As Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas Republicans continue to strip rights from the state’s transgender residents, a new survey shows many are making relocation plans for their own safety.
A new Dallas Morning News survey of 90 trans Texans found that 77 of that total have selected a “backup state” for their possible move. A total of 27 made their choice since last November.
Beyond that, 76 of survey respondents said they have spoken with in-state friends or family about moving, and 57 are already saving money to fund their departure.
Survey respondents told the Morning News that the anti-transgender rhetoric coming out of the Trump administration, coupled with the Texas Legislature’s flood of bills targeting trans and nonbinary people, have left them feeling unsafe in Texas.
Erika Schiegg, 61, who’s lived as a transgender woman for four decades, told the Morning News she decided in September to leave the Lone Star State, because she’s afraid of potential violence and it no longer feels like home. In some ways, she added, it feels less hospitable than when she started her transition at age 18.
“I can’t even believe that I’m seeing this in my lifetime,” Schiegg said.
During the most recent legislative session, lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature filed dozens of bills targeting transgender people, among those a proposal that bans them from using public restrooms corresponding with their gender in state-owned buildings, which has since been signed into law.
Fifty-two of the people who responded to the Morning News’ survey reported a “big increase” in their anxiety since November. Twenty-two people also said they’d experienced a “big increase” in suicidal ideation, while 63 reported some increase in those thoughts.
“I never thought I would be so afraid to be here that all I wanted to do was run away,” a transgender person identified as Crystal told the Morning News as she prepares to move her family out of the state. “I don’t know even one trans person who is not afraid.”
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