Extreme anti-trans laws have LGBTQ+ travelers revisiting this question
Last month, trans journalist Erin Reed added Kansas to her “Do Not Travel” list after the state passed a bounty-hunting bathroom law requiring residents to use the facilities that align with their assigned sex or face penalties from butthurt cis people. Kansas now joins Texas and Florida, who’ve been outcompeting one another in an effort to pass the most regressive laws.
Flagging Kansas as a no-go for trans travelers seems obvious. Why go where you’re not wanted?
The move also lines up with what LGBTQ+ travelers consistently tell LGBTQ+ marketing firm Community Marketing Insights (CMI), whose annual LGBTQ+ travel survey is a goldmine of insights on what LGBTQ+ people actually want from the places we visit.
Over and over again, a majority of queer folks tell CMI that anti-trans laws and anti-LGBTQ violence are a major disincentive to visit.
Conversely, having a reputation for LGBTQ+ friendliness is the number one thing our community looks for when planning trips (source: 25th LGBTQ Tourism & Hospitality Survey, CMI).
Yet some trans folks in places like Texas are fed up with the calls to avoid states like Kansas, arguing that the boycotters are primarily white trans folks who are out of touch with the realities of trans people of color, who have fewer resources to up and leave their home and their community.
The Backlash Over Boycotting States With Bad Laws
I’ve been following the shifting laws in the US for my book.
I won’t go into what I think here, because there’s a full chapter in my book with my latest thoughts on the issue, but I wanted to consider where we as a country might go from here, based on where we’ve been and how that’s played out for us.
I open the chapter of my book on the US with a look back at HB2, the short-lived North Carolina law that was the US’s first bathroom bill.
The backlash to HB2 was intense – massive boycotts from all corners. Major companies canceled plans to expand into the state. The NCAA moved sports tournaments to friendlier states. NC got put on notice that it would lose money for every month that bad bill remains on the books, and after a little more than a year, they caved.
Just like the new law in Kansas, HB2 was rammed through quickly, with no time for a public awareness campaign to oppose it.
We’re not seeing anywhere near the level of public outcry about what’s happening in Kansas. And I doubt we will with the current levels of transphobia – inflamed by a few loud gender critical given legitimacy + platform by mainstream media outlets.
Cough, NYT.
When Travel Boycotts Used to Work – And Why They No Longer Do
Do we fight the latest anti-trans laws with our dollars, by boycotting states that pass them?
Or do we focus on how to help those most impacted by bad laws, whether they want to flee to a safer state for trans people or stay in a bad state to help make it better?
When I think about this question, there’s one data point I keep coming back to.
One more relevant data point from the past.
Do you remember California’s ban on state-funded travel to states with bad laws?
When that bill was signed, in 2016, it applied to 4 states. When it got repealed in 2023, it applied to 26 states. More than half of the US was a no-go for California at that time.
That trajectory — from 4 states to 26 in just seven years — tells me its going to be an uphill battle either way.
I’d love for this to be the bottom. The worst things get before they improve.
Because the thing these bad laws ignore is most Americans are on our side.
They want LGBTQ+ people to have civic rights and freedoms. They realize that us having basic rights doesn’t take things away from them and their ability to lead self-determined independent lives.
See Pew Research Center to drill into the data on LGBTQ+ acceptance.
The question I’m thinking over right now is a small one, but it’s strategic.
How do we encourage the large majority to stand in solidarity with LGBTQ+ rights?
Whether it’s avoiding Kansas, or organizing politically, or helping trans folks in impacted states move to safer ones, how do we get our cis allies to not just care, but act?
If you have thoughts on this, I want to talk. Reach out.
I’ve got a resource list for allies that want to be better advocates or LGBTQ+ folks they meet on travels – whether it’s locals, friends and family members, or fellow travelers they meet. Snag a copy here if you could use that – and share the link widely, so more allied travelers can show solidarity and support.
