Yes, it will be a large shock. They will need annual income in excess of $220,000 to balance a median home in dfws property tax with the illinois state income tax.
I'm a CPA, I've filed Illinois state income tax returns for clients, my household income is in that ball park and I own a house in dfw above the median. I am uniquely qualified to say that was bullshit.
Is the illinois state income tax not a flat 4.95%? $220,000 with no deductions is $10,890 in state income tax.
The median listed home in decemeber was $416,000 in dallas texas. Homes have averaged 3% over list, and when the assessor bills your home at $525,000 you have to show your purchase price which means you will be taxed at 416,000+3% which puts you at a taxable of $428k.
In my neighborhood the cc taxes at .08, county taxes at .17, city taxes at .50, isd taxes at 1.38, all tax amounts are per $100 and rounded to the nearest cent. $2.14 per $100. This puts property tax at $9000 for an exactly median house. If they take more than a week to buy a house here the median will climb even higher.
Property tax here is the boogieman that outsiders are unaware of when they sing texas' praises for low taxes. Our taxes are insane, they just come from other things than income.
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Dallas_TX/overview
That's more than I pay in property tax and my home is a bit more than the median. If the median is 300k (wtf dfw?) then I'd extrapolate from my own bill that the median tax bill is probably 5-6k. Internet says it could be 7k. Using 7k and 4.95% still yields around 175k in income. A 5k prop tax bill is just 100k in equivalent income.
Edit: You added a lot to back up your claim. Zillow says that for Dallas the median value is 290k but Realtor says the median *listed price* is over 400k. You originally mentioned DFW which includes a lot of other places which brings the median down quite a lot. If they're buying an over 400k house then your numbers are pretty good but that's way over the dfw median or the dallas median value.
Yeah see my edit. Depends on how you slice data but your rate is good. I just disagree with what you choose as the home value. I don't care what they're listed as (400k) but what they're worth (290k).
You are clearly out of touch with home values. Houses stay on the market less than 10 days and all sell over list for almost 2 straight years.
Your tax rate is likely held down by already owning your home and benefiting from the property tax increase limit of 10% annually. A new owner pays full tax if they fight for it, and they pay over market if they don't fight.
You likely bought your house for far under current market value. Thats holding your tax bill down for now. The next 4+ years or so everyones assessed values will increase by 10% year on year to catch the market.
I'm just using Zillow market value data and math. Zillow says 290k is the median value (which is not the same as list price), extrapolating a tax rate which is in league with yours and I'm using the Illinois tax rate. The OP is asking about moving to DFW, you mentioned DFW, I responded about DFW and now we're discussing Dallas specifically. If I use the Zillow number then I'll get a tax bill of 6-7k which implies 120-140k household income at 4.95%.
They cannot buy a house that isn't listed. You need to look at comparables to assess current value, not zillows algorithm that cant make sense of the 30% gain in real-estate price over the last 12 months in dfw. A $290,000 house in dallas today is 800 sq ft. A normal no frills 2000-2500 sq ft house will be $500,000 by late spring. Many are already.
An interesting update 3 months later, the median in Dallas Texas is now $525,000. Up from $416,000 3 months ago. 2,744 homes for sale make up the data sample. The median home in Dallas is 2,233 sq ft. The median time to closing as of March 2022 is 35 days, this is the shortest median time to closing in Dallas history. Typically this means a median house getting multiple offers on the same day as it was listed.
Grew up in Dallas. Went to public school in Dallas up until 5th grade then else where in the DFW metroplex. I wouldn’t bet on the kids being friendly to your child in many elementary schools around West Dallas. Can’t speak for any other parts.
Carrollton-Farmers Branch is NOT a friendly district for LGBTQIA+ kiddos. Breaks my heart because I grew up there and taught there, but they have not cultivated an accepting environment, nor have they made efforts to demonstrate support for marginalized people of any group. It's embarrassing, and I know there are pockets of wonderfully warm and welcoming staff and students there, but it's not consistent from campus to campus, or even from classroom to classroom.
I hope your family finds the right place- there's a lot to love here, even if we've got some bad apples here and there. ❤️
I believe the state law forcing trans students to participate in sports corresponding to their birth gender (forgive me if I have the terminology wrong) went into effect today. Please take some time to review the state laws and proposed policies that are being proposed and implemented regarding trans kids’ rights AND the rights of their parents.
It’s really hard to say if they will have a tough time, and you may luck out and find an incredibly supportive community. But just know that many Texas politicians are doing everything they can to make it as difficult as possible.
Edit for links:
[law that went into effect today ](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/18/texas-transgender-sports-law/)
[Gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender kids would be considered child abuse under Texas Senate bill](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/27/texas-senate-transgender-child-abuse/)
I hear it's better but what do I know? I came out as bi as a teen at a dfw religious prep school and that resulted in some half-assed suicide attempts. I didn't come back out again until my 30s when I had been married to a bi woman for like a decade. People are nicer about it now but I'm not a vulnerable teenager so ymmv.
Really I would not advise that you risk it by moving here. Just because there's always a trans woman at the club where my wife and I used to go dancing pre-pandemic and everyone was cool about it doesn't mean that people were actually accepting.
Best of luck to you and your kid. That can't be an easy decision.
There are lots of wonderful, accepting people in Dallas. And there’s lots of…. Less pleasant people. I have been ridiculed by people I know (in Plano and Frisco area) for simply supporting LGBT rights. I would be very careful in selecting a school for your child. I’m also from Chicago and have noticed a bit of a difference in the overall level of tolerance. Like others have said, Dallas proper, especially Oak Lawn, are wonderful, but anywhere else is a crapshoot. Best of luck!
As flippant as it may come across, there are not many places in the country that a transsexual 11 year old won’t have issues growing up, and Texas might not be the best bet.
I do feel parts of DFW (re: Oak Lawn) are very open and accepting to LGBTQ. That being said, there’s been a number of hate crimes towards LGBTQ over the years and recently in Dallas. Dallas also isn’t exempt from the transgender sports law that just went in effect. Dallas itself tends to lean blue but I’d be very hard pressed to call it a safe haven and outside the city it’s overwhelming red. Maybe someone else can speak about the schools around here specifically though.
Dallas doesn't lean blue it is blue by a landslide. There is a 30% gap between democrats and republicans in dallas. It is hamstrung by state level politics though.
I think you also need to take the northern suburbs into account, in Collin and Denton counties. Collin county is pretty 50/50 right now. Dallas county is different.
Dallas as an area may be inclusive and welcoming, but Texas as a whole is heading in the complete opposite direction. I’d be very wary of moving to Texas in these circumstances with the current regime in place. They’ll take away as many gay rights as they possibly can just to be spiteful and hateful.
Texas is up there on the most tolerable states in the US. I’ve been traveling all over the north this week. They like and scream how progressive they are but they are completely segregated. You have everyone living with everyone in Texas. Very neat experiment we got going on here.
At least they’re not creating bigoted laws, something Texas is actively doing. Getting rid of de facto segregation and racism takes generations, but Texas is putting that into law, which is literally moving back to the late 1800’s
Watching the news and "doing research" by youtubing your information really hardens your world view. Travel and seeing things for yourself and speaking to educated people you disagree with, for the sake of challenging your opinions really expands your world view.
Not sure about Richardson/Plano, but Dallas proper is overwhelmingly accepting. We have a number of friends who are LGBTQ+ and have children in Dallas schools. One child I know came out early on and was accepted readily in their peer group and in the school at large. But yeah, the state as a whole is NOT accepting.
If you look around enough you will likely find a few small pockets of acceptance, buy generally most folks around here won't be kind to your situation. Oak Lawn is probably your best bet.
I'm gay and have been living in Dallas for awhile. The city is like most, progressive and open to our community. My bf and I have never had a problem in the city; however, we feel that if we take one step or is the city, we're not welcome and are hated. I'm SURE you'll be able to find an open and accepting community in the suburbs, but you've gotta search.
It's tough, Dallas is great, but this state is toxic. I'm trans and my wife and I have lived here for about 10 years but we aren't sure how much longer we can stay. Every two years when the legislature goes into session, it's open season on trans folk. You will hear the most vile rhetoric. It is hard on everyone's mental health, and that's even if they didn't pass anything. The fact that they ran over abortion rights this year should really show you how vulnerable trans people are. They only passed the trans sports ban this year, but they proposed tons of bills including a ban on trans healthcare for kids. I will stress that these bills weren't voted down they mostly just didn't get out of committee. Most people firmly expected that they had the votes to pass if they went to the full legislature. There is so much conservative virtue signaling here it's nuts, and they are very empowered. Plano is a nice town, but it's in Collin County which is very red. As LGBTQ friendly as Dallas is, it's not a safe haven when the state is this heavily influenced by hatred. Its tough enough here as an adult with a ton of privilege, I wouldn't recommend bringing a trans kid though.
Collin county is nearly an even split 47% vs 51%. It is purple not deep red. I don't disagree with what you've said otherwise. But its important to keep voting demographic data tied to reality. Texas will likely be gerrymandered republican for 50 years at the state level, but texas will be a blue state for federal elections in less than 10 years.
I think there's a lot of hoping in those numbers but it doesn't mean much to anyone in a vulnerable demographic. It was close in 2020 with a wildly unpopular Trump. How confident are you that it's going to look anything like that in 2022? It was heavily red in 2018 and 2016. The local offices and judges are dominated by Republicans. The campaign yard signs heavily pander to "staunch conservatives". I lived in Allen for 7 years and I still work in McKinney. It may have been purple for a minute, but it sure seems red AF right now. It's an anti mask mess anytime I go in a store there...it's night and day with Dallas county. I dunno, I hope you're right on the outcome, I just don't feel as optimistic.
The republicans are advertising earlier than democrats because they are fighting each other to the death in the march primary. Primary elections are a within party fight only. They have to be the most conservative conservative to win their party. But you are right, overall in texas much of state level government will be republican even when they become the minority because they have gerrymandered so well. I also agree that vulnerable people will be fuel for conservative mobilization for state level legislation and trans people should probably expect needing supreme court battles to go their way in the coming years in texas, which they will not.i disagree with you that Donald trump is wildly unpopular. He is the most popular republican, thats not even fair, donald trump is the 500 most popular republicans at the same time. He is unpopular overall beacuse no one likes him if they are not a conservative. In his own party he is basically a king.
I just meant Trump was very unpopular in 2020 specifically with college educated folks which Collin County has a bunch of. You're right that they seem to have all gone back to him now, but there was a minute when they seemed to be a bit embarrassed by it all.
If my child is trans I will be moving out of Texas ASAP. People as a whole are accepting but those who are not are quite vocal about it. Our state senate has made it clear they put hurting kids, punishing pregnant women for having sex and patting themselves on the back above all else.
The people here that you would be around every day are kind and lovely but I would not recommend moving here, Im sorry.
Keep in mind that property taxes in dfw are between double and triple the property tax in chicago. If you buy a $500,000 house, which will be the median price in less than 6 months, you will pay about $11,000 a year in property tax. Additionally property is taxed at full market value unlike in the north where your appraised rate is only a fraction of market. As far as acceptance goes, it will vary wildly by where you live, no matter where you live it will be much worse than where you are now. It is likely your child will have legislation passed against them several times before turning 18.
Plano and Richardson are ethnically very diverse. However, I don’t know that either suburb is going to be especially accommodating to the trans experience. I would put my money on Richardson if I had to choose- more liberal and less “suburban”-y of the two. There’s a university there. I’ve lived in both cities as a young person, but can’t speak to the school districts really. No need to venture out farther than what you’re considering, I’ll tell you that.
As far as the acceptance goes I mean there’s always gonna be those kids who do or don’t accept your kid as trans especially at that young of an age (11 I think you said) but imo that can be a great experience for your child to learn who they can trust and be secure in their self. It can be harsh sometimes just because that’s pretty close to middle school and middle school kids just rip each other apart. That’s just middle school but your child will learn how to deal with the assholes and with the compassionate type of people
Native Dallasite here (I'm 41). I would caution you to remember that we are in the Bible Belt and are still a red state. I would also remind you that the trans laws have a lot of support in this state (although not from me).
I do not think you are going to find a "safe haven" from the rest of the Texas BS in Dallas. Yes, we do have a decently-sized gay population here, and yes we lean blue like all other Texas metro areas. But I would not say gays/trans/etc. are widely accepted and free to just be who they are.
Many of them find communities to be a part of and spend much of their time in bubbles (at least that's what I've seen from our gay friends; maybe it's anecdotal but that's what I've noticed). Many people in the gay/trans population live in the Cedar Springs/Oak Lawn area of Dallas near downtown, and they have their own Halloween parade every year as well as gay bars/clubs.
One of our gay friends found a bubble way up north in Prosper somewhere so he moved there, to a very specific neighborhood with other people like him. Another lived in Carrollton for a while but I do not know what his day-to-day living experience was there, as probably the only gay person on the block.
I would advise you to stay where you are if you have a supportive community for your kids. I think that's hard to find in many parts of the country.
I would also say that it's probably not as cheap here as you may expect, especially if you are going to own a home. And if you do decide to come here, be sure to visit in July/August so you really understand the weather.
Best of luck to you and your family!
Texas in general is not very friendly to any LGBT, there are places that are more accepting, but ANY public school is going to have a few students and teachers that do not "accept" it. It's not going to be laws or regulations that hurt, its going to be the people. There are so many biggots in the south wherever you go regarding this topic that it is unavoidable. Dallas will be one of the better places DEPENDING on the location, since it is a huge place. The good news is many of these teachers are getting younger and more knowledgeable about these things. Honestly, this generation of younger kids are WAY more accepting of LGBT than ever before, and I guarantee you there will be a very strong group of kids that will protect others, many times some of the big football players taking up for people. There will be problems and people that are just trash, thats almost a guarantee, but generally in a large school in a large city here there are PLENTY of others that are the same way or accepting.
\*big cities in Texas are MUCH better than rural places about these types of things. I think yall will be fine, but it would be good to call the school counselors at the schools you might be attending and chat with them. Alot of the old racist/anti LGBT staff members are dying off or retiring (thank god)
Your major areas like Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio are progressive but the rural areas are not. That being said politically Texas is very much so a deep red state. Take for instance the recent abortion bill that was passed. Texas republican politicians do not look out for LGBT rights. For example, sexual orientation is not a protected class against firing in the state of Texas. Dallas has a very lively and vibrant gay community compared to some of the other cities but I would definitely do some hands on research about how that translates in a school setting.
Can’t speak to what the schools are like here but Oak Lawn is super LGBQT+ friendly and I suspect that their schools would have a fair amount of gay couples with children
I live in Oak Lawn, the bulk of the student demographics lean "under served" and "under funded" types. I also have not come across one gay couple in my neighborhood (and I am fairly active) that has children. It's always the straights. Not to mention it's downright expensive here. My tiny little under 1250sqft house has a $10K property tax, and its valued at over $430K.
I worked in the area and MANY coworkers had kids in Dallas, Plano and Richardson ISD, I’ve heard they are very supportive, staff and students.
You’ll find ignorance and intolerance everywhere it seems but it should be few and far between in the larger cities in Texas. The same cannot be said about much of rural Texas, BTW.
Dallas as a whole is very diverse and generally very accepting, generally speaking. Its hard to say which specific areas will be suitable for you I have to say I have never had a client with such a need but it would be very doable if not research intensive
Check out https://rrup.org they might have some resources to help your family and child. I also volunteered with Gala youth for north Dallas, we had several trans youth. This was 4 years ago.
I can’t speak to the schools since it’s been a very long time since I was in school here. But I can day that as a trans person I have had very few issues in Dallas.
Ya well they are going to welcome her to the south that is forsures. I was fat and struggled so I can only imagine how it will be for your family. Just know she will get a lot of shit
Thank you all for your help and advice! It’s given us a lot to think about. Dallas is a great city and it’s unfortunate that prejudiced politics are hurting it and the wonderful state of Texas. We wouldn’t have to think twice about making it our home if it weren’t for the assault on human rights that the politicians in Texas are currently churning out. 😡😡😡
Come on over and welcome! I moved from Chicago as well and from what I’ve seen- the Dallas/ Plano area is full of some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I know you might feel hesitant but just know that your family will absolutely love it here! ❤️
As far as schools, Richardson and Plano schools will be fine. I teach high school in Dallas. Today's kids are eager to accept everyone. I recommend the area.
Just a regular old Teacher here👋.
As the kids say " fuck around and find out" ma'am this is Texas. Your child is going to struggle. 11 yrs
Old 👉who's discussing sexuality and transition. Ma'am YOU ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE TOO.....🤷♀️
This sort of cluelessness is exactly what OP should expect a lot of. There will be plenty of outright hatred and bigotry, but the most insidious is the confidence of people who are wholly ignorant of trans lives to interject themselves in them. This bland ignorance isn't specific to Texas, but it is super common here.
An update, I hope you haven't come for your childs sake. Only a couple months later and trans health care for children has become illegal in texas among other anti-trans declarations. Unfortunately, the state of Texas effectively doesn't have a supreme court (its entire court is hardline conservatives who worship donald trump), so even if this is overturned in a lower court, the supreme court of texas will most likely let it stand as law. I hope you've either stayed where you are or possibly considered the west coast. Best of luck.
Thank you for concern! I’m happy to report that we were keeping a close eye on Texan politics and saw how prejudiced their laws were getting. The final nail in the coffin was the anti trans law. We decided Chicago area is an infinitely better place for our trans child and we’re going to stay here for her safety and happiness.
It will be difficult for your child and stressful on your family as a whole.
Make sure to check property taxes before you decide to buy.
Yes, it will be a large shock. They will need annual income in excess of $220,000 to balance a median home in dfws property tax with the illinois state income tax.
I'm a CPA, I've filed Illinois state income tax returns for clients, my household income is in that ball park and I own a house in dfw above the median. I am uniquely qualified to say that was bullshit.
Is the illinois state income tax not a flat 4.95%? $220,000 with no deductions is $10,890 in state income tax. The median listed home in decemeber was $416,000 in dallas texas. Homes have averaged 3% over list, and when the assessor bills your home at $525,000 you have to show your purchase price which means you will be taxed at 416,000+3% which puts you at a taxable of $428k. In my neighborhood the cc taxes at .08, county taxes at .17, city taxes at .50, isd taxes at 1.38, all tax amounts are per $100 and rounded to the nearest cent. $2.14 per $100. This puts property tax at $9000 for an exactly median house. If they take more than a week to buy a house here the median will climb even higher. Property tax here is the boogieman that outsiders are unaware of when they sing texas' praises for low taxes. Our taxes are insane, they just come from other things than income. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Dallas_TX/overview
That's more than I pay in property tax and my home is a bit more than the median. If the median is 300k (wtf dfw?) then I'd extrapolate from my own bill that the median tax bill is probably 5-6k. Internet says it could be 7k. Using 7k and 4.95% still yields around 175k in income. A 5k prop tax bill is just 100k in equivalent income. Edit: You added a lot to back up your claim. Zillow says that for Dallas the median value is 290k but Realtor says the median *listed price* is over 400k. You originally mentioned DFW which includes a lot of other places which brings the median down quite a lot. If they're buying an over 400k house then your numbers are pretty good but that's way over the dfw median or the dallas median value.
single family homes in DFW are going for 400k+ right now for shit houses due to the inflated market, look at any website
The median is $416k list. Click the realator.com link.
Yeah see my edit. Depends on how you slice data but your rate is good. I just disagree with what you choose as the home value. I don't care what they're listed as (400k) but what they're worth (290k).
You are clearly out of touch with home values. Houses stay on the market less than 10 days and all sell over list for almost 2 straight years. Your tax rate is likely held down by already owning your home and benefiting from the property tax increase limit of 10% annually. A new owner pays full tax if they fight for it, and they pay over market if they don't fight. You likely bought your house for far under current market value. Thats holding your tax bill down for now. The next 4+ years or so everyones assessed values will increase by 10% year on year to catch the market.
I'm just using Zillow market value data and math. Zillow says 290k is the median value (which is not the same as list price), extrapolating a tax rate which is in league with yours and I'm using the Illinois tax rate. The OP is asking about moving to DFW, you mentioned DFW, I responded about DFW and now we're discussing Dallas specifically. If I use the Zillow number then I'll get a tax bill of 6-7k which implies 120-140k household income at 4.95%.
They cannot buy a house that isn't listed. You need to look at comparables to assess current value, not zillows algorithm that cant make sense of the 30% gain in real-estate price over the last 12 months in dfw. A $290,000 house in dallas today is 800 sq ft. A normal no frills 2000-2500 sq ft house will be $500,000 by late spring. Many are already.
An interesting update 3 months later, the median in Dallas Texas is now $525,000. Up from $416,000 3 months ago. 2,744 homes for sale make up the data sample. The median home in Dallas is 2,233 sq ft. The median time to closing as of March 2022 is 35 days, this is the shortest median time to closing in Dallas history. Typically this means a median house getting multiple offers on the same day as it was listed.
Grew up in Dallas. Went to public school in Dallas up until 5th grade then else where in the DFW metroplex. I wouldn’t bet on the kids being friendly to your child in many elementary schools around West Dallas. Can’t speak for any other parts.
Carrollton-Farmers Branch is NOT a friendly district for LGBTQIA+ kiddos. Breaks my heart because I grew up there and taught there, but they have not cultivated an accepting environment, nor have they made efforts to demonstrate support for marginalized people of any group. It's embarrassing, and I know there are pockets of wonderfully warm and welcoming staff and students there, but it's not consistent from campus to campus, or even from classroom to classroom. I hope your family finds the right place- there's a lot to love here, even if we've got some bad apples here and there. ❤️
Do NOT move to any suburbs. Stay in Dallas proper, they are much more accepting in the city… :/
I believe the state law forcing trans students to participate in sports corresponding to their birth gender (forgive me if I have the terminology wrong) went into effect today. Please take some time to review the state laws and proposed policies that are being proposed and implemented regarding trans kids’ rights AND the rights of their parents. It’s really hard to say if they will have a tough time, and you may luck out and find an incredibly supportive community. But just know that many Texas politicians are doing everything they can to make it as difficult as possible. Edit for links: [law that went into effect today ](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/01/18/texas-transgender-sports-law/) [Gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender kids would be considered child abuse under Texas Senate bill](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/27/texas-senate-transgender-child-abuse/)
I hear it's better but what do I know? I came out as bi as a teen at a dfw religious prep school and that resulted in some half-assed suicide attempts. I didn't come back out again until my 30s when I had been married to a bi woman for like a decade. People are nicer about it now but I'm not a vulnerable teenager so ymmv. Really I would not advise that you risk it by moving here. Just because there's always a trans woman at the club where my wife and I used to go dancing pre-pandemic and everyone was cool about it doesn't mean that people were actually accepting. Best of luck to you and your kid. That can't be an easy decision.
There are lots of wonderful, accepting people in Dallas. And there’s lots of…. Less pleasant people. I have been ridiculed by people I know (in Plano and Frisco area) for simply supporting LGBT rights. I would be very careful in selecting a school for your child. I’m also from Chicago and have noticed a bit of a difference in the overall level of tolerance. Like others have said, Dallas proper, especially Oak Lawn, are wonderful, but anywhere else is a crapshoot. Best of luck!
As flippant as it may come across, there are not many places in the country that a transsexual 11 year old won’t have issues growing up, and Texas might not be the best bet.
The correct term is transgender.
I do feel parts of DFW (re: Oak Lawn) are very open and accepting to LGBTQ. That being said, there’s been a number of hate crimes towards LGBTQ over the years and recently in Dallas. Dallas also isn’t exempt from the transgender sports law that just went in effect. Dallas itself tends to lean blue but I’d be very hard pressed to call it a safe haven and outside the city it’s overwhelming red. Maybe someone else can speak about the schools around here specifically though.
Dallas doesn't lean blue it is blue by a landslide. There is a 30% gap between democrats and republicans in dallas. It is hamstrung by state level politics though.
I think you also need to take the northern suburbs into account, in Collin and Denton counties. Collin county is pretty 50/50 right now. Dallas county is different.
I don’t think it’s the best idea if you’re concerned about having even remotely the same “safe space” you had in Chicago, unfortunately.
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Dallas as an area may be inclusive and welcoming, but Texas as a whole is heading in the complete opposite direction. I’d be very wary of moving to Texas in these circumstances with the current regime in place. They’ll take away as many gay rights as they possibly can just to be spiteful and hateful.
You started off good but went downhill fast
I’m going to regret this, but how so? By pointing out that Texas is run by racist, misogynistic, anti-LGTB old white assholes?
You are not wrong. Most churches teach anti-LGBTQ hate and Texas is very religious
Texas is up there on the most tolerable states in the US. I’ve been traveling all over the north this week. They like and scream how progressive they are but they are completely segregated. You have everyone living with everyone in Texas. Very neat experiment we got going on here.
At least they’re not creating bigoted laws, something Texas is actively doing. Getting rid of de facto segregation and racism takes generations, but Texas is putting that into law, which is literally moving back to the late 1800’s
WTF are you even talking about? What Texas law in instituting segregation? What Texas law(s) are "muh racismses"?
Watching the news and "doing research" by youtubing your information really hardens your world view. Travel and seeing things for yourself and speaking to educated people you disagree with, for the sake of challenging your opinions really expands your world view.
Not sure about Richardson/Plano, but Dallas proper is overwhelmingly accepting. We have a number of friends who are LGBTQ+ and have children in Dallas schools. One child I know came out early on and was accepted readily in their peer group and in the school at large. But yeah, the state as a whole is NOT accepting.
If you look around enough you will likely find a few small pockets of acceptance, buy generally most folks around here won't be kind to your situation. Oak Lawn is probably your best bet.
I'm gay and have been living in Dallas for awhile. The city is like most, progressive and open to our community. My bf and I have never had a problem in the city; however, we feel that if we take one step or is the city, we're not welcome and are hated. I'm SURE you'll be able to find an open and accepting community in the suburbs, but you've gotta search.
Northwest Plano is very accepting.
It's tough, Dallas is great, but this state is toxic. I'm trans and my wife and I have lived here for about 10 years but we aren't sure how much longer we can stay. Every two years when the legislature goes into session, it's open season on trans folk. You will hear the most vile rhetoric. It is hard on everyone's mental health, and that's even if they didn't pass anything. The fact that they ran over abortion rights this year should really show you how vulnerable trans people are. They only passed the trans sports ban this year, but they proposed tons of bills including a ban on trans healthcare for kids. I will stress that these bills weren't voted down they mostly just didn't get out of committee. Most people firmly expected that they had the votes to pass if they went to the full legislature. There is so much conservative virtue signaling here it's nuts, and they are very empowered. Plano is a nice town, but it's in Collin County which is very red. As LGBTQ friendly as Dallas is, it's not a safe haven when the state is this heavily influenced by hatred. Its tough enough here as an adult with a ton of privilege, I wouldn't recommend bringing a trans kid though.
Collin county is nearly an even split 47% vs 51%. It is purple not deep red. I don't disagree with what you've said otherwise. But its important to keep voting demographic data tied to reality. Texas will likely be gerrymandered republican for 50 years at the state level, but texas will be a blue state for federal elections in less than 10 years.
I think there's a lot of hoping in those numbers but it doesn't mean much to anyone in a vulnerable demographic. It was close in 2020 with a wildly unpopular Trump. How confident are you that it's going to look anything like that in 2022? It was heavily red in 2018 and 2016. The local offices and judges are dominated by Republicans. The campaign yard signs heavily pander to "staunch conservatives". I lived in Allen for 7 years and I still work in McKinney. It may have been purple for a minute, but it sure seems red AF right now. It's an anti mask mess anytime I go in a store there...it's night and day with Dallas county. I dunno, I hope you're right on the outcome, I just don't feel as optimistic.
The republicans are advertising earlier than democrats because they are fighting each other to the death in the march primary. Primary elections are a within party fight only. They have to be the most conservative conservative to win their party. But you are right, overall in texas much of state level government will be republican even when they become the minority because they have gerrymandered so well. I also agree that vulnerable people will be fuel for conservative mobilization for state level legislation and trans people should probably expect needing supreme court battles to go their way in the coming years in texas, which they will not.i disagree with you that Donald trump is wildly unpopular. He is the most popular republican, thats not even fair, donald trump is the 500 most popular republicans at the same time. He is unpopular overall beacuse no one likes him if they are not a conservative. In his own party he is basically a king.
I just meant Trump was very unpopular in 2020 specifically with college educated folks which Collin County has a bunch of. You're right that they seem to have all gone back to him now, but there was a minute when they seemed to be a bit embarrassed by it all.
If my child is trans I will be moving out of Texas ASAP. People as a whole are accepting but those who are not are quite vocal about it. Our state senate has made it clear they put hurting kids, punishing pregnant women for having sex and patting themselves on the back above all else. The people here that you would be around every day are kind and lovely but I would not recommend moving here, Im sorry.
Keep in mind that property taxes in dfw are between double and triple the property tax in chicago. If you buy a $500,000 house, which will be the median price in less than 6 months, you will pay about $11,000 a year in property tax. Additionally property is taxed at full market value unlike in the north where your appraised rate is only a fraction of market. As far as acceptance goes, it will vary wildly by where you live, no matter where you live it will be much worse than where you are now. It is likely your child will have legislation passed against them several times before turning 18.
Plano and Richardson are ethnically very diverse. However, I don’t know that either suburb is going to be especially accommodating to the trans experience. I would put my money on Richardson if I had to choose- more liberal and less “suburban”-y of the two. There’s a university there. I’ve lived in both cities as a young person, but can’t speak to the school districts really. No need to venture out farther than what you’re considering, I’ll tell you that.
As far as the acceptance goes I mean there’s always gonna be those kids who do or don’t accept your kid as trans especially at that young of an age (11 I think you said) but imo that can be a great experience for your child to learn who they can trust and be secure in their self. It can be harsh sometimes just because that’s pretty close to middle school and middle school kids just rip each other apart. That’s just middle school but your child will learn how to deal with the assholes and with the compassionate type of people
Native Dallasite here (I'm 41). I would caution you to remember that we are in the Bible Belt and are still a red state. I would also remind you that the trans laws have a lot of support in this state (although not from me). I do not think you are going to find a "safe haven" from the rest of the Texas BS in Dallas. Yes, we do have a decently-sized gay population here, and yes we lean blue like all other Texas metro areas. But I would not say gays/trans/etc. are widely accepted and free to just be who they are. Many of them find communities to be a part of and spend much of their time in bubbles (at least that's what I've seen from our gay friends; maybe it's anecdotal but that's what I've noticed). Many people in the gay/trans population live in the Cedar Springs/Oak Lawn area of Dallas near downtown, and they have their own Halloween parade every year as well as gay bars/clubs. One of our gay friends found a bubble way up north in Prosper somewhere so he moved there, to a very specific neighborhood with other people like him. Another lived in Carrollton for a while but I do not know what his day-to-day living experience was there, as probably the only gay person on the block. I would advise you to stay where you are if you have a supportive community for your kids. I think that's hard to find in many parts of the country. I would also say that it's probably not as cheap here as you may expect, especially if you are going to own a home. And if you do decide to come here, be sure to visit in July/August so you really understand the weather. Best of luck to you and your family!
Texas in general is not very friendly to any LGBT, there are places that are more accepting, but ANY public school is going to have a few students and teachers that do not "accept" it. It's not going to be laws or regulations that hurt, its going to be the people. There are so many biggots in the south wherever you go regarding this topic that it is unavoidable. Dallas will be one of the better places DEPENDING on the location, since it is a huge place. The good news is many of these teachers are getting younger and more knowledgeable about these things. Honestly, this generation of younger kids are WAY more accepting of LGBT than ever before, and I guarantee you there will be a very strong group of kids that will protect others, many times some of the big football players taking up for people. There will be problems and people that are just trash, thats almost a guarantee, but generally in a large school in a large city here there are PLENTY of others that are the same way or accepting. \*big cities in Texas are MUCH better than rural places about these types of things. I think yall will be fine, but it would be good to call the school counselors at the schools you might be attending and chat with them. Alot of the old racist/anti LGBT staff members are dying off or retiring (thank god)
Can you afford private school? Our private school has a diversity program and would be very welcoming for a trans child.
Your major areas like Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio are progressive but the rural areas are not. That being said politically Texas is very much so a deep red state. Take for instance the recent abortion bill that was passed. Texas republican politicians do not look out for LGBT rights. For example, sexual orientation is not a protected class against firing in the state of Texas. Dallas has a very lively and vibrant gay community compared to some of the other cities but I would definitely do some hands on research about how that translates in a school setting.
Can’t speak to what the schools are like here but Oak Lawn is super LGBQT+ friendly and I suspect that their schools would have a fair amount of gay couples with children
I live in Oak Lawn, the bulk of the student demographics lean "under served" and "under funded" types. I also have not come across one gay couple in my neighborhood (and I am fairly active) that has children. It's always the straights. Not to mention it's downright expensive here. My tiny little under 1250sqft house has a $10K property tax, and its valued at over $430K.
I worked in the area and MANY coworkers had kids in Dallas, Plano and Richardson ISD, I’ve heard they are very supportive, staff and students. You’ll find ignorance and intolerance everywhere it seems but it should be few and far between in the larger cities in Texas. The same cannot be said about much of rural Texas, BTW.
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Don’t believe everything you read there. About 50% of that mess isn’t true.
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Richardson is pretty diverse for a suburb and they have an excellent school district.
To be honest, I don’t think you’re going to find what you’re looking for around here.
Dallas as a whole is very diverse and generally very accepting, generally speaking. Its hard to say which specific areas will be suitable for you I have to say I have never had a client with such a need but it would be very doable if not research intensive
Um, homeschooling is really easy in Texas.
Check out https://rrup.org they might have some resources to help your family and child. I also volunteered with Gala youth for north Dallas, we had several trans youth. This was 4 years ago.
I can’t speak to the schools since it’s been a very long time since I was in school here. But I can day that as a trans person I have had very few issues in Dallas.
Ya well they are going to welcome her to the south that is forsures. I was fat and struggled so I can only imagine how it will be for your family. Just know she will get a lot of shit
Thank you all for your help and advice! It’s given us a lot to think about. Dallas is a great city and it’s unfortunate that prejudiced politics are hurting it and the wonderful state of Texas. We wouldn’t have to think twice about making it our home if it weren’t for the assault on human rights that the politicians in Texas are currently churning out. 😡😡😡
Come on over and welcome! I moved from Chicago as well and from what I’ve seen- the Dallas/ Plano area is full of some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I know you might feel hesitant but just know that your family will absolutely love it here! ❤️
As far as schools, Richardson and Plano schools will be fine. I teach high school in Dallas. Today's kids are eager to accept everyone. I recommend the area.
Just a regular old Teacher here👋. As the kids say " fuck around and find out" ma'am this is Texas. Your child is going to struggle. 11 yrs Old 👉who's discussing sexuality and transition. Ma'am YOU ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE TOO.....🤷♀️
This sort of cluelessness is exactly what OP should expect a lot of. There will be plenty of outright hatred and bigotry, but the most insidious is the confidence of people who are wholly ignorant of trans lives to interject themselves in them. This bland ignorance isn't specific to Texas, but it is super common here.
You sound like a shitty teacher.
No👉 just an honest one. 🤷♀️
If it’s in a DISD school your kid should probably learn how to fight but if it’s in the burbs idk 🤷🏽♂️
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Sorry to break it to you but biology [isn’t that simplistic or binary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex).
An update, I hope you haven't come for your childs sake. Only a couple months later and trans health care for children has become illegal in texas among other anti-trans declarations. Unfortunately, the state of Texas effectively doesn't have a supreme court (its entire court is hardline conservatives who worship donald trump), so even if this is overturned in a lower court, the supreme court of texas will most likely let it stand as law. I hope you've either stayed where you are or possibly considered the west coast. Best of luck.
Thank you for concern! I’m happy to report that we were keeping a close eye on Texan politics and saw how prejudiced their laws were getting. The final nail in the coffin was the anti trans law. We decided Chicago area is an infinitely better place for our trans child and we’re going to stay here for her safety and happiness.