There might be a site out there which has attempted this, but if not maybe this will give someone an idea.
It seems to me that there are several considerations for what might be the best places for a transitioning TS to live.
i think it goes without saying that urban is better than rural, but beyond that, there are things like
Access to care
Access to support in the community
Local tolerance level
and lastly but perhaps most importantly, status with the government.
i'm thinking about the last one primarily because of a couple of things that have been in the news about Tennessee. I am beginning to consider the idea of relocating, if I can line up some opportunity to locate TO, and having a couple of friends in the Nashville area and having heard good things about the city, it's on my list. but i also know that TN is quite backward about revising your documents SO that provokes this thread and this question:
What states and localities are the easiest places to accomplish a legal transition (acknowledging that you can't change which state holds your birth certificate)
it seems to me that the "access to care" question is pretty easy to answer and the access to support consideration will have some obvious answers at the top of the list (but much more uncertainty down list) but the best way to find out the answers regarding the legalities is the voice of experience.
so what do you guys think about the process where you live? Is it possible to come up with a list of best places to legally transition?
i think it goes without saying that urban is better than rural, but beyond that, there are things like
Access to care
Access to support in the community
Local tolerance level
and lastly but perhaps most importantly, status with the government.
Maybe, I shouldn't answer this questions, coz I'm not a citizen of the US but for me the place to be for a TS is Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Why? because of all above.
I've heard some good things about the Portland, Oregon area
I'm Belgian. I quite like it here.
-Access to care: A specialized genderteam in the university hospital in Ghent has psychiatrists, endocrinologists, SRS surgeons, voice coaching, etc. Very professional, smooth, and easy. They treat tons of trans people and I can't praise the individual doctors enough. Prof. Dr. Stan Monstrey is also very adept at SRS, including phalloplasty. Consultations are covered, hormones are covered, SRS is reconized as medically necessary and 90% covered.
-Community support: There's several trans support groups and we inevitably meet other trans people in the hospital.
-Local tolerance level: Belgium is very secularized and most people aren't religious. I'm not super anti-religion but I'm convinced this does wonders for our acceptance. I've never been treated as anything but a girl and never been disrespected. But, still, there's a lot of educating the masses left to do.
Legalities... are possible but I feel sometimes a bit medieval. Downsides I've encountered so far is needing two letters for a name change which then takes 4 months to realize, and the fact a trans person has to be completely sterile and post-srs to be able to change gender markers.
Netherlands is much the same, I think. Not sure.
I think New York is a great place to be. Maybe Los Angeles? I live in the DC area and it's not too bad here either.
I'm a fan of San Francisco; not because of any of the tolerance hootinany, but it certainly is a plus. It's been a long time goal of mine to live in the city one day; been on the other side of the bay my whole life.
I think Portland, Oregon is a pretty great place to be trans.
Access to care - There are a lot of provides (medical doctors, therapists, etc.) that specialize or at least a very familiar with transgender care. I know of at least one low cost clinic with a trans-friendly provider. http://www.centralcityconcern.org/changing-lives/old-town-clinic.html (http://www.centralcityconcern.org/changing-lives/old-town-clinic.html)
Access to support in the community - Portland's Q Center is a great place that has several support and social meetings every month for the entire LGBTQ community. http://www.pdxqcenter.org/ (http://www.pdxqcenter.org/)
They also have a great transgender resource list. http://www.resourcespdx.org/ (http://www.resourcespdx.org/)
Local tolerance level - People in Portland are either accepting or just don't care. Sure we have our share of problems but overall I feel quite accepted and safe here.
Status with the government - Transgender people in Portland have protections at the state, county and city levels. If you're lucky enough to work for the city you can even have your SRS paid for. Check out Basic Rights Oregon "Know Your Rights Guide" http://www.basicrights.org/resources/trans-justice-resources/know-your-rights-guide/ (http://www.basicrights.org/resources/trans-justice-resources/know-your-rights-guide/)
I personally feel very fortunate to live in the Portland area.
SF Bay Area
Access to care - lots, including sliding-scale clinics that do informed consent and lots of professionals with lots of trans experiences including the most renowned FFS guy, someone who is highly thought of for MtF top surgery, and now Dr. Marci Bowers.
Access to support in the community - More than you can stand really. Lots of groups, social, political, support. The Translaw center, the original Trans Day of Remembrance, the first Trans March, an LGBT Center where the T is really a major part not an afterthought and one of the worlds centers for the open celebration of the diversity of the human sexual experience.
Local tolerance level - one of the more tolerant places on the planet in all history - with all the good and bad that comes with that.
Climate - perfect, a lot warmer than Portland, less rain too
Housing/Jobs - absurd. We don't have Real Estate, we have surreal estate, and one of the most competitive job markets in the world.
Cost of Living - how high the moon?
Quote from: Eve87 on November 17, 2011, 08:24:24 AM
I'm Belgian. I quite like it here.
-Access to care: A specialized genderteam in the university hospital in Ghent has psychiatrists, endocrinologists, SRS surgeons, voice coaching, etc. Very professional, smooth, and easy. They treat tons of trans people and I can't praise the individual doctors enough. Prof. Dr. Stan Monstrey is also very adept at SRS, including phalloplasty. Consultations are covered, hormones are covered, SRS is reconized as medically necessary and 90% covered.
-Community support: There's several trans support groups and we inevitably meet other trans people in the hospital.
-Local tolerance level: Belgium is very secularized and most people aren't religious. I'm not super anti-religion but I'm convinced this does wonders for our acceptance. I've never been treated as anything but a girl and never been disrespected. But, still, there's a lot of educating the masses left to do.
Legalities... are possible but I feel sometimes a bit medieval. Downsides I've encountered so far is needing two letters for a name change which then takes 4 months to realize, and the fact a trans person has to be completely sterile and post-srs to be able to change gender markers.
Netherlands is much the same, I think. Not sure.
Oh hey I'm not the only Belgian person here! I agree with the above though, this is a great country when it comes to acceptance in a wide range of things that are out of the norm. I don't think it's limited to Belgium though, I'm pretty sure most of Western Europe is like this.
I've got a question for you though Eve, which psychiatrist did you see? I have an appointment with Els Elaut but can't really seem to find anyone who has experience with her or anything, so I have no idea what to expect ...
EDIT: maybe I should've sent that in a PM. Oh well lol.
Lynn~
I was sent to Dr. Gunter Heylens @ Ghent. Wonderful guy, very comfortable and professional.
I see Els Elaut is a part of the same gender team so you're probably in good hands :)
Are you just starting the whole circuit?
Quote from: Eve87 on November 17, 2011, 04:05:54 PM
Lynn~
I was sent to Dr. Gunter Heylens @ Ghent. Wonderful guy, very comfortable and professional.
I see Els Elaut is a part of the same gender team so you're probably in good hands :)
Are you just starting the whole circuit?
I'll reply in a PM so I don't go and hijack this thread :D
Québec, Canada is probably an above average place. My standards are always high for everything, so it's not quite okay just yet, but it's way better than the US where you have to pay stupidly high amounts.
BasicSRS and hormones are covered, and you can get some kind of basic psychological support for free if you wait. You're often made to wait a lot before getting HRT, and you need SRS for a legal gender change. So accessibility is great as in free for everyone meeting the criteria, and bad because you can't get HRT easily. But that last point apparently depends on the psychiatrist, so...
Basically, acceptance seems to be quite good.
Support groups, well... I'm in a small, faraway city, so there aren't any here, but I hear there is a couple in the biggest cities.
I think Portland, Oregon is pretty good for trans people, if you're staying in the states. I have no clue about acceptance in most cities outside the US.
I'm pretty sure you'd be alright if you went to NY, San Francisco, or LA as well. New Orleans had a great queer culture (and all its stratifications and divisions) last I was there, but that was long ago, before Katrina or the recession.
The state of Washington has some good protections, but I don't know about the culture in their major cities.
My sister lives in Tennessee, and I've been there, and I shudder to think about even moving to Nashville or Memphis. That's like going to Atlanta. Safe-ish havens in especially intolerant places.
Best of luck, whatever you decide. :)
Quote from: Whitney on November 17, 2011, 08:53:37 AM
I'm a fan of San Francisco; not because of any of the tolerance hootinany, but it certainly is a plus. It's been a long time goal of mine to live in the city one day; been on the other side of the bay my whole life.
I stay in CASTRO VALLEY. Good times.
Let's not forget Boston.
Quote from: Kim 526 on November 18, 2011, 06:46:37 AM
Let's not forget Boston.
Right. Anybody know about Baltimore or Philadelphia?
Quote from: annette on November 17, 2011, 04:34:40 AM
i think it goes without saying that urban is better than rural, but beyond that, there are things like
Access to care
Access to support in the community
Local tolerance level
and lastly but perhaps most importantly, status with the government.
Maybe, I shouldn't answer this questions, coz I'm not a citizen of the US but for me the place to be for a TS is Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Why? because of all above.
Well, yes, I was thinking U.S.
Quote from: A on November 17, 2011, 09:05:16 PM
Québec, Canada is probably an above average place. My standards are always high for everything, so it's not quite okay just yet, but it's way better than the US where you have to pay stupidly high amounts.
BasicSRS and hormones are covered, and you can get some kind of basic psychological support for free if you wait. You're often made to wait a lot before getting HRT, and you need SRS for a legal gender change. So accessibility is great as in free for everyone meeting the criteria, and bad because you can't get HRT easily. But that last point apparently depends on the psychiatrist, so...
Basically, acceptance seems to be quite good.
Support groups, well... I'm in a small, faraway city, so there aren't any here, but I hear there is a couple in the biggest cities.
I'd love to live in Toronto but I've always understood that an American re-locating to Canada was not that easy.
Quote from: Felix on November 18, 2011, 11:03:56 AM
Right. Anybody know about Baltimore or Philadelphia?
Baltimore is kinda ghetto and not really safe if you ask me.
Kia Ora,
::) The Bestest Place? Where one 'is' right 'now' it's the only place one is ever going to be....
Metta Zenda :)
Quote from: Zenda on November 18, 2011, 02:17:36 PM
Kia Ora,
::) The Bestest Place? Where one 'is' right 'now' it's the only place one is ever going to be....
Metta Zenda :)
::)
Quote from: JenJen2011 on November 18, 2011, 02:24:43 PM
::)
Kia Ora JenJen,
::) In the moment...Moment by moment...
"By changing the way one looks at things - the things one looks at change !"
Metta Zenda :)
Where one 'is' right 'now' it's the only place one is ever going to be....
That's kind of dismal hope for Hope. Of all places in the USA, and ya'll know we got a bunch of them, that are hard to be T, I can't imagine anyplace that would really be worse. In Mississippi it's pretty hard to be any sort of different really, much less trans. It's like about the most conservative Protestant place on earth - and I'm here to tell you (and even Hope will back me up, making it the first time she's ever agreed with me) that 10am on Sunday morning in Mississippi the stillness is almost palatable because no one is out, no one is about, everyone is in church. It's goes without saying one of the most conservative and most religious states would be one of the most Republican, nah. And even the Democrats down there (and that's a long story) are far/hard right wing. And - as if that was not enough - its one of the poorest states, one of the worst performing economies of all the states, leads in things like teen pregnancy and is last in things like, well, how about income, last in the nation, also at the bottom of education (last in science and math), social services and physical fitness. Mississippi has pretty much been - if not actually qualifying as dire poverty - at a basic subsistence level since the end of the Civil War, that's like 1860s. Though the state is very pretty - breathtaking in parts - and though the people there are about the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, you still would be looking to live somewhere - anywhere - else. Really, for all practical purposes, a huge part of the Industrial Revolution never happened in Mississippi, it's pretty much as rural as it was before the CW. So there really are no jobs. No huge factories like the NW and West Coasts, no real IT industry, horrible education industry, about the only good jobs in Mississippi are government jobs (and oddly enough Mississippi is one of those places that politically hates government jobs) and there are damn few of them and despite some veneer of 'merit civil service' most of them go to people who are connected. Not just 'the old boys network' it's the strongest and most pervasive 'good-old boys' power structure as you can find in the US.
Yeah, any rational T person would be at least considering moving. And besides, wherever you go, there you are. Hope is trying to find a place to be Hope, she's not running away I think she's trying to get 'to'. And in this 'wherever you go' world we live in it sometimes helps to get some knowledge of the next place to go because you do have to pick one of those 360 degrees to wherever off on.
We have these 'gay mecca' places in the US. West Hollywood, San Francisco, Key West, and huge gayborhoods in places like NYC, Chicago, Houston - but oddly enough, or not - most of the people there are not from there, they moved there. And lots and lots of them moved from towns in rural areas that were, like Hope's area, culturally oppressive as well as being economically depressed. What's not to leave?
Quote from: tekla on November 18, 2011, 03:10:56 PM
Where one 'is' right 'now' it's the only place one is ever going to be....
That's kind of dismal hope for Hope. Of all places in the USA, and ya'll know we got a bunch of them, that are hard to be T, I can't imagine anyplace that would really be worse. In Mississippi it's pretty hard to be any sort of different really, much less trans. It's like about the most conservative Protestant place on earth - and I'm here to tell you (and even Hope will back me up, making it the first time she's ever agreed with me) that 10am on Sunday morning in Mississippi the stillness is almost palatable because no one is out, no one is about, everyone is in church. It's goes without saying one of the most conservative and most religious states would be one of the most Republican, nah. And even the Democrats down there (and that's a long story) are far/hard right wing. And - as if that was not enough - its one of the poorest states, one of the worst performing economies of all the states, leads in things like teen pregnancy and is last in things like, well, how about income, last in the nation, also at the bottom of education (last in science and math), social services and physical fitness. Mississippi has pretty much been - if not actually qualifying as dire poverty - at a basic subsistence level since the end of the Civil War, that's like 1860s. Though the state is very pretty - breathtaking in parts - and though the people there are about the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, you still would be looking to live somewhere - anywhere - else. Really, for all practical purposes, a huge part of the Industrial Revolution never happened in Mississippi, it's pretty much as rural as it was before the CW. So there really are no jobs. No huge factories like the NW and West Coasts, no real IT industry, horrible education industry, about the only good jobs in Mississippi are government jobs (and oddly enough Mississippi is one of those places that politically hates government jobs) and there are damn few of them and despite some veneer of 'merit civil service' most of them go to people who are connected. Not just 'the old boys network' it's the strongest and most pervasive 'good-old boys' power structure as you can find in the US.
Yeah, any rational T person would be at least considering moving. And besides, wherever you go, there you are. Hope is trying to find a place to be Hope, she's not running away I think she's trying to get 'to'. And in this 'wherever you go' world we live in it sometimes helps to get some knowledge of the next place to go because you do have to pick one of those 360 degrees to wherever off on.
We have these 'gay mecca' places in the US. West Hollywood, San Francisco, Key West, and huge gayborhoods in places like NYC, Chicago, Houston - but oddly enough, or not - most of the people there are not from there, they moved there. And lots and lots of them moved from towns in rural areas that were, like Hope's area, culturally oppressive as well as being economically depressed. What's not to leave?
Kia Ora Tekla,
::) As usual an interesting take on things, however those of us raised in Western culture were never taught that 'Fear' is the price of Hope... Rather, we can't envision life without Hope. According to Dante, hell is the place devoid of Hope; he warned Christians condemned there to "abandon all Hope, ye who enter herein." Prophets warned that without vision, the people perish.
Hope might be what propels one into action. But at the same times 'Hope' can become a burden made heavy by its close companion, 'Fear' of failing'.
::) One whose free from 'Hope' is also free from 'Fear'...
When one is in the 'here' and 'now' - Hope and Fear can enter through invitation only...
Metta Zenda :)
We're not talking about metaphysics. We're only talking about moving. Yeah, kind of mundane and all. Worldly, I guess to pile all your ->-bleeped-<- into a truck and be Moving on up, to the East Side but hey, its' your worldly ->-bleeped-<- your moving so that kind of works out in the real world.
Quote from: tekla on November 18, 2011, 03:39:41 PM
We're not talking about metaphysics. We're only talking about moving. Yeah, kind of mundane and all. Worldly, I guess to pile all your ->-bleeped-<- into a truck and be Moving on up, to the East Side but hey, its' your worldly ->-bleeped-<- your moving so that kind of works out in the real world.
Kia Ora Tekla,
::) Oh so why didn't you say this in the first place ;) ;D
::) But I guess no matter where one moves to "One can't escape oneself !"
::) As the late great Bob Marley once said "You can't run away from yourself !"
Metta Zenda :)
Tammy Hope posted this thread I would assume because the area she lives in has been giving her a really bad time... She is looking for somewhere to move to... Not for someone to blow a load of philosophical wind up her skirt
Quote from: V M on November 18, 2011, 03:57:48 PM
Tammy Hope posted this thread I would assume because the area she lives in has been giving her a really bad time... She is looking for somewhere to move to... Not for someone to blow a load of philosophical wind up her skirt
Kia Ora VM,
::) A valid point...
::) If she's looking for a place where her needs can be met with relative ease, it's no easy task...One person in New York for example might have found the services for trans-people where they live are wonderful, but another living in the same place might find that their experience as not been as good and struck problem after problem with accessing stuff...
::) Which also happens here in good old Aotearoa [ NZ] If you were to ask me what the services are like here for trans-people I could say great, I've had no problems, the reality is it's been great for me, but I know 'many' trans-people for whom the service as far as they're concern as been crap they feel they have been treated like crap by the service providers...
My apologies to Tammy when talking about 'Hope' with Tekla, its just sunk in that she was referring to your[the last name "Hope" and playing with words]..I was focusing upon the use of the word "Hope" so my apologies if you thought it was an attack upon your person....
Metta Zenda :)
Italy, maybe even bettr in some romantic place like Venice. People is friendly and supportive, whoever you are.
Quote from: tekla on November 18, 2011, 03:10:56 PM
Where one 'is' right 'now' it's the only place one is ever going to be....
That's kind of dismal hope for Hope. Of all places in the USA, and ya'll know we got a bunch of them, that are hard to be T, I can't imagine anyplace that would really be worse. In Mississippi it's pretty hard to be any sort of different really, much less trans.
Largely true, though I've not traveled - but not as bad as one might imagine. there's no possibility of "equal rights" and probably not more than a long shot of being employed but there's not as much hostility as you would think. some are real good to me and the rest just grudgingly put up with me because they see the downside in being obvious ->-bleeped-<-s.
I've only had one or two step into THAT role.
Quote
It's like about the most conservative Protestant place on earth - and I'm here to tell you (and even Hope will back me up, making it the first time she's ever agreed with me)
Nonsense!! I've agreed with you before! (not, ya know, a LOT but...)
Quote
that 10am on Sunday morning in Mississippi the stillness is almost palatable because no one is out, no one is about, everyone is in church.
Not entirely....the church pastors actually whine about the number of folks who are not. it probably runs about 60-65%. Which is massive compared to California or even Ohio or some such, not not EVERY one.
Quote
It's goes without saying one of the most conservative and most religious states would be one of the most Republican, nah. And even the Democrats down there (and that's a long story) are far/hard right wing.
VERY true. At least on social politics.
Quote
And - as if that was not enough - its one of the poorest states, one of the worst performing economies of all the states,
Actually, the economy lately has done real well (think last 20years or so) but it was so very very very bad before that that the climb up even to the bottom rungs has been tough.
it's also worth noting that the climb co-indices with the rise of Republicans in the state. 20 years ago was the first GOP governor (a constitutionally weak office BTW) and it's been...no more than 8 since they took over the Senate, and the incoming House next year will be the first Republican controlled House since Reconstruction.
So it wasn't Republican policies that got us here. (and Economically, the Democrats are Democrats - it's only on social issues they turn into psedo-Republicans)
Quote
leads in things like teen pregnancy and is last in things like, well, how about income, last in the nation, also at the bottom of education (last in science and math), social services and physical fitness.
Not to sound racist (which I'm NOT!!!) but most of those "worst in the nation" stats are heavily skewed by the Delta which is just miserably far behind. if you were only measuring non-delta counties we'd be pretty middle of the road in most measures (Arkansas has a touch of this problem too).
Quote
Mississippi has pretty much been - if not actually qualifying as dire poverty - at a basic subsistence level since the end of the Civil War, that's like 1860s.
Little known trivia - BEFORE the War the state with the second highest per-capita rate of millionaires in America was MS
The state was victimized by it's own racism. The hard cord determination to keep the blacks down created massive poverty in the Delta which put the whole state permanently behind. Even when safety net programs were created, that just made the problem worse because of the cost to the state. it became a negative feedback loop.
I indicated earlier that the rise of Republicans led to economic progress, but another HUGE factor is that it took until after desegregation - when those of us who grew up going to school with blacks became the voting base - before that racist instinct became a minority view and that, I believe, has helped make some progress.
Quote
Though the state is very pretty - breathtaking in parts - and though the people there are about the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, you still would be looking to live somewhere - anywhere - else. Really, for all practical purposes, a huge part of the Industrial Revolution never happened in Mississippi, it's pretty much as rural as it was before the CW.
No no. This isn't really true at all. YES it's pretty rural but it is also plenty industrialized. in fact, they just opened a new Toyota plant not 25 miles from me that starts with 2,000 employees and several suppliers nearby have that many more. There's a big Nissan plant near Jackson, a huge shipyard on the coast, tons of furniture factories and quite a bit more.
I'd compare MS to any other southern state or any of the plains states at a minimum, along with the non-coastal northwest.
But the attitudes of many folks (other than on race) are right out of the 50s
Quote
So there really are no jobs. No huge factories like the NW and West Coasts, no real IT industry, horrible education industry, about the only good jobs in Mississippi are government jobs (and oddly enough Mississippi is one of those places that politically hates government jobs) and there are damn few of them and despite some veneer of 'merit civil service' most of them go to people who are connected. Not just 'the old boys network' it's the strongest and most pervasive 'good-old boys' power structure as you can find in the US.
Yeah, any rational T person would be at least considering moving. And besides, wherever you go, there you are. Hope is trying to find a place to be Hope, she's not running away I think she's trying to get 'to'. And in this 'wherever you go' world we live in it sometimes helps to get some knowledge of the next place to go because you do have to pick one of those 360 degrees to wherever off on.
We have these 'gay mecca' places in the US. West Hollywood, San Francisco, Key West, and huge gayborhoods in places like NYC, Chicago, Houston - but oddly enough, or not - most of the people there are not from there, they moved there. And lots and lots of them moved from towns in rural areas that were, like Hope's area, culturally oppressive as well as being economically depressed. What's not to leave?
if it wasn't for family obligations I feel honor bound to, I'd have been gone long long ago
Another place i'd like to go if i was free to move worldwide is Australia (maybe NZ?) but on a practical level....
The places I've considered:
Portland/Seattle
New Orleans
Nashville
Orlando (if I could get a Disney job like Melody)
The Louisville/Cincinnati area
Toronto (which I know is good but there's the immigration issue)
Northern Virginia
MAYBE some areas of North Carolina
and maybe maybe maybe Atlanta
some of the other known-trans friendly places (SF, NY, etc) you run into massive cost-of-living issues
I was just trying to give a bare bones sketch as to why someone in Mississippi might be on the lookout for other places to live. It is beautiful and the people wonderful, but there are other kinds of opportunities in other places that just are not present in Mississippi (and the opposite too). Just depends on what you are looking for. And as you said you have not traveled much. So if all you know of a NYC, or an SF, is what you see on the media then its just hard to know how different day to day life for everyday people is in those places. And none of them are Xanadu or Nirvana, but depending on the individual they can be better or worse.
I was just trying to point out that there might be real (and not just philosophical) differences between them, and very concrete (as opposed to abstract) reasons why one might consider changed in latitude besides the changes in attitude that come with that.
Quote from: Tammy Hope on November 19, 2011, 04:31:16 AM
Another place i'd like to go if i was free to move worldwide is Australia (maybe NZ?) but on a practical level....
The places I've considered:
Portland/Seattle
New Orleans
Nashville
Orlando (if I could get a Disney job like Melody)
The Louisville/Cincinnati area
Toronto (which I know is good but there's the immigration issue)
Northern Virginia
MAYBE some areas of North Carolina
and maybe maybe maybe Atlanta
some of the other known-trans friendly places (SF, NY, etc) you run into massive cost-of-living issues
Kia Ora Tammy,
::) Aussie's not a bad place[I'm an Australian citizen-lived there for 17 years] but now reside in Aotearoa [NZ] which I might add is just right for me....Now if I had to move to the US I'd head for "New Orleans" there's something about the place that attracts me, even though I've never been there...But as it is I'm happy living where I am, on a beautiful tiny speck of an island in the south pacific ...
::) I 'hope' [excuse the pun] you find what you're looking for...
Metta Zenda :)
Quote from: tekla on November 19, 2011, 11:10:49 AM
I was just trying to give a bare bones sketch as to why someone in Mississippi might be on the lookout for other places to live. It is beautiful and the people wonderful, but there are other kinds of opportunities in other places that just are not present in Mississippi (and the opposite too). Just depends on what you are looking for. And as you said you have not traveled much. So if all you know of a NYC, or an SF, is what you see on the media then its just hard to know how different day to day life for everyday people is in those places. And none of them are Xanadu or Nirvana, but depending on the individual they can be better or worse.
I was just trying to point out that there might be real (and not just philosophical) differences between them, and very concrete (as opposed to abstract) reasons why one might consider changed in latitude besides the changes in attitude that come with that.
" real (and not just philosophical) differences between them, and very concrete (as opposed to abstract) reasons "
Very true!
gonna be a silly question, but im more then a little tired and haveing trouble overthinking the way i normaly do, but if one was to move for the sake of there trasition, other then having a therepist close what else would be priority? im assume a elctro or lazer clinic yes? something of the sort? suport groupds and whatnot?
Quote from: Lilly19 on November 20, 2011, 06:57:29 AM
gonna be a silly question, but im more then a little tired and haveing trouble overthinking the way i normaly do, but if one was to move for the sake of there trasition, other then having a therepist close what else would be priority? im assume a elctro or lazer clinic yes? something of the sort? suport groupds and whatnot?
Various crime statistics, workplace and school gender expression protection laws, local culture, not sure what else.
Hello tammy, I know you are looking for a place in U.S., anyway here is my little contribution for anyone who is interested.
I am Spanish and live in Spain
Access to care:
There is a public health system that provides access to psychological therapy, hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery. You have to pay for hormones, but the price is minimal, since they are subsidized. The biggest drawback is the queue to access the SRS, I'm not sure, but are usually about 4 years. Another drawback is the limited information available on the results of SRS performed by the health system.
Access to support in the community:
There are support groups and associations of transgender people.
Local tolerance level:
I think is good, but I can only speak from my experience. I live in a town of 70,000 inhabitants, and have never had any problem, even though I have not hidden my transsexuality. Now I am about 6 months of hormone therapy, get dressed like any woman, were woman shoes and sometimes makeup. I'm not entirely passable, but people do not seem to care so much.
Hi, Like Blanca I am far more qualified to add that Western Europe in general is as good a place as any to be trans.
My experience of the USA is limited to holidays in Orlando, Florida. It being an entirely tourist experience of the fakest order I couldn't make a call one way or another.
In Europe I have found everywhere outside of small rural areas, and including some (particularly in France, as long as you speak French) to be absolutely fine. Most of them will subsidise at least part of transition costs, people are generally tolerant, polite, and unarmed (a big plus IMHO).
In Dublin where I live everyone has been fine so far, you get the odd double take and s->-bleeped-<-ing schoolkids but no hassle from people as long as you don't go anywhere that is unsafe for anybody (the liberties etc.).
as for the Americas, I personally think I would prefer Canada to the USA, for more reasons than just transition. And south of that Argentina is probably your best bet. Brazil is just too violent I think.
In the Oceania region I think your safe all round with a major city. As for Africa and Asia I just wouldnt know enough at all to say.
Antarctica has been known to be very tolerant, never much racism, homo/transphobia among penguins and stranded penguin researchers, but I can't say much for the employment prospects round those parts :P
Hope that helped someone.
Quote from: Lilly19 on November 20, 2011, 06:57:29 AM
gonna be a silly question, but im more then a little tired and haveing trouble overthinking the way i normaly do, but if one was to move for the sake of there trasition, other then having a therepist close what else would be priority? im assume a elctro or lazer clinic yes? something of the sort? suport groupds and whatnot?
I'm kind of assuming you need a place that's urban enough to have a gender therapist, and that any city that size will have a proper electrolysist, laser center, and so forth.
The actual point of my question though, was things like level of discrimination, and legal protection, ability to change name, alter the DL, stuff like that.
Also, of course, the ability to get employed. I can't do ANYTHING until and unless I have income - but I'm inclined to believe my employment odds are better in a place that is better in these things I've mentioned.
support groups and etc - or activist groups as it were - so much the better.
Honestly, I've heard more of these things (in a positive light) about Portland than almost any city (outside of SF and NY of course)
Quote from: Tammy Hope on November 20, 2011, 05:24:44 PM
Honestly, I've heard more of these things (in a positive light) about Portland than almost any city (outside of SF and NY of course)
Portlands is trans-zero.
Quote from: annette on November 17, 2011, 04:34:40 AM
i think it goes without saying that urban is better than rural, but beyond that, there are things like
Access to care
Access to support in the community
Local tolerance level
and lastly but perhaps most importantly, status with the government.
Maybe, I shouldn't answer this question, coz I'm not a citizen of the US but for me the place to be for a TS is Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Why? because of all above.
Absolutely, no country beats the Neatherlands. No to mention that Dutch people are courteous, curious, and well educated. Drop dead gorgeous girls to seal the deal.
Jen61
PS Disclaimer: 85% of my genes are Dutch :angel:
Quote from: Jen61 on November 20, 2011, 06:33:41 PM
Absolutely, no country beats the Neatherlands. No to mention that Dutch people are courteous, curious, and well educated. Drop dead gorgeous girls to seal the deal.
Jen61
PS Disclaimer: 85% of my genes are Dutch :angel:
Yeah, but those people are neutral in the war and don't side with AMERICA. U S A U S A
Quote from: tekla on November 17, 2011, 12:19:01 PM
SF Bay Area
Access to care - lots, including sliding-scale clinics that do informed consent and lots of professionals with lots of trans experiences including the most renowned FFS guy, someone who is highly thought of for MtF top surgery, and now Dr. Marci Bowers.
Access to support in the community - More than you can stand really. Lots of groups, social, political, support. The Translaw center, the original Trans Day of Remembrance, the first Trans March, an LGBT Center where the T is really a major part not an afterthought and one of the worlds centers for the open celebration of the diversity of the human sexual experience.
Local tolerance level - one of the more tolerant places on the planet in all history - with all the good and bad that comes with that.
Climate - perfect, a lot warmer than Portland, less rain too
Housing/Jobs - absurd. We don't have Real Estate, we have surreal estate, and one of the most competitive job markets in the world.
Cost of Living - how high the moon?
I can vouch for this since I am a SF resident :)
Quote from: MsDazzler on November 20, 2011, 11:21:26 PM
I can vouch for this since I am a SF resident :)
Awesome. We should meet at DIVAS nightclub. LOL
Quote from: Queen Anne's Revenge on November 20, 2011, 04:55:46 PM
Antarctica has been known to be very tolerant, never much racism, homo/transphobia among penguins and stranded penguin researchers, but I can't say much for the employment prospects round those parts :P
Not to talk smack about fellow science-minded Southerners, but there's a year-round outpost of Alabamians in Antarctica, and I seriously doubt there are no transphobes in that group. http://antarctica.uab.edu/ (http://antarctica.uab.edu/)
I know you were being facetious. Just had to comment. ;D
Quote from: Felix on November 21, 2011, 12:15:02 AM
Not to talk smack about fellow science-minded Southerners, but there's a year-round outpost of Alabamians in Antarctica, and I seriously doubt there are no transphobes in that group. http://antarctica.uab.edu/ (http://antarctica.uab.edu/)
I know you were being facetious. Just had to comment. ;D
Antarctica has polar bears getting ready to attack the US and other foreign nations around the world
There are no land mammals (except for scientists and tourists) in Antarctica.
Just penguins giving the USA the bird. Sorry :laugh:
Manhatten, new york.
Big place, no one really gives a ****, and also a great place for shopping!!!
If you do the Magic-Map-Overlays, you know where you start with an outline of a map - say, of the USA. Then put down overlays that have color-coded information on them, for say: highest levels of education, highest average personal income, and liberal/conservative you'll find that - the highest education and highest incomes are also the most liberal, and from all that, are well above average in the toleration department. Yes, they tend to:
* Urban/suburban as opposed to rural (but not always, Asheville N.C. and Woodstock NY are pretty liberal, Oklahoma City/Topeka, not so much so)
* Coastal as opposed to inland (port cities are notoriously open kinds of places)
* Major State Liberal Arts College/University in area - Iowa City, Madison, Ann Arbor, Athens, Austin, Berkeley...
States/locals that have had long-term solidly democratic party rule are more likely to have Anti-trans discrimination laws on the books then Republican dominated states and areas. (not trying to start a political argument, its' just true)
Quote from: Mahsa the disco shark on November 20, 2011, 11:31:06 PM
Awesome. We should meet at DIVAS nightclub. LOL
Lol, thanks for the reminder - that is another great thing about SF .... it has a transgender night club called Divas that welcomes all trans-women, cross dressers, and MEN who love them (->-bleeped-<- ->-bleeped-<-s? ;) )
Quote from: MsDazzler on November 21, 2011, 12:42:58 PM
Lol, thanks for the reminder - that is another great thing about SF .... it has a transgender night club called Divas that welcomes all trans-women, cross dressers, and MEN who love them (->-bleeped-<- ->-bleeped-<-s? ;) )
Yeah. I don't actually go there. I was being sarcastic. :)
Quote from: tekla on November 21, 2011, 07:48:04 AM
There are no land mammals (except for scientists and tourists) in Antarctica.
Santa lives down there.
Quote from: xXRebeccaXx on November 21, 2011, 08:08:38 AM
Manhatten, new york.
Big place, no one really gives a ****, and also a great place for shopping!!!
On this - and on SF - I despair of ever earning enough income to afford the cost of living in such places.
Quote from: Mahsa the disco shark on November 21, 2011, 12:52:58 PM
Yeah. I don't actually go there. I was being sarcastic. :)
I used to go there all the time when I first moved to SF... now bleh, once a month or so. Guys are hardly worth picking up there, but I like to drop by and say hello to my sisters once in a while.
Quote from: MsDazzler on November 23, 2011, 12:04:09 AM
I used to go there all the time when I first moved to SF... now bleh, once a month or so. Guys are hardly worth picking up there, but I like to drop by and say hello to my sisters once in a while.
I made out with a hot gay actin straight guy at Qbar last night...I was fondling him and ->-bleeped-<- in the booth. I am afraid to call him becauase I was like, "I don't want a boyfriend..."
God, I love the Castro.
Jen not to be rude or anything, but I think she was joking. Look at all the other comments Mahsa made on the thread, particularly the Santa comment.
I know we all like to think of Americans as patriotic goons :eusa_whistle: but they can be nice too..........................sometimes :P haha
Quote from: Queen Anne's Revenge on November 23, 2011, 10:24:00 AM
Jen not to be rude or anything, but I think she was joking. Look at all the other comments Mahsa made on the thread, particularly the Santa comment.
I know we all like to think of Americans as patriotic goons :eusa_whistle: but they can be nice too..........................sometimes :P haha
She was supposed to ignore me, yet she quotes me and respond to all my post. You say she is joking, I am not so sure.
Quote from: Tammy Hope on November 21, 2011, 01:32:27 PM
On this - and on SF - I despair of ever earning enough income to afford the cost of living in such places.
I lived in NYC and in SF presently - you can live in both cities! It is just a matter of being smart and strategizing - stretching every penny to a dollar! :)
Quote from: Jen61 on November 23, 2011, 06:46:52 PM
She was supposed to ignore me, yet she quotes me and respond to all my post. You say she is joking, I am not so sure.
Cmon Jen, she was obviously joking with the U S A U S A post. She's not some backwoods hick.
Quote from: Felix on November 23, 2011, 08:35:50 PM
Cmon Jen, she was obviously joking with the U S A U S A post. She's not some backwoods hick.
Ok felix, I will take my comment back.
Quote from: Jen61 on November 23, 2011, 06:46:52 PM
She was supposed to ignore me, yet she quotes me and respond to all my post. You say she is joking, I am not so sure.
I live in SF...didn't you know that? Guess all that knowledge did you good pardner.
Stop acting like you're superior.
Quote from: MsDazzler on November 21, 2011, 12:42:58 PM
Lol, thanks for the reminder - that is another great thing about SF .... it has a transgender night club called Divas that welcomes all trans-women, and MEN who love them (->-bleeped-<- ->-bleeped-<-s? ;) )
I streamline the process by hanging out at gay bars. Bi guys wander around there.
:police:
If people wish to be catty go to a pet forum.
Otherwise try to be civil.
Cindy James
Quote from: Mahsa the disco shark on November 24, 2011, 02:15:36 AM
I live in SF...didn't you know that? Guess all that knowledge did you good pardner.
Stop acting like you're superior.
Didnt you say you lived in Castro Valley? Then, technically, you live in Bay Area, not the city of San Francisco like I do! ;)
Quote from: MsDazzler on November 24, 2011, 06:19:35 PM
Didnt you say you lived in Castro Valley? Then, technically, you live in Bay Area, not the city of San Francisco like I do! ;)
I used to live in the Castro for a month. I lvie in CV now.
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