Bastions of Humanity

[Sivin]

I chose a really bad time to be a faggot, apparently. The war goes on, unfortunately I am no longer acceptable to return to the army so I feel the need to accelerate my life's plans.

I was going move back to Colorado in about a year to resume school with my GI bill, but now I intend to move forward with education starting in the spring semester. However, given the new state of affairs I am not as confident my rights as an undesirable will be defended in such a contested state. I'm curious if anyone has good news about relatively stable progressive state governments that might be more accommodating to someone such as myself. 

I am not asking for links to state legislature and current representatives so much as a boots on the ground assessment of overall tolerance. I can do the rest from there. My thanks in advance, of course.

[DanteGabriel]

Massachusetts will be one of the last holdouts against Sauron. We manage to elect non-crazy Republicans even.

[James Arryn]

Like the Underground Railroad, man...head north. We don't talk about freedom nearly as much; we just live it.

[Datepalm]

I'm looking forward to the coming rise of the liberal-survivalist movements. Communes of off the grid tiny houses stockpiling pickled tofu! For real.

[baxus]

Are things really going to change that much for minorities in general, be they LGBT, Latin, African-American, immigrants etc.?

Are people of and government institutions in Colorado (that state is mentioned by the OP) really going to change their attitude towards gay people in such a way that their rights will (no longer) be protected?

I'm not from the US and have never been there, so I really am curious. From where I stand it looks like a bit of an overreaction but I might be holding US system in higher regard than it deserves.

[Minstral]

22 minutes ago, baxus said:

Are things really going to change that much for minorities in general, be they LGBT, Latin, African-American, immigrants etc.?

Are people of and government institutions in Colorado (that state is mentioned by the OP) really going to change their attitude towards gay people in such a way that their rights will (no longer) be protected?

I'm not from the US and have never been there, so I really am curious. From where I stand it looks like a bit of an overreaction but I might be holding US system in higher regard than it deserves.

To put it into perspective, the KKK, and some other shitty groups never did really go away but where considered fringe elements. Even had Trump lost it would only have mattered to an extent, they still have said that whatever the result was going to be there were implications they would feel emboldened. If we look at the results of the Brexit vote, we see a number of groups that come out and then target varying groups along ethnic and religious lines with violence and discrimination. Because they feel they received validation.

Violence and discrimination such as this would still be illegal, but its still possible.

[baxus]

@Minstral

Sure, I get all that. It's just the "OMG, Trump won now I can't move to Colorado as I could've if Hillary won" seems kind of overboard.

As you said, violence and discrimination would still be illegal but possible. The same would go if Hillary won. You can't stop that, you can only educate people so that it happened less often and create such a penal system that would discourage people from doing it.

With Trump in office some foreign policies are certain to change, and some internal issues will be handled a bit differently, but nothing that drastic. I mean, it's not as if gay marriage will once again be illegal or LGBT population will be forced to wear yellow armbands.

Or am I still holding US government in higher regard than I ought to?

[Weeping Sore]

New York City

[Kalbear]

Gay marriage will at the very least devolve into a states rights thing if not specifically banned by law. Any anti discrimination policies against LGBT will be revoked. Trump doesn't care that much himself, but he isn't going to spend political capital to stop it.

[ljkeane]

14 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

Trump doesn't care that much himself, but he isn't going to spend political capital to stop it.

Probably not. On the slightly positive side I'm not too sure Trump cares too much about political capital, I really think this is about the personal validation of getting elected for him rather than wanting to actually achieve anything, and he's not particularly close to the Republican establishment. So possibly if they rub him the wrong way over something I could see him clogging things up out of spite.

[DanteGabriel]

Well my South Asian friend got told, "Pack your bags, dot-head" on his commute to work. Something he hadn't been subjected to since grade school. Trump awakened America's ugly soul (maybe it never really slept) and the people who clung to his white supremacist message are emboldened. It's not always about politicians and their policies. It's usually just about us and the way we choose to treat people.

[Larry of the Lawn]

3 hours ago, Datepalm said:

I'm looking forward to the coming rise of the liberal-survivalist movements. Communes of off the grid tiny houses stockpiling pickled tofu! For real.

There is one beginning right down the street for me, for real.  I've already been approached for some construction advice, specifically a perimeter wall and some rocket stoves.

[S John]

2 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

There is one beginning right down the street for me, for real.  I've already been approached for some construction advice, specifically a perimeter wall and some rocket stoves.

Build the wall!

[James Arryn]

C A N A D A

[Dr. Pepper]

2 hours ago, baxus said:

@Minstral

Sure, I get all that. It's just the "OMG, Trump won now I can't move to Colorado as I could've if Hillary won" seems kind of overboard.

As you said, violence and discrimination would still be illegal but possible. The same would go if Hillary won. You can't stop that, you can only educate people so that it happened less often and create such a penal system that would discourage people from doing it.

With Trump in office some foreign policies are certain to change, and some internal issues will be handled a bit differently, but nothing that drastic. I mean, it's not as if gay marriage will once again be illegal or LGBT population will be forced to wear yellow armbands.

Or am I still holding US government in higher regard than I ought to?

You're holding in higher regard.  

Equal marriage and any LGBT protections will be under pretty immediate attack.  All of those 'bathroom bills', transgender children in schools are pretty well fucked now.  The ACA will be gutted.  Women's reproductive issues will be attacked and probably continue to be stripped.  Maybe Roe v. Wade won't be directly challenged, but all these tiny rules the states have been doing to essentially prevent abortion and access to birth control will make it effectively dead.  All those voter suppression laws the GOP have been passing will be amped up.  

Things are definitely shit going forward, and these are only a few issues.  

[Lily Valley]

6 hours ago, Datepalm said:

I'm looking forward to the coming rise of the liberal-survivalist movements. Communes of off the grid tiny houses stockpiling pickled tofu! For real.

That's New Orleans.  None of those assholes voted.

[karaddin]

9 hours ago, baxus said:

Are things really going to change that much for minorities in general, be they LGBT, Latin, African-American, immigrants etc.?

Are people of and government institutions in Colorado (that state is mentioned by the OP) really going to change their attitude towards gay people in such a way that their rights will (no longer) be protected?

I'm not from the US and have never been there, so I really am curious. From where I stand it looks like a bit of an overreaction but I might be holding US system in higher regard than it deserves.

As Dr Pepper said, look at the anti-trans bathroom bills and specifically look at North Carolina. Some people like to dismiss them as not a big deal because they're not the focus, but these measures are about banning us from public life completely. Trump might not be passionately anti-LGBT but he is going to leave an awful lot to his VP and Pence absolutely is. Anti women and anti LGBT laws are pretty much his signature including such wonderful ideas as electroconvulsive conversion therapy. This shit is going to get pushed nationally and the fear is not hyperbole.

[Sivin]

12 hours ago, James Arryn said:

Like the Underground Railroad, man...head north. We don't talk about freedom nearly as much; we just live it.

The others have already addressed the question of whether I'm overreacting so I will simply thank you guys for responding in my absense. 

James, the idea of Canada does hold some appeal but I am an altogether unattractive... anything to a foreign entity. I have no education, no skills, am partially disabled, am midway through a gender transition that will leave me as a perpetually nonconforming creature, and my financial resources are limited to say the least. I do have some rare magic cards, but I don't think they'd carry me through immigration.

I tethered myself to America when I thought it was making social progress and now I lack the means to sever myself. 

No, any future of mine will have to be spent in whatever domestic bastions that present the least hostile environment. 

[DanteGabriel]

This is shitty, Sivin. I am sorry you feel so isolated.  Should you decide to head up to New England, and need help getting your bearings, send me a PM. I have a number of LGBTQ friends up here with a decent support network. If you just want to talk or vent, likewise, PM. I think the only defense against the cruel and ignorant turn our nation has taken is to try to help each other.

[Ariadne23]

Denver just seems super, super liberal to me every time I go there. Is that really not the case? And in-state tuition is really good there too. DC area is ultra-liberal and very LBGT-friendly, but super expensive. California too, probably.