Death Valley National Park views with mountains and road.

The Best and Worst States for LGBTQ Family Travel

Are you looking for the best and worst states for LGBTQ travel right now? Here's a list of the most LGBTQ-friendly states to visit with Trump back in office โ€“ and the ones where hostile laws make it uncomfortable and potentially unsafe if you're queer or trans. I created this list so that you donโ€™t have to worry about which states are LGBTQ-friendly and which ones are not so friendly, particularly if youโ€™re going on an LGBTQ family vacation where you canโ€™t exactly hide your rainbow selves :)
The Colorado River with a meadow in the foreground and mountains in the background.

Queer Voices: A Lifeline

Madeline Ewing's story of a road trip through Roosevelt National Forest, and finding acceptance in nature, which the longlist in our LGBTQ essay contest: Walking into a clothing store, my body splits in two. Or at least, it would if it were possible. Instead, I take my time wading through the womenโ€™s section before making my way to the menโ€™s. Something for โ€œboth,โ€ because to exist as myself, society tells me I am two different, contradictory things. And even โ€œbothโ€ isnโ€™t complete. But here, in groves upon groves of Douglas firs and Ponderosa pines, I am myself without a need to separate into pieces. My blood runs like the Colorado River, my thoughts whisper like Aspen leaves in the wind. My sense of self evolves and changes, like limestone eroded by the wind and water, taking shape over and over again each millennium. People might chop down my trees or ravage my body with wildfires in the name of industrialization. But I grow back surer and stronger, fuller and more fragrant.