Hi, this is a wonderful display of a normal 19 year old who is autistic. She is open about it, how it affects her daily life, how her celebrity which she is not using for her own benefit, and how she copes she mentions she really doesn’t like what she feels she has to do and often retreats to an environment that soothes her emotion distress. One of the things she mentions is her love of beans, and eating one bean at a time, as it helps her deal. The interview was grand. Here is a 19 year old who could have been using her status to make millions as an influencer yet proudly admits she will use her large platform to introduce other people who have expertise or experience in fighting the climate emergency, and then she steps aside, giving them the entire stage to say what needs to be said.
She is engaging, dare I say cute, without being called out as a sexist pig? She laughed at the host, who was not trying to be funny because that was how it struck her. I loved how she totally was not like other guests, she was herself.
If I don’t clip this right and you want to hear her talk about her autism and how it affects her and her activism, please go through the video. Oh one thing before where I start with her interview, they have kids on, and the kids love her. To the point where the host tries to ask one of the kids if he knew who he was or wanted to talk to him and the kid was like, no, I want to talk to her. What an ego busting moment. Hugs, best wishes, loves. Scottie
Oh notice one thing, she says she doesn’t need to make money from the books and activism, because she is in what we call college or university and her country pays her not only to be there but enough to live. Her living costs are paid because she is a student. Think about that next time an argument about student loans comes up and how great the US is. Hugs
Some great articles about Christians demanding special rights / privilege to violate rules and laws yet still get access to state money and force all public school clubs / sports organizations to follow their bigotry and let them violate the rules. Plus some good news, bigotry is costing churches members. Hugs. Scottie
I already posted the article on this, but the comments on Joe My God are so good I have to do a second post on haters trying to screw over both voters and LGBTQIA kids. Hugs. Scottie
Democrats who swept Moms For Liberty off school board fight superintendent's $700,000 exit deal https://t.co/wyb5N2ybFH
Christian looters stealing themselves more public funds just to hurt LGBT kids and fund more imposition of ignorance at public expense to destroy education itself.
Yeah he is pretty much a heartless scumbag. He was caught on video bragging about the killings at a bar with his Proud Boy buddies, but at the trial he was fake crying about it. I despise him and hope he rots in hell.
I suspect that any money he gets from now on will be spent as fast as it comes in. Kids like that don’t know how to manage their finances, as his lawyer seems to realize. He’s not that bright, obviously has not much interest in his “studies” but thinks he is the bomb with billionaires. The political grift is all he has in his future. Eventually, he’ll get a job at the Tony’s shop, hawking “Christian for guns.” And he’ll have to live on the measly pay he gets from that.
Well, who didn’t see this coming? The incel weeble was allegedly planning on attending college to study nursing (as part of a testament of his character during his trial), and then never did. Then Mr Crying Game-2 claimed to be enrolled and accepted at a rather prestigious college…only to have that college deny that claim. Lil’ Bloat Boy preferred to hang & drink with white supremacist/Nazi/incel groups, found/hired a TikTok gf, was going to just splurge during his 15 minutes of fame letting other people use this doofus for their own political points before discarding the loser.
And now he’s claiming to be destitute again, and none the wiser. Please send cash. 🙄
Frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t drunk or drugged himself to death yet.
Too bad; so sad. He may actually have to work for a living, after all. I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with any company that would hire Kyle Rittenhouse, though.
So, he goes to onlyfans. Charges $50 a month for some shirtless pictures. Some crazed MAGAs will support him for being a patriot. He is a scammer and grifter. He knows nothing else. May many engagements with law enforcement and corrections be in his future.
If the little cunt ever ‘wins’ an election, he will soon be Madison Cawthorn II. Charmless fat white Nazi sociopaths aren’t going to play with a demographic rapidly changing to favor minorities and zoomers.
SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS as a severance package for a school superintendent? Seriously? That is beyond nuts, and ought to be illegal. I hope the sane members of the community fight it and win.
A correction... “The exit deal for superintendent Abram Lucabaugh [photo below] was approved the night before the election” The board meeting doing this was a week AFTER the election on November 14. confirming, I live in the district.
Real estate taxes (aka school taxes) are crazy high in PA, or at least that’s what you hear all the time, I can’t wait till the taxpayers get a load of this. I hope that guy has protection…there are a lot of guns in PA.
That’s 700k they wanted to suck out of the school district, basically cutting funds. Its the MO of every one of these reich wing groups. Vulture capitalism. They infiltrate (financed by billionaires), mortally wound the department, then sell it off to be privatized. Its what the voucher shit is all about. Govt funneling money directly to some mega donor billionaire. Also see private prisons
I just texted a friend in Berks county (next door to Bucks), he said that the guy had given himself a raise last year. Yeah…nice guy.
While I was look for coverage in the Reading, PA newspaper, found this bit about “Election code violations being turned over to the AG”:
Kauffman said an email was sent on Election Day from a voter explaining that he and his wife had voted by mail for the first time this election. The voter said that on Election Day they “wanted to test the system,” so his wife attempted to vote in person at their Bern Township precinct.
At some point during that visit, the woman announced her intent and told a poll worker that she had already voted by mail. In the email, the voter said that his wife got to the voting booth before alerting the poll worker.
The woman ultimately did not cast a second ballot, Kauffman said.
Kauffman did not identify the voter or her husband.
Besides being an idiot, who can guess what party they belong to…after watching Fox News concerning all the “election fraud”.
While I don’t think this will go anywhere soon, this is more than grand standing for attention. He is a true believer in removing those non-cis non-straight people from society. He believes in making the US a Christian theocracy. Again remember how this started, both here and in Russia. Save the little kids, you know babies to 3rd grade which in the US is normally until kids would be 9 years old going into 4th grade. Don’t confuse kids who were not confused at all by gender or that there were LGBTQIA people, they were not confused by gay people who loved each other. They made the law so vague teachers had to hide being gay and their families, and remove rainbow stickers along with anti-bullying posters. Then it worked, people bought it so they moved it to up to grade 12 because we wouldn’t want to confuse 18 year olds about gender or sexual orientation, would we? After all, young adults don’t need to see or hear that stuff in the brave new world of only straight cis people with strict gender rules of the 1950s and forced Christian bible slogans in every classroom. Do they, after all no mention of the gays or trans equals no gays or trans people right? Oh shit, they still exist in work places, adults have to be exposed to that confusion as well. Oh shit, we should not confuse adults about sexual orientation or gender just like we don’t want to confuse kids were not confused, especially little kids who openly accepted their peers once until adults told them that it was wrong to accept people who were different. So let’s do what we did with companies that encouraged diversity which really is just mixing the races, letting black / brown people have equal work / schooling opportunities. We will make it illegal! Nope, no LGBTQIA and no diversity allowed in private or state businesses. There now we have a nice white straight cis state with nice white straight cis businesses and majority white straight cis schools. Oops, forgot one detail. Got to keep forcing that good old Jesus on everyone. So now not just schools will have to display in god we trust and the then commandments, stores, business, state agencies, everywhere will. And we will have a local church tax for every district to support the Christian churches only. The rest you can donate if you want on your own time, Christianity is the state religion now in Florida, and soon other red states.
This is the world these people want, that they are driven to create for their god. Right or wrong they really believe the lies they were told about the US being founded as a special place for Christians and only Christians, that god will be angry until it is “again” a Christian nation that follows the “bible” way of life? I guess that means slaves and the right of a man to fuck everything while owning his wives, concubines … whatever. Sorry but they won’t accept half measures as you see, they take that offering of meeting half way and then demand the rest. For those that say the fight for trans stuff is too much, just give them that, do you see how wrong you are now? They took it, ran with it, then went after the rest of the people who are different. They simply do not want to live in a world with others not like them in it. Period. If you want to live in the modern age with acceptance and tolerance for all, we must defeat these people. Hugs. Scottie
A new bill just introduced in Florida aims to expand “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” provisions to a broad range of workplaces. Targeting government employees, contractors, and nonprofits, the bill sets forth restrictions and bans on policies relating to pronouns, gender identity, and sexuality.
Specifically, it would prohibit state and local government employees as well as any contractors engaged with the government from changing their pronouns or honorifics if they do not match their assigned sex at birth.
It would also bar them from instructing on gender identity or sexuality, similar to “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” laws already active in the state education system. The legislation would establish “biological” pronouns as official state policy.
What raised the loudest alarms among critics was a provision that appears to restrict any organization specifically serving LGBTQ individuals from receiving any state dollars. “It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit organization or an employer who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression,” the bill reads.
The legislation is the second bill filed by Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, who was elected to the House in a Special Election in May. The House District 24 seat notably opened after former state Rep. Joe Harding, an Ocala Republican, resigned facing federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Harding authored a parental rights in education bill passed in 2022, the bill originally derided as the “don’t say gay bill.”
Chamberlin belongs to a Pentecostal church and launched a failed bid for the US House in 2020, finishing sixth in the GOP primary. His predecessor, Joe “Don’t Say Gay” Harding, is expected to begin on five month federal prison sentence on COVID fraud charges in January.
'Don't say gay' for nonprofits: @RyanDChamberlin files bill that would restrict LGBTQ nonprofits receiving state funding
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new bill just introduced in Florida aims to expand “Don’t Say Gay Or Trans” provisions to a broad range of workplaces. The bill sets forth restrictions and bans on policies relating to pronouns, gender identity, and sexuality.https://t.co/t3TmvrdCep
In March 1997, he filed King’s Chamberlin Ministries, Inc., which was dissolved in September 2001 for failure to file an annual report. He didn’t recall the business but thought it was related to his brother who lives in Israel.
In October 1997, he filed Ryan Marketing Group, Inc., which was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.
In February of 1998, he filed a corporation called Professional Credit Services Acceptance Corporation, Inc. that was administratively dissolved for failure to file an annual report in September 1999.
In January 1999, he filed Freedom Investments, Inc. that was dissolved in October 2002 for failure to file an annual report.
In September 1999, he filed Freedom Team, Inc. which was administratively dissolved in September 2011.
In May 2010, he started a company called Prosperity Team Leaders, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2011 for failure to file an annual report.
In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.
In March 2013, he was on the board of EJ Kids, Inc. in Hollywood, Florida. That company administratively dissolved the following year for failure to file an annual report.
In February 2015, there was The Kids Movement, Inc., also created in Hollywood. That company was voluntarily dissolved in March 2019.
In January 2010, he started RJ Chamberlin, LLC, which he said he continues to operate for the consulting/training work he does for companies.
In April 2011, he started a company called Empowered Companies, LLC, which was dissolved in September 2012 for failure to file an annual report.
The only victories they try for are those that harm people they don’t like.
“It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit organization or an employer who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression”
Note: If they were even remotely principled, they would have to admit that this would require refusing funding for any group that teaches that marriage is a heterosexual monopoly.
I think a lot of Floridians (gay and otherwise) are trying to figure out the best ways to fight this insane government. Voting is important for sure. But we need more and stronger resistance, more challenges in court, more protests. This is not an easy fight. I think a lot of people are just complacent in their comfy lifestyles. They really need to think otherwise. Danger, danger Will Robinson!
No safe space, no quiet room to decompress for every kid who needs one, because a minority thinks some kids are evil and they might feel safe and welcome there. WTF! Seriously! Adults need quiet places to decompress, and yet these old grandparent fucks think kids have it so easy they now all they need is Christ and the 10 commandments in school to be happy. This wouldn’t have cost the district. It was free money. But again religious people have the self entitled idea that somehow they get the right to force their religious convictions on other people’s children. I hate it, kids crying for safety, begging adults to help them. But all they got from some was hate, anger, judgement, and disdain.
I included a few more comments than I normally do because I want everyone to note how many people said hate, distrust, non-accptance and intolerance kept them in the closet, kept them denying who they were and stopping them from living openly as gay people. It kept them from dating and having fullfilling relationship. That is what the religous right wants to return to, the right to opress the LGBTQIA and keep them out of society. That is the world they love, where only people like them are seen in public, and on social media.
Last thing. At the very end someone who was able to see the entire meeting (* I was not able to read the article as it required me to regester and log in. *) reported that the board did agree to the need for a safe space. What they couldn’t accept was the money from “those people” again because the goal is to keep anyone different from being able to show it. To make sure the only accepted way to be is cis straight with strict gender roles from the 1950s. So they do see the need, they just refused free money because queer people were donating it. Again it makes it quite clear the goal they have. And I say together we have to stop them. Hugs. Scottie
The Lynchburg City School Board has voted not to accept a $10,000 grant from an LGBTQ-focused nonprofit, a possible temperature gauge for the board’s upcoming consideration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s model policies on the treatment of transgender students. At its meeting Tuesday, the board voted 7-2 against accepting the grant from the nonprofit It Gets Better Project, with board members Anthony Andrews and Sharon Carter the only votes in favor.
Students with the E.C. Glass High School Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) club applied for and were recently awarded a grant from the nonprofit to develop a safe-space or “quiet room” at the school, intended for all students’ use. One grandparent of a student spoke in opposition: “Let me be very clear, the LBGTQ agenda in schools is about indoctrination and grooming our children into an evil and wicked lifestyle, all while circumventing the rights and responsibilities of parents.”
Read the full article. In the screenshot seen above and in the cued-up video below, tearful students begged the school board in vain for the safe space.
School Board votes against accepting grant from LGBTQ-centered nonprofit | Tap on the picture to learn more 🔽 https://t.co/3uWrSdxjE1
A quiet room where students can read or do homework or just sit without being bullied. Imagine being against that. Now you understand the religious right. They want to be free to abuse anyone they want and when they are not allowed to do that they think they are being persecuted.
It reminds me of when I was in college, and an LGBT group was created, only to face a backlash from a counter group preaching “Society needs a home!” Rumor had it that this counter group sent plants into the LGBT group to potentially publicly out those attending…basically what Laura Ingraham did in college.
That threat kept me in the closet for a few more years, until I was out on my own and 1000 miles from my family. It should never have to be like that!
I started hitting the clubs at around 16 (back then in 1980’s NOLA I was just one face in a sea of gays and got away with it!) but didn’t come out until 1989 when I got out of the Army. It really was just too much trouble to be a double agent all the time. The idea of a “safe space” was unthinkable! Besides, I knew I was an ugly, twisted, perverted abomination that couldn’t be trusted around children. It took decades to partially heal from all that garbage. The kids deserve better than that, but that’s the message they get when they are denied these spaces. Oh, and I fucking HATE people like that Grandparent. I do not wish them well.
I ‘m sorry you had a moment when you viewed yourself as a “twisted abomination.” I understand it. I was raised a good Catholic boy. My parents even strong-armed me into going to their Catholic college, instead of the state college I wanted to attend, but I never saw myself as an abomination as I wanted so much more than just sex. I wanted love and a relationship…so how could that be wrong?
Of course it also helped that at the same time, Oprah, Geraldo, and other talk shows started featuring LGBT guests, who looked like “regular people,” acted like regular people, some were even ex-military & cops and this all flew in the face of what I was told what queer people were.
AIDS was devastating. I lost so many dear friends. The worst when when I would talk to my dad, and he deemed AIDS as “gawd’s judgement.” He eventually came around, when my parents met my gay friends and really liked them A LOT more than my sisters’ straight, boring, unfunny, uncultured friends. At one point, it was a bit unsettling when I had a bf my dad wanted to hang out with all the time, as they had way too many interests in common.
I’m a cis gendered white guy, and I’m ashamed that I had similar attitudes growing up. To be fair, I learned sex ed through ’60’s TV. I’m so glad I got past it. Even though I used to get hit on by gay guys all the time. 😉
My dad told me that all gay men acted & like to dress like women. “I couldn’t be gay. I’m not drawn to crossdressing nor attracted to effeminate men.”
Nothing’s worse than that time when I was closeted & neurotic 17-22 year old…desperately wanting some gay man to come onto me, only to be offended and terrified of being detected as gay.
When I was in an internship in college, there was this very cute, 30-ish mailman who delivered to the office all the time. One time he walked by my desk and flirted with me. I reacted rudely at the thought of being discovered. I thought about it later, and thought I should apologize the next time I saw him, and see where things go from there (never having been with another man yet.) Sadly, I never saw him again, as he had gotten sick shortly thereafter & died of AIDS.
My own self-loathing kept me away from friendly gay spaces and in my fraternity. Never mind that we would sometimes go to the big gay bar on $5 all you can drink Tuesdays. When I was finally outed and literally chased out of the house my biggest fear was that one of my ‘brothers’ would tell my parents. It’s not like the contact information wasn’t on file. But they didn’t.
I was booted from my frat when the fraternity president decided to come clean and tell his girlfriend that the two of us were having sex. After she ratted us out I was blackballed and the president stayed claiming I had “influenced” him. I guess the others I was having regular sex with as well felt it best to vote me out as to not appear to also having been “influenced”.
I never slept with any of my brothers but I did fuck my way through about a quarter of the PiKappaAlpha house. One bit of unfortunately blowback from my own outing was the guilt by association. Because I was treasurer and the assumptive president for the coming fall term, the whole thing created a bit of a scandal. I became toxic overnight and some of that stuck to others that I cared deeply for. In some cases I was the first person that they had spoken the words out loud to.
Oh man, I am so sorry to hear that happened to you.
My college’s GSU (1975) was the first place I felt comfortable coming out, and the first time I met people who felt the same way I did. It’s also where I met my first bf.
We all had/have our journeys. I survived and thrived, despite the delay & one-two punch in my journey of self-discovery & coming out.
1. Just before attending college and anticipating the exploration of my adulthood, I was reading about the sudden explosion of this ARC disease afflicting the gay community.
2. Was my college’s threat to this new gay safe space organization.
Moving 1000 miles away, 5 years later I found love (for 4-5 years), my happy gay self and tons of gay & lesbian friends.
Joining the Army saved my life. I was so afraid of getting kicked out for being gay (this was PRE-“Don’t ask, don’t tell) that I basically went celibate for 4 years, which coincided with the height of the plague. I remember going home on leave my first year. When I say that literally EVERY single person I’d slept with (and there were a lot) was dead, I’m not kidding. All those beautiful young men. It’s no wonder I’m filled with rage at the right.
I don’t get it. The school got the grant. It wouldn’t take any money and very little effort on the school’s part to make this happen. I don’t know of any school that would refuse free money. I guess I do now. 😦
True, the board voted 7-2 against accepting the $10,000 grant from the nonprofit It Gets Better Project. The negative majority objected to the It Gets Better Project “branding,” and what they percieved are implications of “indoctrination.”
However, in discussion beginning at hour 2:05 through 2:58 the board recognized the need for such a safe space, without objection. Eventually, the board voted 6-3 to direct the school system to find the funding for the safe space.
School Board Chair Dr. Gupta, a “No” voter on the It Gets Better Project grant, then offered to personally fund the project with $10,000. Accordingly, the Board then voted 9-0 to reconsider the 6-3 vote at their next meeting, pending investigation of any legal matters that might arise around Dr. Gupta’s donation.
I’m as disgusted as anyone here that in early discussion some board members wanted to accept the grant but were not willing recognize the grantor with a sign on the safe room’s door. But by the end of the meeting the glass was half-full — a safe room will be established, and a prominent local individual has offered to fund it.
Retiring after 17 years in my own city’s government, a place not unlike Lynchburg VA, I swore I’d never again watch another local government meeting. But watching the Lynchburg meeting I was encouraged. Especially that the needs of LGBT children were discussed (in Lynchburg, home of Liberty University!)
The meeting was calm and deliberate, without any Moms-for-Liberty stunts. I was especially struck by the diversity of the school board members, politically and ethnically. (Again in Lynchburg!) Another long, boring meeting, but I was surprised to find this one fascinating.
So, if I am reading this right, the school board recognized the need for a safe space for LGBTQ students, and approved the creation of such a space – they just couldn’t bear to take those queer dollars to fund it.
AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobbying groups are planning to spend more than $100 million dollars in Democratic primary races against progressive members of Congress in 2024. The Israel lobby has spent heavily against progressives in the past, but they’re ramping up their effort to oust them after being exposed for supporting Republican insurrectionists by the squad. To make matters worse Democratic leaders like Hakeem Jeffries—who received large donations from AIPAC—are letting it happen. We’ll break down the story in this video and discuss the implications.
Florida’s trend of experiencing population increases year over year is coming to an end as the state now sees a mass exodus of people fleeing the state. The main culprit is the lack of insurance companies that are willing to provide policies to homeowners in the state, leaving the hurricane-prone residents without a way to protect their property. Governor Ron DeSantis has done nothing to address this crisis as he continues his failing bid to become president. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains what’s happening.
Beau talks about how polls are done and used to sway people even if the group doing them is trying to be useful, spread the poll only if it helps us. He says that polling has become wish casting. Very interesting video of behind the scenes actions by republican politicians. Hugs
Is this the place we have become. A place where thugs representing a Christian Taliban moral vice police can simply threaten the safety of the public to enforce a specific religion’s church ideals on all the public? Hugs. Scottie
Many people in conservative states are having to make a difficult choice after facing harassment and anti-trans laws.
Grey Wilson now lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He and his mother were targeted after he testified against an anti-trans bill in his home state of Texas.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
Until a few years ago, Grey Wilson’s journey as a trans person had largely been a peaceful one.
A week before his 13th birthday, he came out to his mother, Lauren, in a PowerPoint presentation that laid out why he should be allowed to transition. It had previously proven to be a successful method of getting what he wanted: Every time he yearned to adopt a dog or a bunny, he would create a slideshow detailing the costs of pet ownership, appropriate feeding schedules, and where to obtain the animal in question. (Grey only got turned down when he asked Lauren for a snake.)
Lauren, a self-described data nerd, found herself convinced by the research Grey had compiled on the psychological benefits of gender affirmation. When the presentation concluded, she thought to herself, “Yep, that’s my son.”
But Grey’s happy existence ended seemingly overnight when he testified in the Texas Legislature against a 2021 bill seeking to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Anti-trans activists showed up at the family’s door after their home address was shared online, and Lauren said men with assault rifles tailed her when she was driving and tried to follow her to work. Grey was suddenly troubled by a new guilt, the fear he had brought all this down upon him. “The thing they hate about her is me,” he thought to himself. “They’re going after her because of me.”
“I felt a lot of responsibility for what was happening,” said Grey, now 19. “I know logically it isn’t, but a part of me thought, ‘Well, if I wasn’t trans, she wouldn’t be getting harassed.’”
The bill banning gender-affirming care for Texas youth — which threatens doctors who offer transition care to minors with loss of licensure — became a law two years after Grey’s testimony, and many families left the state in response. But the Wilsons, who aren’t being identified with their real last name due to safety concerns, were worried that simply going to a blue state like California or Colorado wouldn’t be enough. What if their new state started passing the same policies as their old one? Lauren knew that selling their house would only generate enough revenue to finance one move, and she worried they would be stuck if they chose the wrong state.
Instead of risking their only chance at escape, Grey and Lauren decided to flee the United States altogether and start over in New Zealand — a country where they had few friends or connections. They chose New Zealand for pragmatic reasons: It’s considered among the world’s most LGBTQ+ friendly nations, ranked 10th in a 2020 survey from UCLA think tank the Williams Institute — and the climate is more mild than Canada, ranked fifth. They wouldn’t have to learn a new language, unlike third-place Norway ― and 11th-place Australia has the most reptile species of any country, a major deal breaker for Lauren. (New Zealand, in contrast, is the only country on earth with no snakes.)
Grey and his mother, Lauren Wilson, in an Auckland park. After a monthslong process of applying to schools and filling out student visa paperwork, they were both able to move to New Zealand.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
Lauren wearing a “Trans Texas Proud” T-shirt.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
After a monthslong process of applying to schools and filling out student visa paperwork, Grey enrolled in a nursing program at a college in Auckland and Lauren was accepted to a master’s program in social work. Grey finally boarded a plane in February by himself, ready to start a new life in a country he had never even visited. His mother would follow him a few months later after she had settled their affairs, including her divorce. Her former partner, who has rarely left Texas outside of being deployed to Iraq, told her shortly before the move that he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
When he stepped off the plane earlier this year, Grey expected to feel the rush of being in a new place where no one knew him, and he could finally be free. Instead, the sudden realization that the worst was finally over was actually unexpectedly overwhelming, the fact of his survival bringing back all the emotions he spent months suppressing. He then remembered something that Lauren had told him back when the harassment was at its apex: If anything should happen to her, Grey needed to leave America anyway and follow through with their plan.
“This thing that we came up with a year before was happening, and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said. “I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to get on the plane because something was up. I was worried when I got off it, they were going to say no. I was worried everything was going to go wrong.”
Some trans youth and their parents are making the same choice — to escape America — as lawmakers across the U.S. impose increasingly draconian restrictions upon gender-affirming health care. To date, 20 states have passed laws restricting doctors from prescribing puberty blockers, providing hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and performing surgery to minor patients, and Arizona has a law that pertains solely to gender-affirming surgery (which is only administered in rare cases of extreme medical need). Florida’s gender-affirming care ban goes so far as allowing courts to remove children from their homes if authorities learn that a child is transitioning, a provision that opponents said amounted to legal kidnapping.
“A part of me thought, ‘Well, if I wasn’t trans, she wouldn’t be getting harassed.’”
– Grey Wilson
Families that spoke to HuffPost felt that getting out was their only option, particularly as the 2024 presidential election looms. Several candidates for the GOP nomination, including former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, have vocally opposed allowing trans kids to access gender-affirming care before the age of 18. At least three candidates have called for a federal ban on transition treatments for minors — among them former President Donald Trump, the current Republican front-runner, who has likened trans youth health care to “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation.”
Grey knows that his family is privileged to be able to pick up everything and move, and that nagging guilt comes back when he thinks of the friends and community they left behind in Texas. But over a Zoom call from his new apartment, he says there’s no future in a state that denies his basic rights, in a country where his opportunities to live as himself are narrowing.
“We don’t really have a lot of hope that things will get better before they get significantly worse,” he said. “We’d rather not have to deal with the significantly worse part.”
The Costs Of Migration
It’s unclear how many other families across the U.S. have made the choice to move abroad in response to discriminatory policies because they are largely doing so without any resources or infrastructure to support them. Nonprofit organizations focused on advocating for LGBTQ+ immigrants — such as Immigration Equality in the U.S. and Rainbow Railroad in Canada — have long been focused on the migration of refugees to North America, often from the global South. The issue of trans people and their loved ones heading the opposite direction is a relatively new phenomenon.
Among the few organizations offering dedicated resources to trans Americans seeking to leave the country with their families is TRANSport, a North Dakota-based group founded by Rynn Azerial Willgohs. The organization, which is applying for formal nonprofit status, is geared toward resettlement from the Dakotas and neighboring Minnesota. When she spoke to VICE News in January, Willgohs reported that 30 people had already reached out for help moving abroad. Willgohs did not respond to several requests for comment on this story, but the number of requests has likely increased significantly in the months since: More than 700 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 2023, by far the largest number in history, according to data provided by the LGBTQ+ think tank Movement Advancement Project.
Families of trans youth leaving the U.S. are likely to need as much help as they can get: Relocating abroad is a time-consuming, emotionally taxing process that typically costs tens of thousands of dollars. Sirelo, an independent online platform that allows customers to review moving companies, estimates that the cost of moving to New Zealand ranges from $15,000 and $20,000. Workers relocating to New Zealand for a job offer, for instance, will need to apply for a notoriously pricey work-to-residence visa, which costs nearly $2,000 in U.S. dollars. Lauren and Grey found that obtaining residences that would allow them to house four cats and three dogs was extremely difficult in New Zealand; many landlords required them to submit a “dog resume” detailing their breeds and respective temperaments.
And without established networks in place, trans children and their loved ones have largely been left to fend for themselves, whether it’s researching friendly countries or financing their move. When Marie Ponce’s family decided to move to Uruguay after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was reelected in November 2021, they knew they couldn’t afford to take the entire contents of their four-bedroom home with them — which an online calculator for an international storage service estimates would cost up to $17,000.
When Marie, her husband and two children leave the U.S. next month, they will take just four suitcases with them. A friend has agreed to hold onto their car and some family photo albums to make sure there’s some record left of their previous life, the one they had spent years building in Texas.
“If you knew her, the least interesting thing about her is that she’s trans. I just wanted to go to a place where people wouldn’t care.”
– Marie Ponce
The Ponces, who are being identified by pseudonyms out of concern for their safety, chose to move to Uruguay despite the expense, Marie said, because it’s one of the most welcoming countries in South America to foreign workers, and they would be able to obtain residency after three years. Uruguay also has some of the world’s most progressive laws mandating equality for the trans community. After passing a law in 2009 allowing trans people to correct their name and gender identity in government documents, the country went even further in 2018, enacting sweeping policies intended to guarantee “a life free from discrimination and stigmatization.” The “Trans Law,” as it’s known colloquially, established a constitutional right to gender-affirming care and set aside 1% of all government jobs for trans workers.
What they are hoping to find in Uruguay is a place where Marie’s 9-year-old daughter, Chloe, will no longer be a political football. Before Texas passed its gender-affirming care ban, Abbott issued an executive order in February 2022 directing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents who allow their children to transition. The directive achieved what Texas Republicans had been trying to do for an entire year: In April 2021, lawmakers advanced legislation seeking to classify the provision of gender-affirming care to minors as “child abuse,” which is a potential first-degree felony in Texas, punishable by up to 99 years in prison.
In the following months, child welfare agents opened cases against dozens of families across the state, and the Ponces compiled a “safe folder” with letters from family members, psychologists, and even local faith leaders stating that Chloe is happy and healthy, in case they got a knock at their door. Marie knew that this was no way for her child to live, that Chloe needed to live in a place where the fear of persecution wouldn’t be part of her daily life.
“It’s been really important to me to let my child have a childhood,” Marie said. “I’ve tried to keep her insulated, so that she can grow up and be who she is. If you knew her, the least interesting thing about her is that she’s trans. I just wanted to go to a place where people wouldn’t care.”
Lauren and Grey are applying for asylum. If their petition is approved, they would be the first Americans to be granted refugee status abroad on the basis of trans identity.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
There is little data currently on trans migration out of the U.S., but the modicum of research that does exist indicates that dozens, if not hundreds, more families may follow the Ponces and the Wilsons in the coming months and years. In a June report from the liberal think tank Data for Progress, 41% of trans adults and 43% of young people between the ages of 18 to 24 said they have considered moving as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, whether that’s relocating to another state or leaving the country altogether. The national survey of 1,036 respondents found that 8% of trans adults had already left their home as a result of policies making it more difficult to live their lives freely.
Just because trans people and their families can move, however, doesn’t mean it’s an easy choice. Marie has tried to sell the move to her children as an adventure, a chance for them to see the world, but deep down she knows this isn’t what she wanted for them. Since her kids were very young, Marie dreamt that they would be nurtured by what she calls “lifelong community,” that they would grow up surrounded by uncles, aunts, neighbors and fellow churchgoers who had held them when they were still babies.
“I had that growing up in a small town,” Marie said over a staticky line that cut in and out as she spoke. “The church that they were dedicated in — where they lit the chalice and know all the little old ladies — they’re gonna lose that. It’s going to be really hard to rebuild that and in a way impossible because you’re not born again. You’re not going to be a baby growing all the way up again. That is definitely gone.”
Creating Pathways To Safety
As trans migration out of the U.S. becomes more common, the fact remains that it’s an imperfect solution to the problems currently facing America’s LGBTQ+ community. There has never been a known case of a trans American claiming asylum abroad on the basis of political persecution, and those who do move may be severely restricted in terms of where and how they are permitted to work. Some countries, for instance, don’t allow immigrants to hold employment while they apply for citizenship. Even those who obtain student visas, like the Wilsons, or rely on remote work, like the Ponces, could be extremely vulnerable if sudden job loss occurs.
A third parent who spoke for this story, Vanessa Nichols, was forced to move her 14-year-old son back to the U.S. from Costa Rica after she was unexpectedly terminated from her position working in the country’s tourism sector. She and her son had originally fled Florida in November 2020 after they started getting death threats sent to their home, including a handwritten note telling her that she would be hunted by local mobs if she didn’t “repent” for her son’s identity.
“It felt scary. It felt lonely. It just felt impossible to stay in that state because it wasn’t safe,” Nichols said over a Zoom call a few days before learning she had been let go. “I’m originally from Chicago, but my parents moved me down to Florida when I was 10 so I spent most of my life there. All of a sudden, it felt so foreign to me.”
For families who can’t afford to immigrate or don’t want to risk relocating to countries where they may lack support networks in case of emergency, upstart groups are helping trans people and their relatives find safe havens within the U.S. and other resources they need — including suggesting LGBTQ+ affirming schools and helping families find health care. Such groups include Elevated Access, a door-to-door helicopter service that helps trans passengers fly out of state to relocate or seek gender-affirming care; Transitional Justice, which provides housing for trans people seeking to leave hostile states; and A Place for Marsha, which focuses on finding safe shelter for those seeking specifically to move to Las Vegas.
A coalition of advocacy groups has formed in Minnesota to meet the needs of trans migrants who move to the state, which is one of about a dozen in the U.S. to formally declare itself a refuge for trans health care. But community organizations are scrambling to meet the needs of a population facing an unprecedented crisis: At least 60 families have either moved to the state or confirmed they intend to do so, according to the LGBTQ+ nonprofit Transforming Families Minnesota. Its executive director, Hannah Edwards, said the organization gets “two to three” emails every week from parents looking for help in getting to safety.
Because this small assortment of groups is severely limited as to the number of clients they can help — especially since many organizations are still in their pilot stage — trans migrants are often forced to create their underground passageways to get to safety, both in the U.S. or abroad.
Roberto Che Espinoza and his partner fled Tennessee this year following a yearslong campaign of targeted harassment from far-right groups, which Espinoza said included unmarked packages being sent to their home. Following his move, Espinoza’s nonprofit, Our Collective Becoming, has pivoted to providing mutual aid funds for trans people and families moving to the greater Rochester area, where he is currently living in a safe house. He estimates their sector of upstate New York has been seeing “100 to 200 trans and queer refugees a month.”
Espinoza is working to get local churches to donate food, clothing, and even money to trans refugees and their loved ones as they resettle. “Housing is a big need,” he said. “There’s no rent control in Rochester, and people are in definite need of affordable housing. There are not enough mental health care providers, period, and with this influx of people, I don’t know what we do.”
Grey and Lauren are both acclimating to life in their new country.
BECKI MOSS FOR HUFFPOST
In their new home in New Zealand, the Wilsons also hope to create a safe passage for trans people and families who aren’t sure whether they should stay in the U.S. or leave as soon as possible — and might not be sure where they would even go. They are currently applying for asylum, and if their petition is approved, they would be the first Americans to be granted refugee status abroad on the basis of trans identity. It’s unclear when their case might be decided.
While they await news on their legal fight, Grey is acclimating to life in New Zealand, whether it’s the grammatical nuances in its dialectical English or learning the meaning of common Maori words employed in everyday life. He’s also adjusting to the local food: The only place to get sour pickles in Auckland is a single grocery store that sells American food, and he says that pizzas, which didn’t become popularized in New Zealand until the 1970s, often include “all kinds of random things just shoved onto them.” There’s also the matter of New Zealand’s polarizing flavored milks, which include banana, mint and lime, the latter of which he refuses to try. “That’s a combination I’m not testing,” he said confidently.
The adjustment process has been more difficult for Lauren because of everything they sacrificed to get to where they are now. The home that she sold to pay for the move was her dream house, the one that she was supposed to grow old in, and she misses its antique wood floors. She had a great job that she loved, and after she finally left the U.S. in June, it took her months to find employment as a foreign worker seeking part-time work on a student visa.
Lauren knows they made the right choice, but as she sleeps on a mattress on the floor of their new apartment, she can’t help but mourn what they’ve lost.
“My son is happy,” she said. “He is thriving. It’s not that I’m not happy, but I gave up a big chunk of my life, and I can’t go back to it. We’re really lucky that we were able to afford to do this and that we got to safety, but it’s a lot harder than I was expecting it to be.”
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