Hi,
I am MTF, living in California and have been HRT for 2 year, and I am still part time (at work) due to some reasons. but I plan to go full time around sencond half this year. Now I got a good position within my company in Dallas (plano area), TX which is better than my current position and l like the work there. but personally, Texas seems not a transgender friendly place to me, am I right? and some of my friends suggest me not go.
Should I go? Is it danger there to be transgender? Is it good idea for me to go fulltime there? Your advice are appreciated.
Amanda
Hey amanda
I live close to the plano area, and maybe I can answer some of your questions, or at least give you some things to think about.
Plano is actually about 20-30 miles north of dallas itself. Most of the neighborhoods up this way are affluent, or are filled with people trying to appear that way. Plano is basically a bedroom community, with a few malls here and there. There is a small but growing LGBT community in plano, but I don't know anything about it. Plano itself is fairly large and spread out.
In plano you are likely to run into some people that don't want you there, because they think it will run property values down (you as a homeowner). As an apartment renter, I don't think that you will have too many problems.
And (like anywhere) you might run into a redneck with an attitude problem about a LGBT individual. Use common sense about where you go. Dallas *is* close to the bible belt after all. Texas is still *way* behind california in many ways, including acceptance of LGBT people. You'll have to decide if it's worth the move.
Dallas has a larger LGBT community, as does ft. worth.
Good luck with your move!
I grew up in the DWF area, so I can tell you a bit about it.
Surprisingly, Dallas is thought to have one of the largest gay communities outside San Francisco. The concentration is close to the inner city, in the Ceder Springs area. It pretty much stems from the seldom spoken cooperative relationship between the wealth and the gay. As I understand it, it started with wealthy men preferring to have servants minding their wives needs who wouldn't be inclined to overserve, so to speak. Anyway, there are plenty of gay people/events/clubs in Dallas and many/most are pretty TG friendly. Shopping in the urban areas shouldn't be a problem. While TG people are not any more visible than most places, I think most buinesses in the area are pretty OK with TG.
Plano is a suburb to the immediate north of Dallas on Central Expressway. The area pretty much mergest with northern Dallas. It's more like 8 miles north of Downtown Dallas.
While Texas seems to make the news now and then about idiotic school dress codes and such, I think you'll find the Dallas area very agreeable as a TG. There's an aweful lot of shopping and cultural things going on and, while the politics of the area tends be dominated by conservatives, there are plenty of folks of every idology. The Dallas area is a huge area with a large TG community and I think you'll be OK.
Lyric