Brooke Binkowski: Hi friends! I have a trans friend who is going to be traveling cross-country and they're kind of worried about getting stuck in places they won't be safe. Are there any up-to-date safe travels guides for trans people anywhere, like routes to take and towns to avoid at all costs? Thanks all 🥰

Hi friends! I have a trans friend who is going to be traveling cross-country and they're kind of worried about getting stuck in places they won't be safe. Are there any up-to-date safe travels guides for trans people anywhere, like routes to take and towns to avoid at all costs? Thanks all 🥰

travelwhiletrans.com#/

Trans Travel Guidetravelwhiletrans.com A travel guide for trans people and our companions, with both a focus on the legal situation and on the interpersonal experiences of other trans people.

Ahhhhh THANK YOU

Oh god. Green books are back. Bookmarking. If it’s not safe for all, then it’s safe for none.

I drove cross-country while trans last year. The only place I really got the stink-eye was Wyoming, but I played it safe and stayed in larger towns, and in recognizable chain hotels. I also avoided the fuck out of Kansas.

Based solely on vibes I think Johnson Co KS (Kansas City metro) would be OK, and maybe Wichita, but I can absolutely see avoiding the rest of it.

Yeah, I was looking at laws recently passed and opted for Nebraska instead. Lincoln was a great little city, very recommended.

Totally fair! I have family in KC Metro and there's a big college in Wichita, but I certainly can't make any promises. I've actually never been to Nebraska.

I need to try Lincoln next time. I normally stop in Omaha, which is fine. Big fan of Laramie, WY. Definitely some hippie action going on out there.

I need to visit Laramie, if only to see the Matthew Shepard bench.

That’s in Laramie?! Okay, I need to seek that out next time. Chances are I walked past it and had no idea.

I lived in Wichita for around 5 months last year. Can confirm it’s not a place I felt comfortable signing my job applications with my pronouns, and I definitely encountered some “micro” comments even though my presentation is basically AGAB—but also, it’s not as bad as some places.

Good to know. I was basing that mostly on size + big college, but haven't been there in a long time.

Kansas City has vegetarian options and chatty hotel clerks. Boise was lovely and I got cis gay flirted with. Denver is fine. Utah is polite. Wyoming I feared for my life. In Arkansas avoid stopping in Harrison in particular, Fayetteville Eureka Springs Conway and Little Rock are where I felt safeish

Lawerence and Manhattan would likely be ok too. Both are liberal to different degrees.

Hays further west does have a university but I believe it was the only county to not vote for our Democratic gov in the last election so your mileage may vary.

yeah, again, college towns. safer than the tiny little nothing places, but I can understand being wary of KS in general.

Definitely but multiple options vs one in Nebraska. Just giving further info

I live in WY (unfortunately) 🤭 while most people here are generally not progressive, they mostly mind their own business. if the person sticks to the bigger towns along I-80 they would probably be fine. I have never had any issues with being able to use the women’s bathroom or anything like that.

That's good to know. Probably the hairiest place I was in there was Douglas. Cody was fine.

The vibes are fucked in Wyoming, most hostile gas station bathroom experience of my life and that was pre-transition! The clerk hated my queer ass on sight in a way I never experienced in 18 [largely miserable] years in Arkansas or anywhere else driving from little rock to Portland

I know like half a dozen trans girls from Kansas and most of them still live there. my wife lived there when I met her

In general I can say that for food/pit stops, Starbucks is a reliable safe space everywhere. I've seen LGBTQI+ employees at locations in the deeeeeeeeepest darkest red towns.

REALLY? Ugh are you gonna force me to change my mind about Starbucks now

I mean being able to pee in their washroom without risking violent death is maybe not a high enough bar for me to change my mind about a corporation. Also SB has single-occupant washrooms, usually.

"Change my mind" = actually go into a Starbucks

I've lived in my car a few times, and I've always used their washrooms, which are reliably pretty clean, at least around here. And since SB is usually busy, it's easy to just slip in and out without dealing with "Hey, you have to buy something to use the washroom."

Years ago a Brooklynite friend posted a comment on LJ about how Starbucks inadvertently created a network of places in NYC where unhoused people can use the bathroom, and that's always stuck with me

They have their issues but as an oasis on the road they are very useful, alas

I don't think you have to change your mind about the corporation. But the workers can still be better people.

Oh this is what I meant. I'm boycotting them for myriad reasons

"Change my mind" = actually go into a Starbucks

While we're talking about restrooms, there is a refugerestrooms.org app, but it tends to do better in bigger cities and the West Coast and I've found that it's not consistently updated

REFUGE Restroomsrefugerestrooms.org Refuge Restrooms

I mean, Starbucks in general still sucks, but it has reliable, relatively clean single person stalls all for the price of a mediocre to bad coffee worldwide. It's like peeing at Chick-fil-A in larger urban centers: the corporation is shit and the food is very ymmv once you extract nostalgia...

...but in more cosmopolitan cities many of the employees read pretty queer and they too often have single person stalls in the newer buildings.

Well, I am still not using a Starbucks unless I'm traveling and no better option. But I'm happy to know a SB could be a safe place for those that need one.

Been my experience when traveling through the neo confederacy that local lgbtq folks are out and proud at Starbucks.

We always check in with Erin’s anti-trans legislation risk assessment map before we travel: www.erininthemorning.com/p/anti-trans...

Anti-Trans Legislative Risk Assessment Map: June 2024 Editionwww.erininthemorning.com Updates come to both the transgender youth and transgender adult maps as we prepare for the 2024 election cycle.

Thank you for this. I've been using the one from a year ago. :/ Interesting to observe the differences from a year ago, though: www.erininthemorning.com/p/june-anti-...

June Anti-Trans Legislative Risk Mapwww.erininthemorning.com A map of the risk for anti-trans laws. For Pride, America feels like it has cleaved into two countries - one which targets transgender people everywhere, and one that has taken huge protective steps.

She updates it monthly!

She used to edit the older months to include the link to the new one, but then in June of last year stopped - so I'd assumed there were no further significant updates. Bad assumption on my part, I guess. Now I know I actually need to look. So, thanks!

Where are they heading to? I know @neolithicsheep.bsky.social had to plan a route from NC to SoCal w the same parameters last year.

SoCal to Maryland!

The only state that's a serious issue is Arkansas, where they have a bathroom bill that can potentially land a trans person a felony conviction as a sex predator. I solved it by not peeing or stopping in Arkansas.

Tennessee HAD a ban on "drag performance" so badly worded that it would have criminalized "trans people talking to their friends in public" but currently enforcement has been blocked. I still wouldn't stay overnight there but that's just me.

And if I had to choose I'd overnight in Tennessee before Arkansas

I picked up a reproduction of the Green Book at a civil rights museum in Montgomery a few years ago. The fact that this thread immediately reminded me of that is absolutely enraging - this bullshit is completely unacceptable. We have got to pack the courts.

Yeah, it’s bad here in Tennessee but the angels do occasionally pull out a win. I’d swear getting rid of that Nathan Bedford Forrest statue tangibly decreased the level of evil in the state. Not by much, though.

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