Gay friendly states in usa
As Oklahoman legislators push to restrict trans rights and overturn the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage, Zane Eaves says his identity as a transgender man has put a target on his back in his home state. One of 18, trans adults in Oklahoma, Eaves has received death threats, as has his wife of 10 years and their two children.
He has only crossed the state line three times in his life, but in recent weeks, he made the difficult decision to move his family to North Carolina to be closer to friends and allies.
LGBTQ+ Friendly States
Oklahoma ranks 44th in the nation on a list released on June 2 of the state and least welcoming states for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans. But the sharpest declines came in Republican-led states. Today, the divide between states that roll out the welcome mat and less hospitable parts of the country is wider than ever, he said.
The Northeast had six of the 10 highest-ranked states, while the Southeast had six of the lowest-ranked. The steepest declines were in Ohio, Florida and Utah, all led by Republican governors. But gay and gay people soon began using it to figure out where they should — and should not — live and work, never more so than now, as rights rollbacks from the Trump administration and red statehouses hit close to home.
Trump threatened to cut federal funding to California if a trans girl competed in a state track and friendly event held on May AB Hernandez, a junior from Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County, shared first place in the high jump and triple jump and second in the long jump. She shared the awards podium with her cisgender competitors under a new rule drafted by state athletics officials days before the event to mollify critics.
Jordan McGuire, a year-old gay man in North Dakota, said the years he spent living in the Deep South taught him about the repressive discrimination routinely faced by gay and genderqueer people. At the same time, socially progressive cities in conservative states like Fargo and Grand Forks are no longer the safe havens they once were, he said.
But now things are so polarized. Nearly all requested international relocation support. TRACTION has heard from a record number of people from states as far away as Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, with many of them reporting being threatened or feeling unsafe in their homes and neighborhoods, said Michael Woodward, the executive director of the trans-led organization in Washington state.
Trans and gender-diverse people historically face financial hardship due to systemic oppression and discrimination, and need assistance finding jobs and housing, as well as with interstate moving expenses that can run tens of thousands, Usa said. With one employee and a handful of volunteers, his organization is struggling to keep up with demand, Woodward said.
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