In April, as USA’s GOP states began passing anti-trans laws, particularly bathroom bans and laws that could jeopardize parental custody, it became obvious that travel wasn’t going to be safe from state persecution for trans people, even within the United States. Thus, the Trans Travel Guide was born. We needed to know if it was safe to visit a place, with enough information to make informed judgments based on our personal situations and risk tolerance.
But nobody was doing it!
I was shocked that nobody is doing this yet. There were related projects, such as Erin in the Morning’s trans legislation map (an excellent reference!), and, later, the Human Rights Campagin’s Guidebook for Action (which provides an overview of some key laws on a state-by-state basis). But while both these are outstanding resources, they have some limitations for trans travelers.
What about <a different project>? Why a new one?
First, the situation with court cases, new laws, and new transphobic actions is very fluid and can change rapidly, so a guide that is updated more frequently was needed. Second, these guides only focused on the legal landscape, and trans travel safety involves more than the black-and-white law. Third, they covered only the United States, but trans travelers go to places other than the USA too! And, finally, they weren’t focused specifically on travel, but more on legislation.
About this guide…
So, this guide focuses on things travelers may run into. It doesn’t look at athletic laws (since most travelers would not be impacted by them, but should that change and people traveling for athletic competitions from outside a jurisdiction become impacted, I will add them. Nor does it generally look at health insurance laws. Those are important things, for sure, but not really relevant to travel. However, knowing about how the state sees child custody when a child is trans is important, if it might result in someone losing custody of their child or being prosecuted for “abuse.”
Likewise, I started with the USA, both states and territories (as well as DC). I’ve been expanding to other destinations that get a lot of US visitors, with Mexico, Ontario (Canada), and New Zealand currently added. If you know another destination, I’d love to add it to the guide (and will be adding new jurisdictions over time as appropriate.
Philosophy of the guide…
I tried to keep the tone relatively neutral and factual, but want to include local information. I’m trying to be fair to the states and other countries, but of course that’s difficult sometimes and I always appreciate suggestions on that. But I also want to call out things that might harm trans people (or parents and family of trans people).
I also want to go a bit beyond the law. For instance, the guide talks about jails & prisons, which could impact a traveler who ends up on the wrong side of the law (whether guilty or not). While all USA states claim to comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act which includes provisions that housing decisions need to be made on an individualized basis that considers a person’s gender identity, and most states have policies in black-and-white that says they’ll do this, like the US federal government, most states do not actually do this and instead house people by either genital status or assignment at birth. That’s an important distinction! That’s one example of many where sometimes laws can be in place, but the actual on-the-ground experience doesn’t match the law.
I also try to cite sources for factual information, so people can check my interpretations for themselves. Maybe I note that cis women are being mistaken for trans women in bathrooms and harassed as a result of that in a given location–I’ll usually link to the news reports or stories about that. This lets people make their own decisions about their safety, based on their own unique situation.
So I hope it is useful!
If it’s useful to you, I’d love to hear from you (see below for contact info), as that provides encouragement to me. If it’s not useful, or the guide doesn’t match your experience, I also want to hear from you about that.
If you want to contribute money, I don’t need donations, but I would be honored if the guide encouraged you to donate to an LGBT-related charity, particularly one that helps trans youth, fights for equality, gets people out of jail, or prevents suicide. In particular, often LGBT charities in non-progressive areas run on extremely tight budgets and a donation can make a huge impact (I’d suggest Wyoming Equality).
A note about “Green Book” comparisons…
While the trans travel guide is similar in some ways to the Green Book, which was used by Black travelers in the Jim Crow era who were traveling between USA states, the trans travel guide is not a trans green book. I don’t use that language for several reasons. First, I believe the Green Book (and similar Black resources) had a bit of a different focus, and the situation for trans people is not the same as the situation during Jim Crow for Black travelers. I also believe the history of the Green Book and the ways Black Americans kept themselves and their communities safe is an inspiration, but deserves to stand on its own. But most importantly, I don’t want to draw a false equivalency here, particularly as the Trans Travel Guide is, unfortunately, largely ignorant on race (but I would love to see it expanded to include information that is particularly useful for non-white trans people, as my experience as a white trans woman going to a “progressive” state may be very different than a person of color). Equating a largely race-ignorant trans travel guide with a travel guide that specifically addressed race is not something I wish to do.
YOU can help!
The guide is still a work-in-progress, and I can use your help (feel free to send me updates at jmaslak@antelope.net, or to, if you’re technically minded, via push request to the Github repository. If you provide updates either way, please let me know if (and, if so, how) you would like to be credited for your contribution. In particular, one way just about everyone can help if I’ve already added your area is to let me know if their state or country is accurate and provide “local information” that goes beyond the law. Is a certain city particularly hostile to trans people? Is another one really great, even though it’s in a larger jurisdiction that is hostile? Trans people sometimes have to go to places other than “progressive” states and countries, and it’s nice to know that there can be good places there, too (likewise, even the most progressive states and countries often have bad areas).
So if the guide covers your state or country, just setting a calendar reminder for once a month to read the page that covers your area and let me know of anything that has changed or is wrong would be a huge help! If someone from every state and country did this, the guide would be amazing!
Where is the guide?
The guide is at https://TravelWhileTrans.com/
Gendered Thoughts 