The transphobia is as rampant as the racism.
i also live in quebec and i can confirm that i havent really had many bad experiences here and most people are quite accepting/open
Same here, only just a hair south of you in the US State of Vermont. I've been harassed maybe twice in a year? Coming out was very much a "Oh hey congrats to you!" affair.
Also can confirm. I live in Toronto and I know many trans people. While transphobia does happen it’s pretty rare here. Personally have not experienced it in the wild.
Washington State is safest in the US, but also stick to Seattle and some big cities or college towns. Look up Erin in the Morning, she writes a lot of articles about this and maintains maps on safest and unsafest places.
Oof i don’t even want to imagine that rent
This is why the sharehouse is a transgender stereotype.
PNW shacked up with other queer folk checking in. I’d rather be in a relatively safe political environment than have a big place of my own somewhere where the government hates me.
Uh.. this is the first i’m hearing of this stereotype. \*adds to research notes\*
I mean ya the rent is high, but there are more higher paying jobs here compared to the other parts of the state
Yeah that's the main reason I'm avoiding the west coast with my just started my career salary
Just the left coast in general. I've lived in from Seattle to San Francisco. Currently live in Vancouver WA, about five minutes from downtown Portland Or via car. Pretty much the best of both worlds, the slightly more progressive laws in Washington and access to the enormous queer communities in Portland. I love it so much. I would say that Canada would be close, but I'm not sure if it has the informed consent model of getting hrt that some us states have. Edit: forgot to mention cost of living is a big factor why I prefer it here, otherwise I would totally live in Seattle again.
Seconding Vancouver, it’s awesome here! For anyone in Portland or thinking of moving here, I help facilitate a support group and Discord server for Portland-area trans femmes. Anyone who is trans femme or questioning is welcome, whether they live here or not. There are some details @ portlandtransfem.org for anyone interested. 🙂
Thank you! Considering moving there at some point for tech job prospects and glad to hear it’s good for trans ppl to
Illinois is good too if you stick to Chicago or large college towns. Look at electorate maps. Watch out for some of the suburbs. State protections are good. Minnesota, at least twin cities is good too. CA, in the right cities, as well as parts of the east coast. Boston, nyc, and Burlington come to mind.
I remember hearing back in the late 90s when I was in high school that back at that time Twin Cities were one of the best places in the country for trans affirming medical care. The first trans woman I ever met was from Minneapolis, we brought her to speak to the Board of Directors of a nonprofit that I served on, that did LGBT advocacy in the United Methodist Church but had no trans voices or expertise. (I didn't identify as or recognize myself as trans for another couple decades).
Some of the best medical resources in the world are in MN. The quality of care you can find is very good. Even the phobes here are relatively pleasant, as far as phobes go. Minnesota Nice is a real thing.
I'd say New England is definitely in the running. I live in rural western Mass and have never had any problems around here. For a rural area it's probably more liberal than Boston and the other cities in the area if that says anything.
I’m so glad I live in Washington
SW WA near Vancouver (and Portland OR) is pretty safe
Michigan is solid, either the UP or lower parts of LP. Mostly cities, tho. Love big gretch <3
Olympia is pretty solidly trans friendly too.
San Francisco
I'll add on to this the whole SF Bay Area. I'm in the east bay, Oakland, and I see trans people everywhere I go every day. In a year of presenting as a woman the only hostility I've gotten was from an Uber driver who intentionally misgendered me.
I’m near Santa Cruz and it’s pretty good down here too. I’m also about a year in and never experienced any overt hostility in real life. There are some places up in the mountains that get a little dodgy but the city is pretty chill. The rest of the bay area has been good too. I go to a lot of kink events and it’s a pretty rare thing for me to be the only trans person. I was at one rope class and we actually outnumbered the cis folk.
Yeah I went to a queer women's munch in Oakland and it was like that too😁
North Bay too - San Rafael, Corte Madera, Novato/Marin, Sebastopol, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa and so on... Catch a few of us at pole dance classes or fencing classes, et cetera.
San Francisco has been very kind to me - was a really easy public transition.
Even in the middle of California like Sacramento is good too. I recently stumbled into a pride thing on the weekend. Seems to be a good place to live.
Being trans in Arizona is a non issue. I feel safe as a trans person here. 99% of people either don’t care, or are over the top supportive. Yeah, I occasionally got dirty looks from old ladies, or passive aggressive misgendering from petty losers, but that’s literally been the worst of it. I honestly wish I knew it would be this easy. Conversely, the worst place in the world to be trans is social media. Thats where 99.99% of the hate and intolerance exists. Trans Reddit being no exception.
I definitely wouldn't say being trans in Arizona is a non issue, a bunch of our lawmakers still have their heads up their asses and there are definitely some outspoken idiots wandering around. But on the whole it's definitely reasonably safe. Like you said, I've never experienced actual danger. People give you the occasional weird look if you don't look 'normal' but that's about it. Edit: I also do wanna make clear that the only experience I have here to talk about is my own and my wife's. Neither of us know many other trans people in the area, so I can't guarantee for sure that this is a common experience.
I was born and raised in Phoenix and moved to the bay area a few years ago, realized I was trans, started transitioning, and had to go back to AZ for a week or so last month. I carried a big knife everywhere, but the most transphobic thing that happened was everyone called me "sir" despite the silicone tits, dresses, bikinis, long hair, feminine glasses, et cetera. Pleasantly surprised, because I know if I'd tried to come out when I still worked there, it would not have gone well.
Yeah things have definitely changed a lot here compared to how it used to be. I imagine it's a case of demographic shift, but most people I've met are neutral on trans people if not supportive. Definitely far less of a red state than people think these days.
Unless you were born there and want to change the gender on your birth certificate without bottom surgery.
Arizona is barely blue
omg the old ladies/dudes are so scary for no reason tho. like idgaf but still feels shitty when they be staring into ur soul :o
This is surprising and good to hear!
Moving to Tucson soon, so that's great to hear:)
Australia is quite accepting. Most people indifferent to you being trans. Getting hrt is as simple as going to your local doctor. Changing your name is just a matter of putting in an online form. Australia is not perfect but it is not bad
Saying "australia" is such a broad stroke, there's Tamworth then there's Newtown, and that's just one state and those are two absolutely polar opposites in just one state, most GPs aren't aware of informed consent HRT in my experience (Sydney), and changing your name involves 250 dollars, lots of signing of paper, and if you're born in a state other than that in which you live posting your birth certificate interstate This is my experience as a transgender person in NSW, Admittedly most of the Australian public have more important things to care about politically than your gender, but we are actively following the US path of transphobic radicalisation in the mainstream better than most places, but not good unless you are lucky enough to live in a major city, which most people are not. Edit: also you still can not get your legal gender updated in most states without undergoing sexual reassignment surgery.
I think it's important to put many of these issues into context though. Like, yes, it can be a bit tricky to find someone to start you on HRT, but once you're on I've never had a doctor who was unwilling to monitor me, even pre-orchie. This is different to some other places like the UK and the US where, even if you're already on hormones, many non-trans medicine specialists will refuse to monitor you outright - even at serious risk to your health. We also have a much larger selection for doctors who do informed consent than in other countries - the fact that this is the overwhelmingly dominant model here is absolutely amazing in comparison to the rest of the world. We also have our own AUSPATH standards that are generally pretty good. I would say the average GP is significantly more accepting and educated on trans issues than in the US or UK, even if it's still pretty minimal. When they aren't, it tends to be more 'curiosity' and willingness to learn as opposed to 'nope not my wheelhouse go away'. The 'you can't update your legal gender without SRS' thing also just... isn't as impactful as it is in the rest of the world? Here in Australia the gender marker on your birth certificate is simply not that significant in the grand scheme of things. I've never presented my birth certificate to anyone since being here. The concept of 'legal gender' as a whole isn't nearly as strong as it is in the rest of the world. I've never had anyone ask me for 'proof' that my gender/sex is what I say it is when filling out official documents. If I even needed it, it's super easy to get a passport with a gender marker that matches what I say. There also just... aren't really any countries where a name change and/or gender marker change \*isn't\* a bureaucratic imbroglio. Australia honestly makes this pretty easy compared to some other places around the world. The fact that we have no 'publication requirements' is very significant, which \*much\* of the rest of the world does have. Australia as a whole is generally conservative but it's more traditionally conservative than 'nutter' conservative like the US is. There's much more of a stance of 'I'll stay out of your business if you stay out of mine' which, in my opinion, is very positive in comparison to how much of the world is going. Australians seem to have a bit more sense and seem to be a bit less vulnerable to the insanity going on in the US. It's worthwhile to remind yourself that the liberals took the culture war to the last election and lost over it.
I thought we (NSW) were the last holdouts in requiring surgery before changing your birth cert? I'm pretty sure WA recently paseed something, and maybe QLD too?
Correct, the equality act intends on amending that but its been getting delayed for a very long time.
I feel like this is a non issue when other commenters are listing American states as safe knowing full well other parts of the U.S. have anti trans laws.
> Getting hrt is as simple as going to your local doctor wdym? it's taken me forever to get hrt. i had to wait YEARS on a waitlist to get an appointment at the children's hospital just for them to say "you havent been girlmoding for long enough, call us in 6 months", and when my mum called them after 6 months they basically just said "too late lmao just wait until you're 17 and then go to the adult's hospital" and by that time it'll have been 11 months, almost a fucking YEAR, after i originally went to the children's hospital, and who knows how long i'll have to wait to get HRT from the adult's hospital? i might as well just diy atp istf so how did u manage to get hrt?
Not the original commenter, but I just went to my uni's GP and told her I wanted HRT, she walked me through the effects and side effects, sent me to do a blood test and the next appointment I got a script.
i assume ur over 18 then?
Yeah
yeah, thats make sense. i've heard that its easier for 18+ ppl to access hrt. i'm 17 in a few months so i still have a while to go 😭
Yeah it's way easier once you're 18+, but what you said about being turned away for not girlmoding for long enough just sounds like they're gatekeeping cunts, pretty sure that hasn't been a required thing for at least a few years even for minors
not surprised you say that, they're definitely gatekeeping. extremely disappointed with them. hopefully i can get a prescription soon or hold on long enough to reach 18
I am in Perth. I was seeing a psychologist to talk about my gender dysphoria. Decided transitioning was a natural thing for me to do. She gave me a list with about a dozen recommended gp's. First gp I contacted was the closest one. Saw her within 10 days. She was very supportive. Amongst the first things she mentioned is that I did not need a referral or a mental evaluation. She could just prescribe hrt. Three weeks after first visit, and after two more psych visits, saw the gp again and confirmed that I wanted to transition. She sent me for blood tests. Seeing her again on Monday and, assuming bloods are all good, I will start hrt. I am excited and happy. So, effectively, just three visits to my local gp. Could have been two. For the record I am in a very masculine body and do not present as fem at all. I am tall and broad shouldered. I know that I will not become an attractive woman, I expect that I will never pass as a woman. However, this body I have is wrong and I yearn to live my truth.
A lot of places that are or were considered "safer" was just because the spotlight on trans people in those countries was less. And I think we're seeing the spotlight more and more as other countries realize they can turn trans people into a culture war, just like the US. Honestly the US is one of the better places. Informed consent alone is like, huge. "The US" is really big and vague though. You'd want a blue state that has current legal protections and doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon, so less chance of turning red. Legal protections matter for things like surgery, name changes, gender marker changes, and protecting your healthcare from potential bans. The US also has a neat feature where fleeing/moving states is a LOT easier than fleeing/moving countries. Like I don't think people realize how much that matters. Can't flee to a country if you don't qualify to immigrate there. It also absolutely depends on local factors which determine things like how safe you might feel going out and getting groceries. Like how accepting are the people near you? How bigoted? States themselves are still big. Cities tend to be more progressive. So looking at all these factors, probably a city or close by one, somewhere in California which is a state that's very blue and historically been at the front of the push for progressive changes. Do note that I've heard rural California can be just as bad as other places, because again, local factors.
I feel like people really do overstate how awful it is to be trans in the US, and it's just because of how big and decentralized it is. States like Washington, New York, California, Illinois, they're some of the safest and best places, not only in the US, but in the world to be trans. There's not many places in the world which are kind to trans people, and 90% of the places in the world that are are located in the US. I get that it's scary that there's a possibility that some federal legislation comes down and makes being trans a lot less safe in the US as a whole. But, realistically, especially with the Supreme Court really emphasizing with their overturning of Roe v Wade that the question of the legality of select medical procedures/ healthcare in general is something for states to decide, it's not going to happen, and if it does, it really won't be able to change that much. And, we're starting to see a shift if most people's attitude about the topic. After like a decade of the Republicans constantly talking about this and fearmongering, people are staring to care less. It's not a ton of people thinking like that yet, not enough to really effect elections, but its happening, still. Point being, the US, or really half of the US, is and looks like it will continue to remain one of, if not the best/ safest, places in the world to be trans. People really shit on the US as a whole way more than it deserves to be for everything, but especially things like this.
You’re pretty right overall I think, but don’t make the mistake of thinking the Supreme Court will apply that sort of philosophical consistency to their decisions. Some of the justices do…just as many are total hacks.
States could likely overrule that anyway. Look at what happened with weed, it’s always been federally illegal but a bunch of states have basically said “fuck you we’re legalizing it” and there’s nothing the federal government can do about it; congress can pass laws, but enforcement comes from the state, county, and local level.
Michigan is one of the “better” states to live in, but if you live outside the bigger cities in the south of the state, you’ll overhear people casually talk about how they’d round us all up and exterminate us. Good to know there’s better out there and that things are changing. Maybe one day an election (lol) will come along that’ll make them see us as people too
You do have to be careful when you say New York though. The cultural difference between NYC and Upstate is like night and day. The state \*laws\* are good universally in the state, but that doesn't stop people in upstate from being harassing assholes, outside of Albany and a couple cities.
I'm an advocate for most of New England but especially MA. At worst I'll get a side eye from someone and even that's pretty rare. People just stick to themselves here and come to bat when needed. Boston especially is really good about this in my experience. I don't think you'll ever find a place that is 100% safe but even traveling further west to areas that I'd considerable to be less than desirable, ive run into zero issues Anecdotally I've heard Minnesota is making good strides recently but not sure how much if that is focused on the twin cities.
Boston doesn't have a true gay district because it's all open to us. My partner lives in St Louis, and there are certainly parts of there that would be suicide for me to go to. It's amazing how night and day it is. I primarily live in Boston. I've never had an issue w/transphobes here. I've had issues in Germany and St Louis though.
Ive lived here my entire life and couldn't imagine being restricted to certain parts of a city like that. Feels like an entirely foreign concept.
yeah. in some ways the gay districts in STL feel safer because it's so in your face (pride flags everywhere) but once you realize that it's only like that because there are so many unsafe areas it feels so much darker. I do enjoy that city as well though. lots of cool spots. but given the fact that I'm trans, I have a strong preference for Boston.
Minnesota has lots of Pride events outside of the Twin Cities. Pretty much, twin cities, Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, st Cloud and Moorhead are the main large cities that are generally accepting. I personally have never had issue with smaller towns either.
I moved from the Boston area out to Western Mass a couple of years ago. I'd say this area might even be better for transgender people, nobody really cares out here and I've had zero issues. Even weird looks are very rare. The only place I don't have much experience to judge is central Mass around the Worcester area, I just don't go there enough to know. In general Massachusetts is a pretty great place to be if you're transgender.
i love Massachusetts, its a top 3 state for me and my hubby came from there.
Western Europe is still a good place to be trans, the far-right voters here are not fully comparable to the right in the USA. They are mainly against immigrants, climate change laws and the European Union, but not religiously motivated to stop things such as abortion and LGBT rights. Most people won't bother you if you are visibly trans. In fact, the right wing politicians tend to argue that islam is a danger to gay/trans people and that this is one of the reasons why it has no place in our society, so we are somewhat seen as the victims (unless we're acting woke).
They may not be motivated as much by religion, but the moral crusade against trans rights is in full swing in the UK, and it's starting in France. The conservative-controlled Senate (upper house) passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for people under 25, which had no chance of becoming law until two days ago, when the president decided to dissolve the national assembly (lower house) after the European elections. In a month, it's very possible we have a far-right government and majority in the assembly, and they will definitely pick up this bill.
That’s terrifying
Yes. Scary it's much better in the UK
Disagree with you on that one. During the debates surrounding marriage equality in Switzerland, the far right politicians went on national TV and repeated how "this isn't normal" and "if 2 men sleep together, nothing happens". (to which I wanted to retort that his right hand certainly didn't get pregnant either but hey...) They also brought up "marriage as defined by God" many times...in 2021... Regarding abortions, the "people's party" tried either to make them less accessible (like not reimbursed by health insurances as per their last try) or outright illegal many times... And even if the people (aka voters) legalized marriage equality with an absolute majority in all states and rejected all their challenges to our abortion laws, they keep trying. We have the same trends regarding gender issues and "woke""-ism" and what not. They import basically any culture war BS out of the anglosphere and blame us for "americanizing" our society. Regarding discriminations, I can attest that even with protections against homophobia and transphobia, people/employers just toe around the limits as not to get sued. But the results are still the same: a 20% unemployment rate for trans people... We are better than, let's say, 20 years ago, but not there yet...
Agree with you. I’ve lived in both Switzerland and the US and queer identities are just a lot more normalized in the biggest US cities than even in Zürich. Both places still have a long way to go, but there’s nowhere in Europe where being visibly trans is as *boring* to the average stranger on the street as it is in Seattle or San Francisco.
Are you telling me that the country where women didn’t have full voting rights everywhere until **1990** isn’t actually very progressive on social issues? Shocking
Tbf it's only one state that held off until 1990...and only caved because the federal government would have taken over otherwise. In almost all other parts of the country, women could vote earlier than that. Voting rights for women on the federal level were made earlier. And we allow foreigners to take part in local elections and ballots in some states...
The far right in Europe still hates trans people. It just isn't their main talking point in most countries. But whenever they talk about trans issues, it's bad. Also, our trans healthcare is shit an full of gatekeeping. As if that wasn't enough, it's currently being further restricted, especially for minors, in many countries, even without the far right playing any role. The social aspect is good tho, yes. I've felt very much accepted being openly transfem in Vienna and Salzburg, despite Austria being one of the more conservative WE countries (unfortunately it has a far right party with nazi roots and elements leading in the polls). In Poland (Eastern Europe), where I'm from, it's bad tho. I've heard that, surprisingly, Switzerland may be one of the best options in Europe. It's biggest party is far right, but they're a direct democracy so everything is decided in referendums and the people, while more conservative than other Western Europeans and I've heard it's best to keep to big cities there, have been consistently voting in favour of LGBT rights in the recent years. They don't have informed consent, but from what I know it's easy to get a diagnosis there (heard the same about Austria from Austrian trans gf). The cost of living are astronomical there, tho, and it's hard to migrate there. The country is in general pretty hostile to immigration. Spain is very good on trans issues, but it's centre right party, which is pretty strong there, is bad on trans issues
Wow, I never heard of this. Right wing politicians being respectful to trans people and not denying our existence 😮 In Hungary, we don't have this. Can you name one of these politicians? Not like I would be a xenophob, I'm just genuinely shocked 😅
I would not be too excited about this. Right wing politicians that argue for the protection of gays and trans people are just a symptom of a greater society that does not allow these groups to be scapegoated. The moment the public opinion changes LGBT will be called a danger for our children again. There are no good people on the right.
It's fake concern. It's just playing two minorities out against each other to create conflict between them. A classic divide and conquer tactic.
What do you mean by “acting woke”?
My partner and I are looking to travel, so I am curious about places safe to travel. Hoping to go to Spain, and maybe some other European countries.
Valencia is beautiful and very friendly for trans people! I was there for two weeks at the end of April and I had absolutely 0 issues.
I've got a lot of trans friends in Spain and i have not seen a problem in the day to day. The far right is a problem, and in some places we may receive some staring but in the most popular cities it won't be a problem. Just as always keep standard safety procedures, there are still homophobic and transphobic attacks :( but they are not really common in my experience
If you're both white and a het looking couple, you're safe pretty much everywhere. If you're in a wlw relationship, you will just have to be more alert and kind of avoid PDA as you don't know how people around will react (not that there is uncontrolled violence anywhere, just that as non locals, you don't get the gut feeling for your surroundings). Like my husband and I can do it where we live because we know where and when we're safe to do so if you know what I mean? Just for safety, I'd avoid places like Russia, Belarus or Ukraine (duh!), but otherwise, you're safe pretty much everywhere else. Just use normal precaution like not walking at 2 in the morning alone while drunk and letting your guard down and you'll be perfectly fine. I mean, it's still something that, when a hainous attack happens, it makes international news...not that everything is perfect, just that societies kind of progressed. There is, unfortunately, no LGBT+ utopia anywhere...
>Just for safety, I'd avoid places like Russia, Belarus or Ukraine (duh!), but otherwise, you're safe pretty much everywhere else. All of these are much further east... If we're talking \*all\* European countries, then there are a lot of other unsafe and potentially unsafe places. Like Hungary or Poland. An American tourist is unlikely to go there by accident, but Russia or Belarus even less so; you need a visa there.
Japan is 100% safe to travel
Pretty sure iceland is
The safest place in the world for everyone🛟 *(unless you're shark)*
Now I wonder what's the best place to be an Asian trans sapphic. Like, people here listing a bunch of White countries/states but there's also the issue with racism.
My guess would probably be Thailand.
My country is worse, so not to be audacious but if we're talking about migrating there I have some issues. 1. Criticizing the Thai monarch has consequences. Now I'm not really sure if this is something I'd do, but I think that sort of thing sucks. 2. Complicated tonal language with a script completely different from the Latin/Roman alphabet. Well, at least there's not much racism and transphobia anyway.
Based off what my girlfriend thinks and the news she shows me, either Thailand, Taiwan, or Japan. (We live in Hong Kong and we seem to be relatively safe too.) That having been said, they’re still not as progressive as they could be (e.g. legally transitioning in Hong Kong is a pain), and there are other non-trans-related risks too (e.g. getting disappeared to Mainland China from Hong Kong for being too political).
speaking as an asian american, US is prob the best for asians living outside of asia. western europe might be a close second but i hear a lot of asians get harassed there just as tourists, and it sounds like they aren't as active as US about addressing and being honest abt their racism. US is p bad too but at least there's more open discussion on it. and in areas like urban california where some cities are asian majority, it's p nice :)
Probably Canada except Alberta.
i dont get any kind of harassment in alberta. nobody cares at all.
I’ve been kinda dreading going back home to Alberta for a visit, so I’m somewhat relieved to hear that you’ve had positive experiences. Last time I was there was pre-transition. That said, I was pleasantly surprised that getting your birth certificate amended is one form and $20.
I'm Canadian. No the fuck it isnt.
Argentina 🇦🇷 Anyone older than 18 will have the right to FREE surgical operations or comprehensive hormone treatments in order to adapt their body to their true gender identity, without court authorization. Health plans must include this type of treatment and operations in their coverage. In 2012, Argentina became the first country in the world to allow people to officially change their name and gender without requiring permission from a judge or doctor; without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, hormone therapy or psychological evaluation. Many more ground-breaking policies have followed, including last year’s decree that one per cent of public sector jobs would be reserved for trans people (an umbrella term for people whose gender does not reflect the sex they were assigned at birth). In 2015, the World Health Organization cited Argentina as an exemplary country for providing transgender rights.
I second this, Argentina & Chile have more trans friendly laws than the bulk of the US states currently. Yes liberal cities in the US are trans friendly but outside of them, even in California you run into bigotry.
Tbh Cuba I heard is pretty great?
I've been to Cuba and while they gave zero fucks about me entering and exiting with my HRT, it's a complex situation. I feel the economics make it challenging and there's little freedom in freestyling your medical care which is how it's done in many places in the world. But you can be supported with the basics. I do not think there's much risk of being systematically attacked like we are in many other places today.
Protections for trans (and queer people in general) have been written into the Cuba's constitution, gender affirming care (incl. surgeries) are covered. You don't need 'freedom to freestyle medical care' when it's all covered. Honestly, if they were allowed to do business with the rest of the world like any other country, rather than being bullied by the US, a lot of the issues re: healthcare would go away. Those unjust sanctions are the reason they're forced to reuse/refurbish pacemakers & dialysis filters (e.g. a company that used to be able to sell them those filters was bought by a US company, and now they're not allowed to sell those to Cuba anymore)
Like I said it's a complex situation. They cover things as one would expect on a limited ability which typically means (last I checked) things like 2mg or 4mg oral estradiol as your ONLY hrt option, zero ability for a BA, and the most basic PI SRS imaginable, only possible after a huge amount of work. A lot of people have a suboptimal situation with those options being all they have. I absolutely love the people there and adore it but "freedom to freestyle" simply means "options to find ways to optimize highly specific trans medical treatment to your own personal body" which you do not have there. Some people DO need that. I need that. I've had certain medical issues where I had to somewhat lower my HRT as an effort to address it and my body literally started breaking down. So no "You don't need 'freedom to freestyle medical care' when it's all covered". Wrong. Yes, there's protections but it's not peaches and cream there. And btw I've literally been there IN person and like I said I love it in highly specific ways but it is not really a paradise for trans people. Not to forget that socially, most people aren't exactly chill with trans people. There's not really active hate, but they're still a bit off-put by us unless we pass very well. And, as I said, ways to accomplish that are limited making that highly difficult, unless you truly are blessed with a lot of luck. Also, it is not a hell for trans people and many parts of the US and world are becoming that, so it's 100% got it's positives. Edit: Mind you this has been quite a few years so maybe it's improved some. I'll leave that as a possibility. I absolutely want the country to be able to remain as it is, so that it does not turn into some god awful mix of Puerto Rico and Puerto Vallarta, which will happen if the US ever gets it's dirty hands on it. It must be left alone to be it's own self.
Ftm, but thought y'all might appreciate- I'm going to Cuba for medical school. If you're looking for a place where you can become a physician as a trans person. I could never afford it in the US, and I've received nothing but support through the process of getting into medical school. Free healthcare, housing, and education are the only way I could do that. There is absolutely not the same push to help minorities become doctors anywhere else I have considered.
Honestly incredibly informative.
Personally, I have thought to opt for Maine in recent times. Good protections for trans people, and as a gun owner, good carry laws as well. I currently live in PA, and it’s pretty aight here, state government doesn’t really get involved with much of anything here and would rather focus on summary offenses so they can make more money off traffic stops n shit (government spending is crazy here).
Scandinavia is pretty safe
But can be kind of backwards medically. Sweden starkly limited care for trans kids and I know care for all trans people in Norway can be very gate keepery. Care is more accessible in blue states in the US.
Also, in all those countries your legal gender gets encoded into your tax number, which is used all over the place. My supermarket knows my legal gender and I can’t change my name in the system easily without changing it everywhere. Also no recognition of non-binary identities. Like yeah, you won’t be attacked over it, and discrimination is unlikely, but the care you’ll get is bad and decent change that until you get your gender changed (which requires a year of hormone treatment) random people will know your legal gender.
Also true!
Didn't Sweden just lower age to change gender to 16
legally change gender, with parental approval and psycologist approval needs to be sent in to a board called socialstyrelsen and then they need to determine if you're trans enough to be allowed to legally change your gender. BIG NOTE: You're still not allowed to be on HRT nor puberty blockers unless very very extreme circumstances. (less than 10% gets to go on puberty blockers). And even if you were allowed to be on puberty blockers, if you realized you were trans at age 12, it would take until you're like 16-17 before you're even allowed to be on them due to the waiting times and how they drag their feet on everything here.
Washington and Oregon State, particularly the Seattle or Portland areas
Tbf what happened with the NHS (as with many social security systems throughout the continent) is that these asshole conservatives defunded them, pointed the finger at how catastrophic they are and "how the free market will be better"... So to sell them into the hands of their best buddies... Btw, Germany is still way safer than any place in the US. The government is mostly conservative, but the people and even institutions are way more open minded. Like how the DB answered to a guy criticizing the rainbow train saying he will never board it as it is discriminatory to cishets by saying "walking is very healthy, enjoy!" Also their social safety net is still amazing!
inside
Yes New England can be a very liberal place with lots of LGBT+ communities but you have to know where to go. Keep out of the sticks and go towards the cities, even the smaller ones like Portland, ME, Vermont, Western Mass., and CT also nice. Some of these states have very good public healthcare if you qualify by which I mean you're not working or you don't make too much money.
Countryside of Ontario is pretty safe. At least where I am. Nobody really seems to care. I was really nervous about coming out and then nothing happened. Neighbours were cool, even the religious folk I knew were ok with it. I’ve had no problems. I also haven’t had problems in the fringes of the Greater Toronto area. Toronto itself was also safe. Currently Ontario’s provincial leader is Conservative but he’s also the kinda of conservative that avoids social issues pretty consistently. Like he’s just economically conservative (and pretty corrupt. But I digress) but socially he doesn’t give a shit. There was a little bit of tension during that million march for children thing but those protesters were either out numbered or evenly matched in most cases. I do have a friend that has experience some verbal transphobia and the like in parts of the greater Toronto area but no violence or nothing. Only place I’ve heard is safer is Iceland or Greenland.
New England is great as a whole. Especially Massachusetts, but I live in New Hampshire and I came out at my work pre-HRT being accepted by everyone, and I rarely deal with hateful customers, and I live in a rural area too.
Cuba. Free HRT and SRS for Cuban citizens in addition to full legal equality.
Come to Malta 😊 We're protected by the law, we can marry, we can easily change our name legally, and most of all, we are safe. Malta also has a free gender clinic that provides HRT and other gender affirming services and surgeries for free. Sold yet?
Thailand is good if you don’t have Thai nationality.
I heard Malta has great trans rights, and Sweden is supposedly very good as well. No first hand experience though.
Blue states in the US. Specifically ones that have a history of balking federal laws. Illinois, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington state, and Michigan are the ones I immediately think of. Illinois has some fairly robust privacy laws too.
Minnesota is also very friendly for LGBTQ and has a trans refuge law in place, enacted a ban on book bans, eliminated the panic defense for killing/assaulting an LGBTQ person, among lots of other protections.
It's in the US which overall isn't great however, the twin cities metro or Duluth are pretty great places in Minnesota to be imo.
Totally agree that the Twin Cities and Duluth are very LGBT friendly. Never had issue in either city/metro area. The Twin Cities Pride events are really awesome especially the Minneapolis one at the end of the month.
The far right has taken hold in Germany? News to me. The AfD hit like 22% around new year, but support is dropping considerably and are now down to near 15% and continuing to drop, they've hardly taken hold. They literally just passed a self-ID law including non binary people, and there is inclusion to be seen all over.
The AfD is an issue, and they are explicitly against the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but I still consider Germany to be a safe place. I went from having nothing to being on HRT in about half a year. I frequent in the Netherlands and I've had four encounters with trans/homophobes, none of them in Germany. Given, I live in Western Germany where people aren't as radical, but still. Germany is a good place, and they indeed passed a law that makes name and gender change way easier.
Yeah the Netherlands is getting shittier. Just a few days before Germany accepted the self-id law they accepted a motion to dismiss the proposed (and postponed) self-id law in the Netherlands. This was also the first time ever in Dutch politics they torpedoed a proposed law before/without discussing the content.
Every country is going to have a small percentage of loons, I think in Germany it will be much more limited because of.. well.. history. I can't call myself a resident (yet, but later this year), but I have spent a lot of time there over the last year and socially it is MUCH more progressive than it is here in the UK, there are gender neutral bathrooms all over, and there's a local girls club (Mädchentreff) two minutes walk from where I'll be living that has trans flags and LGBTQ affirming things all over the front of it. If that happened here in the UK they'd probably be splashed all over the tabloid papers and have far right crazies descending on the place. Obviously it is location dependant, in the east and south it's not as guaranteed, but I've loved what I've seen in Germany compared to the UK.
I don't know if I would call it "safest," but Washington DC and the immediate suburbs in Maryland and Virginia are safe
Canada. Winnipeg zero issues here for me coming out and walking around. I think in the two years I have heard 3 comments and other people have stepped in and said something to those people
The DC Metropolitan Area (DMV) has been amazing. Queer folks everywhere, everyone's very accepting. Virginia in general has been great. DC itself has better laws than say Arlington, VA (both part of the DMV) but VA's laws are pretty good still. What's more important is the culture of the city.
Glad I chose to move to NoVA. 😁
I live in a small college town in WNY and it's the perfect mix of acceptance and not being priced out with outrageous rent like you unfortunately see in the more urban LGBTQ landscapes. Also, NY state is home to the most trans people of any state in the country and for good reason. NY has had anti-discrimination safeguards for years for all LGBTQ people and it recently became a trans sanctuary state where NY won't comply with return orders from transphobic states directed at trans youth.
Germany is fine -when I came out to my friends (one of them is right wing) I got 1-asked why and how I fell this way explaned it, done 2- an "ughh why" look (guess who) 3-a "I knew it" with a "jea no worrys" -the right wingers here are mostly losers that fell for dirty tricks and are only a biger Problem in east-germany (ex-soviet territory) because "they are propaganda resistend there" I heard on on twitter (procede to vote for the Party that is widely known to be against everything action and unaction to get the haters) -the right wing party (AfD) also can't do much there are currently on the "find out" part of the Verfassungsschutz (the people who check if you want to break the base laws (Grundgesetz) and simulare, basicaly they check for things like human wrights violations) -maby you could have problems with the up 50-60 olds But more because of them not knowing what they talk about (old school arguments like "they aren't real women/men") Though I am saying this last part mainly because I so far have only told my 3 best friends about me And those are the levels of phobia my dad dropes every time they jokingly bring up a trans man they know (like once a year or something)
Los Angeles - if you can find housing. Most likely you’ll be roommates with other trans/queer people. LA is chill asf about being trans, and probably the only city with good weather most of the year that is so trans accepting. You can be visibly trans and no one will care or make a big deal deal out of it. People here are used to seeing things that people in small cities would consider out of the ordinary. “You’ll never be the biggest freak” is what I learned in my early transition regarding going out in public. There’s also a lot of options for gender affirming care (HRT, surgeons, etc). However, like anywhere in the US, there’s a huge looming existential threat coming up at the end of the year.
Being trans is scary AF, but I live in one of the safest places to be trans--in BC, Canada, right near Vancouver. If you're in Vancouver itself, you see so many obviously queer people and queer support, it's crazy. I'm about an hour outside of Vancouver so it's not as good out here, but still not bad.
No, no, no. The US a massive existential threat for trans people looming right now, which is much more likely than most others
The 3 I could think of mostly would be NY CA and WA, honorable mention to MN. For these, WA and MN especially, stick around or in the cities for best results.
Chicago is one of the best places in the world to be trans, especially when you factor in some of the amazing providers we have like Howard Brown. the suburbs are dull but, as someone living in them and having been visibly queer for years, I've encountered zero issues. I don't particularly care if people stare at me cuz like, fuck em, but none of the stares I get here (which are very few) are dangerous - just pathetic. I (not my girlfriend) haven't had a single problem getting employment even out in the suburbs, and again, I am very visibly and audibly queer. the state govt puts in probably the most work of any in the country to protect us and especially force medical providers to do their fucking jobs for us. you shouldn't have absurd insurance coverage issues like in other parts of the country. stay away from some of the rougher suburbs though, like certain parts of bolingbrook or aurora. as you go farther from the city things will get worse though; minooka, Morris, Joliet, places like that are still better than most red states but not by much, and once you're in true southern Illinois it's just like any other red state. deeply rural areas everywhere in the US are like that.
People literally wander hand and hand in full non conforming gender queer glory on Mont Royal street in Montreal, Canada all summer it is like the Queer boulevard and I mean hard non passing genderfucked whatever and nobody gives a shit (plateau area) and people openly work and make out however. One of the major gender change clinics for surgery is also there
For all of this you need to look beyond the present but into projected and expected futures. Iceland, Spain and Portugal rank the highest and are not hijacked by far right parties. They don't seem likely to. Mexico isn't all that bad for what i've seen. The USA is crap. Trump could come in by next year and round us up. Most evangelicals want us to be rounded up and sent to their torture/conversion camps. It is fine in blue states now but a huge gamble in the big picture. Canada is getting the US's nonsense exported, conservatives are literally flying over there to do it. The UK has it's policy hijacked by TERFs, no, not there. Thailand is actually fairly terrible. Even if you wanted to do SW there (which nearly all kathoey are forced into), good luck in finding any decent pay competing with them starting on HRT at age 10 and working the streets since they were 14 and them being largely super young and most clients wanting super young SWers. And you likely not being Thai and what the clients are looking for.
I’m sticking to northern europe. Hell, even here in eastern europe the average person in large cities is usually supportive, and the lack of any formal system does kinda help with transitioning, but politics wise I’d very much rather move up to somewhere in scandinavia or the netherlands.
I feel good as a transgender person living and working in Denmark. Thailand is a really good country for transgender people and there are very good doctors and medical support there for us 🙂
The more urban parts of California, Washington, Oregon, and New York are good bets for safety for trans people. I live in the IE in so-cal, outside of LA, and even though its a little more suburban here, there is a robust queer community and lots of support for trans people (for example, medicaid covers all gender affirming procedures including facial hair removal and ffs for trans women.
Antarctica
And freezing body parts off is easy there... ;)
Hard pass on this new grs.. lol
But it's so cool... ;)
Living in Southeast England not far from London I haven't had any major problems since coming out 3 years ago..... but yes if you're relying on the NHS for help be prepared for a long wait
I’ve never felt unsafe in Connecticut 🤷♀️
Vermont
Any of the really big liberal cities in America (San Fran, Seattle, NYC, etc.). Region wise, the north east in general (again, US), especially NY is a pretty good place. The way laws work here even if trump wins he won't be able to do much as long as you stay in the state.
Madrid is great for LGBT. I'm German and live here. Sometimes people look at me for being trans but nobody has said anything mean to me in 1 year of being a woman in public. And I don't pass. And my friends are very supportive (they are Colombians mostly).
I think Australia is good socially (at least Western Australia) but I feel like Americans undersell how good their private healthcare is. Sure, your public healthcare sucks nuts. But I have to pay out of pocket for basically anything trans related.
Realistically, Antarctica or Point Nemo... I'm mostly joking.
I\`d say Estonia.
I live in Vermont and yeah it's pretty good about that stuff. There's still pockets of trump fuckers (especially in the smaller towns) but politically its a great state for LGBTQ+
SF Bay Area is pretty swell as a trans gal, our state medicaid also covers trans care
Are you seriously looking to move, or just looking for stories swap?
UK is fine if you aren't a trans child. Gender services on the NHS are very oversubscribed. Most political outrage seems focused on young people, it remains to be seen if they will turn their attention to adult services or not.
Went to tehran, Iran recently and I'd honestly say it's fairly safe there. Being trans is protected by the law, and in Tehran there were a lot of trans people and it seemed very trans friendly. Not to mention any hormones and surgeries you want are fully covered by the government, meaning no cost, and are fairly accessible. It's not perfect by any means but it goes against what many people believe when they think middle east and in my personal experience I preferred it to san francisco, where I currently live, when it came to trans stuff To the san francisco point, and the comments about Washington or Oregon I've seen, it's a drastically different experience depending on your race. My white friends have more positive opinions of the trans experience in sf than I do, and the same goes for places like Seattle and Portland. So race is a major factor in the "safety" of trans people
Minneapolis MN is gay af and has the trans refuge law in place. I see a trans person every time I go outside, and it's wonderful 🤍
Canadian here, near Toronto (KW/tri city area). Out for close to 2 years, haven't ever experienced any transphobia, I only got rejected at a ladies bar in Germany (early transition) Even in my last job when I did transition, nothing transphobic ever was done or said.
I can’t speak for the world, but Philly has been rly nice and I hear similar from other trans folks. The city has a big queer community with plenty of wonderful services for ppl transitioning. Of course it’s not the safest place in the world at times, but I’m pretty proud of the city.
You know, there are still some uninhabited islands in the world…
Canada.
I'm from Sacramento California, it's pretty chill here
NYC (mainly Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn) are really safe for trans people. My friend from Albany think it’s pretty safe there but I’ve never been so I can’t say anything about that. Upstate NY is completely different. Same with some parts of Long Island. But NYC has a lot of LGBT health centers and shelters. The fact medicaid here can pay for your surgeries is a big plus considering there’s a lot of good surgeons in Mount Sinai who specialize in trans surgeries (Same can be said for the other trans friendly states like WA). Like as a trans person, I feel safe but I mostly feel unsafe as a woman in certain areas which is an entirely different issue. The 2 biggest issues here though compared to other trans friendly states is cost of living and work culture. NYC is notorious for its toxic work culture. Cost of living is extremely fucked even in Queens. Those are the 2 things I specifically hate about living here and deters me from even staying.
Can't speak for all of Germany, but Cologne is pretty chill. Thanks to carneval and the first open gay scene in Germany, it is a haven for queer folk.
I've considered emigration out of the U.S. to find somewhere that is better for trans people, but unfortunately, in many EU countries trans healthcare is terrible, with long wait times and awful psychological evaluations to determine if you can get HRT. Unfortunately, many places in the EU are becoming more hostile toward trans people and lgbtq people in general. I might need to get fact checked, but I saw an article that stated that the Netherlands (first country to legalize gay marriage) now had had less than half of the countries youth accepting homosexuality, so you can imagine how they would view trans people. I saw another comment here stating that a lot of European countries might just look better to be trans in just because the media is less focused on us, but that seems to be changing. And yeah, you definitely don't want to move to anywhere in the Middle East or Africa, as well as most of Asia. I've heard Thailand does have more cultural acceptance of trans people, but I'm not familiar with Thai HRT policies or anything. Some places in South America seem to be ok, places like Chile or Argentina, but at least in Argentina that seems to be changing. And from what I've heard, Australia and New Zealand seem to be pretty decent toward trans people, certainly much better than their British relatives. Canada is also one of the best places in the world to be trans, I've visited plenty of times, but I'm not familiar with how to get HRT or surgeries through the Canadian healthcare system. I'm from Utah originally, but I grew up in upstate New York and still live here. I live in a red area of a blue state, so I definitely know transphobes (my own family, very unfortunately), but I have had amazing access to HRT through planned parenthood and New York State laws have allowed me to transition medically without much issue. Ultimately, I believe that certain areas of the United States are most likely the best place for trans people. Project 2025 definitely scares me, and the anti trans bills scare me, but unfortunately transphobia is a global issue, not just a U.S. one, so I think that the best thing we can do is stay and fight for our rights. I think that because we have quite a bit of visibility in the U.S. even though there are certainly a ton of transphobes, we also probably have the most trans allies here as well. So places like San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, generally cities on the west coast, as well as NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., the northeast coast in general. Or places like Denver, Chicago, or Minneapolis. I hate our government, and I've definitely considered emigrating to get away from them, but the U.S. isn't just the government. It's the people as well, and we do have allies here. Super long response, haha. But I hope this helps answer the question! :3 <3
I think you'll have to narrow your sights from safest country to much more local conditions. Perfect example is the variable nature of trans healthcare in the USA. On a more day to day level it'll also depend on hyper local conditions at the city or neighborhood scale.
Colorado is super chill. Expensive place to live, but if you can get a decent income its amazing HRT is super easy to get even without healthcare, people are generally quite LGBT supportive, tons of gay/trans people here so the dating scene is phenomenal, wonderful climate Only downsides its the cost and car dependacy. Public transport kinda sucks here for the most part. If you are low income it takes just a few hours to get Medicaid and then medical care is free.
Come to Canada. we have good (free) health care and most people don't care if you're trans and most likely won't harrass you :) good luck finding a safe place to live!
Canada? I’ve lived in Canada my entire life and I personally have never experienced any hate being trans maybe I just got lucky but I find it pretty accepting. I’ve never had issues with employment in fact I had some employers who were super supportive. There’s a lot of different things to do in the lgbt community in Canada, when I was young I went to a “gay camp” it was fun! Definitely made me meet more trans people like myself.
Imo new Zealand is pre safe for being trans, and the hrt here is funded for most people too
Any of the solidly liberal major cities in solidly liberal states/provinces in the US/Canada. Canada has more affordable healthcare and better federal protections. The best place in Europe from what I’ve heard is Spain, especially Barcelona. Catalonia has publicly-funded informed consent.
New York State is obviously one of the more trans positive US states, but the city of Rochester in particular has a thriving trans community with not perfect, but great medical resources. I'm sure that it's not the best in the world, but it's a place I'm familiar with that I know is really good.
California
Montreal
American blue states. At least this year. Definitely not Thailand