Which countries are "Safe" for (trans) women?

[Tills]

All true.  On the other hand, returning to the alleged topic of this thread, Calgary is in Alberta, which has a trumpist government and is hostile to trans people. 

Oh gosh. I didn't know that

What about B.C.?

[Tills]

p.s. I feel it's okay to discuss the merits of these places beyond their trans-friendliness.

Somewhere like New Zealand for instance, if anyone is considering emigrating there because it is (or was) trans friendly, you need to consider a range of other factors besides.

Do we actually have anyone in NZ on this forum?

[Tills]

Meanwhile things seem to be getting worse for LGBTQ in Africa, and are blaming it on the US:

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/16/africa/africa-lgbtq-climate-worsening-intl 🔗

[Robbyv213]

Oh gosh. I didn't know that

What about B.C.?

I'm not sure about b.c. but I have a few friends from Toronto, and they say that Toronto seems to have the largest lgbtqia community, which makes sense but it's also extremely expensive to live there.

[Jillian-TG]

All true.  On the other hand, returning to the alleged topic of this thread, Calgary is in Alberta, which has a trumpist government and is hostile to trans people. 

Hmmmm. That is an interesting assessment. Now I have to prefix my assessment with the fact that I live in Ontario near Toronto so I'm very far from Alberta. But I would respectfully disagree with what you said.

Yes in Canadian terms Alberta is conservative but a Canadian conservative is nothing compared to a republican American conservative. I'm obviously generalizing here. Every Canadian province is welcoming to LGBTQ people but just some are more welcoming than others. I would argue that Canada's "worst case scenario" province (Alberta) would be better and safer than America's safest states.

No country is perfect and every place has their one-eyed religious red necks (and yes Alberta has more than other parts of Canada) but overall I would count all of Canada as fairly safe for all LGBTQ people.

Most Canadians are non confrontational and very accepting of people.

I would not be concerned living in Alberta and especially a city like Calgary. 

[KathyLauren]

What about B.C.?

BC is weird politically.  They oscillate between socialist and right-wing governments.  On the whole, though, it is pretty liberal.  Vancouver is known as the destination of urban hippies, and Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are the destination of rural hippies.  So it is a pretty groovy place.  (Y'all can tell I'm a boomer, right?   )

I think Jillian and I will have to agree to disagree about Alberta.  The government there has recently banned 160 books from school libraries for (mostly) having LGBTQ content.  They are exempting themselves from the Canadian Charter of Rights (in other words, they are intentionally violating the intent of the Charter) in order to ban puberty blockers and hormone treatments for trans minors, force schools to out trans students to their parents, and prohibit trans girls from participating in girls' sports.  There are definitely places in the US that are not that bad yet.

[Tills]

[...]
Most Canadians are non confrontational and very accepting of people.

I would not be concerned living in Alberta and especially a city like Calgary. 

Well, I've mentioned previously on this forum that my late brother, who was gay, was treated to some disgusting homophobic abuse on a holiday tour to Vietnam ... by a Canadian couple.

Not wanting to appear to disagree with your very positive outlook Jillian but as, I think it was @KathyLauren replied at the time, you can encounter bigotry anywhere and unfortunately it's on the increase.

[Robbyv213]

I guess specifically for Canada which is the best path to become a citizen? is it better to try to get a work visa and come over, or try for asylum, or student visa?

[KathyLauren]

I guess specifically for Canada which is the best path to become a citizen? is it better to try to get a work visa and come over, or try for asylum, or student visa?

A work visa is for people coming here temporarily to work, and a student visa is for people coming temporarily to study.  Neither is intended for immigration, and it may be difficult to apply for immigrant status using them.

A claim of asylum is not impossible, despite some rumours to the contrary, but it would be exceptionally difficult for US residents.  The burden of proof would be on the claimant to demonstrate that there is literally nowhere in the country of origin that is safe.  While things are bad in the US and getting worse, it is not yet at the point where such a claim would be obvious.

The proper route for immigration is to apply for landed immigrant status.  The qualifications are not easy and will be out of reach for some people.  I don't know the details off the top of my head, but you will find them on the Immigration Canada website that I linked to earlier.  Landed immigrant is for people wanting to be permanent residents, and is the normal path to becoming a naturalized citizen.

New legislation opens up citizenship to anyone who can document a direct line of descent from a Canadian citizen.  If you can prove that a great-grandparent was a citizen, then your grandparent, parent and yourself are also automatically citizens.  The hard part is collecting the proof, which usually involves birth certificates.

[Dances With Trees]

My mother was born in Raymond, Alberta.
Her family moved to Montana when she was a baby. (Grandpa was a muleskinner so mom rode in the back of a covered wagon)
I'm not sure one exists, but this might be a good time for me to start searching for her birth certificate. 

[Robbyv213]

Good to know. But I don't think I have any family even distant relatives that are or were Canadian

[Moonflower]

Based on the LGBTQ+ 'equality scores' from the Movement Advancemet Project, we moved from the lowest scoring state (Arkansas at -14.25) to the highest scoring state (Colorado at +45.5). Although we feel safer, we still don't feel safe. I've already made 'loose' plans to flee if the mid-term elections don't go well. I'm planning a trip in April to deliver a few small family heirlooms to relatives in case we need to leave quickly. Am I paranoid? Maybe, but I don't want to be caught without any plans if the elections don't provide hope.

Love always -- Jessica Rose

Based on the Public Opinion and Legal Progress ratings at
https://www.equaldex.com/equality-index 🔗
we moved from a blue state in the US to Uruguay. Even though we were in a blue state, we were in a very red county and feeling traumatized and insecure about our safety. We had wanted to move for 10 years and finally found a place where we wanted to go.

We've been here 2 1/2 weeks and are delighted to be feeling so safe! We had donated almost everything that we had to the recently-formed progressive organization in a nearby city. They're distributing it to organizations that serve the homeless, are developing a community garden, feeding the hungry, fixing things to encourage people to reduce waste, support democracy... We brought very little on the plane, and find that we brought twice as much as we need.

Here, we are thrilled to be out exploring instead of hiding at home. Here, we are getting used to speaking freely again instead of stifling our fear and anger. Here, we're enormously happier with much less stuff. We immediately realized that we were in such pain in the U S., we needed a lot of stuff to comfort us. We had hobbies to fill the emptiness in our lives. Here, we're out and about every day, exploring, connecting with people. It's amazing. An enormous change.

We're glad that we no longer fear detentions for LGBTQIA+ people like us. We no longer fear having our identity documents revoked. We are confident that we have access to the health-care that we need. Bathrooms and dressing rooms aren't an issue. Our food is better and more affordable (our food is our preferred medicine). We have only experienced inclusiveness and open hearts here.

We have heard stories of pickpockets, purse snatchers, racial discrimination, misogyny... here but have not witnessed or experienced any of that. Our worst complaint is the uneven pavement, but it's no worse than the unevenness of a forest floor.

[Tills]

What a fantastic post @Moonflower

We all wish you the very best continuing to settle in Uruguay, a country which others looking at this thread will now be able to consider with uplifted hearts. I love your take on life and attitudes: very much where I try to be.

For anyone who wants further encouragement to look at Uruguay, one of Ben Fogle's recent 'New Lives in the Wild' programmes was filmed there, following Rhona Mitra who upped sticks and settled in the country:

https://www.channel5.com/show/ben-fogle-new-lives-in-the-wild/season-17/episode-4 🔗

(Register and use a free UK linked VPN if you can't view it from abroad)

Uruguay looks and sounds lovely.

Way to go @Moonflower - awesome.

xx

[Tills]

p.s. The UK now makes a disappointing and pretty sobering read on that Equality index for us. If you scroll down to attitudes to transgender people it's quite horrifying. Ten years ago people's attitudes were so much more carefree. This has been stoked by media hatred and bigotry.

https://www.equaldex.com/region/united-kingdom 🔗

I'm supposed to be exchanging contracts in the next few days on my Scottish property. Am I being naive to think it's going to be so much better up there?

[Tills]

This has sent me scurrying to look at recent research and surveys. Here's the summary report on being trans in Scotland:

https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Scottish-Trans-and-Nonbinary-Experiences-Summary-Report.pdf 🔗

With a much longer (167 pages) version here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Scottish-Trans-and-Nonbinary-Experiences-Research-Report.pdf 🔗

It's a pretty worrying picture that is painted. If I contrast this with a country like Thailand, I just cannot imagine being harassed there. It's even better in places like Iceland, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand.

Sigh.

[Stottie Girl]

This has sent me scurrying to look at recent research and surveys. Here's the summary report on being trans in Scotland:

https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Scottish-Trans-and-Nonbinary-Experiences-Summary-Report.pdf 🔗

With a much longer (167 pages) version here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Scottish-Trans-and-Nonbinary-Experiences-Research-Report.pdf 🔗

It's a pretty worrying picture that is painted. If I contrast this with a country like Thailand, I just cannot imagine being harassed there. It's even better in places like Iceland, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand.

Sigh.

Your links aren't working for me Tills.

But I would have to say, you need to bear in mind, there are huge differences in attitudes in rural communities compared to cities. Most people in rural communities like newcomers to get engaged with their community groups and events, go down to the local pub if there is one and so on. I don't think in my personal experience they are particularly biggoted. They will talk of course, the village gossip will be going on as it does for everyone one (everyone knows everything about everyone) but they can't fail to get to know you Tills as it's such a small community. Once they do they will see how friendly and normal you are (well as normal as anyone can be with your life experience!). It can take a while though.

When my mum and dad first moved out to rural northumberland they went to the local pub each night and, like American Werewolf in London, all the conversation stopped and it went quiet. While they stared at the newcommer! But after a few regular visits they started butting into my mum and dads conversations and it snowballed from there. The worst thing you can do is go there with a city mentality and shut yourself off.

I honestly think you will love it.

[Lori Dee ✅]

I think Sarah has made a very good point. Everywhere, there will be pockets of supportive people as well as pockets of hatred. You have described the area as being quite friendly and accepting.

By getting out and just being yourself, people get to know you for who you are. If they notice that you are friendly and warm, it dissolves any pre-conceived notions they may have.

While in Germany, my best friend (a tall black man who was 6' 3" tall) and I would hang out at the pub and watch them play Lügner, a dice game known as "Liar". After midnight, some of the older guys would glance at my friend's butt. There was an old stereotype that blacks grow tails after midnight. They soon realized that it was BS, and we were invited to play. Everyone had a great time, and they realized that we are all just humans and not everyone is bad.

After that, we were greeted, introduced to their friends, and became part of the community. Education through demonstration is sometimes the best way to counter stereotypes. Once you gain a few allies, it becomes more difficult for all but the most bigoted to not see you as just a normal girl who has moved to join their community.

Don't let paranoia override your thinking. Judge the place by what you actually experience there, and not by national statistics.

[KathyLauren]

Most people in rural communities like newcomers to get engaged with their community groups and events, go down to the local pub if there is one and so on. I don't think in my personal experience they are particularly biggoted. They will talk of course, the village gossip will be going on as it does for everyone one (everyone knows everything about everyone) but they can't fail to get to know you Tills as it's such a small community. Once they do they will see how friendly and normal you are (well as normal as anyone can be with your life experience!).

That has been my experience, too.  Rural people might have conservative outlooks, but they are more than happy to get to know people in real life.  When I transitioned, we were already well-known in the community, and the folks there took the changes in stride.  I was still the person who showed up to the weekly coffee group and who answered the calls with the fire department, so all was good.

Same thing where we are moving to this year.  We have already established ourselves in the community and are recognized and welcomed at community hall events in the area, even though we haven't moved there yet.  So even if there are a few yahoos in the area, there is an established group of people who will vouch for us.

[Tills]

Thanks ladies so much for all your encouragement ^^^ 👏👏👏

I have said 'yes' and have done the Scottish equivalent of Exchange of Contracts. So the sale is now binding on all sides. I will make the payment Monday and collect keys on Friday.

It's a lovely place with fabulous views. It needs a bit of work but that will be a project.

I already love the area and people. There's a gorgeous coffee shop / deli which is a real community focus and everyone there has already been so friendly. I've had some brilliant chats with folk in there. Over the road is a bakery which is also a big focal point and, again, I've sat there at times and had some lovely convos. No one has ever judged me or treated me as anything other than who I am.

I've also made friends with someone who is a keen hiker so I'll team up with him and his wife for some mountain walks and join a local hiking group and probably a birdwatching one too. There are Nature Reserves and a famous botanic garden, where I'll become a member. I might join a U3a group or two as well: something like table tennis or badminton would be fun. Maybe the bridge (as in card game) one for deep wintertime.

I don't drink alcohol and there aren't any pubs in the village. 😉

xx

[Tills]

Meanwhile, the annual Happiest Countries on Earth poll has just been published.

For the ninth year in a row Finland is No.1 then it goes Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica, Sweden, and Norway.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/18/travel/worlds-happiest-countries-2026-wellness 🔗

They don't of course split off Scotland from the UK so we're lumped in with the miserable southerners 🤣 Seriously though, it would be interesting to know the regional splits. I've long believed that proximity to Nature etc is vital for wellbeing, and that wealth doesn't equate to happiness.

The decline in youth happiness is worrying. Needless to say, social media is a large driver for that.

It's also interesting that some of the happiest countries on earth are also the most trans friendly.

xx