A recent survey on transgender refugees — that is, the relocation of trans people from states with anti-trans policies to states with more pro-trans legal protections — found that trans people who lived in less supportive local communities were more likely to move to trans-affirming states.

The Williams Institute surveyed a total of 302 trans, non-binary, and other gender non-conforming American adults in December 2024, a month before Trump’s inauguration. More than one-third of respondents were people of color, and two-fifths had an annual income of under $50,000.

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Respondents who lived in less supportive local communities — states with laws and policies that were less supportive of trans people, and those with concerns about the impact of Trump’s presidency on their access to health care, exposure to discrimination, and vulnerability to hate crimes — were more likely to want to move to a state they viewed as more trans-affirming, according to an executive summary of the survey’s findings, released this week. “Those with lower incomes were also more likely to want to relocate, even though they may lack the resources to do so,” the summary said.

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When asked more specifically about what cities or states they planned to move to, most respondents mentioned cities in progressively liberal states, including California, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington State.

Approximately 48% of respondents had either moved to a more trans-friendly state or were thinking about doing so. About 23% had already made such a move.

The largest barriers to moving were cost-related issues, according to the respondents.

Among those working full-time or part-time in an unfriendly state, 14% were applying for jobs in more welcoming states, and were considering applying for other jobs.

Some respondents considered international moves, with 20% saying they would like to move out of the country, and 25% somewhat partial to the idea. There were barriers to this as well, including concerns about visas or other immigration regulations, health care access, and language issues.

As of now, trans people face issues when applying for visas with accurate gender markers, due to policy changes issued by State Secretary Marco Rubio; currently, the ACLU is continuing to fight this.

This decision has also affected travel plans for transgender people. Approximately 30% of respondents claimed they travel less frequently due to restrictions under the Trump administration. About 70% said they would be less likely to go on vacation to states they view as less trans-friendly, and about one-sixth have cancelled travel plans altogether to states hostile towards trans people.

A month back, LGBTQ Nation interviewed a few trans refugees to understand their experiences. Of the four, we asked them about the struggles of integrating into a new environment. Many of them discussed cultural differences and a lack of community upon moving.

Fellow trans journalist Mira Lazine talked about relocating from Cincinnati to Minneapolis. She said, “Probably like 80% of the queer people I’ve met aren’t originally from Minnesota, so we’re all like, ‘Yeah, we need community — let’s build one.’”

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law in Los Angeles is known for conducting surveys on how the enforcement of certain laws affects transgender people, such as a survey they conducted earlier this year, indicating trans people are more likely to experience violence when using public restrooms that do not match their gender identity.

Personally, it was challenging moving to Seattle from the Midwest

To add my own personal anecdote to this piece, I, Arin Waller, had recently made the move to Seattle from the conservative upper Midwest states, for similar reasons of not feeling safe in public spaces or welcomed.

The first couple of days felt lonely. But after discovering the local bars and clubs where other transgender people like myself congregated, I felt a sense of community and belonging.

For cultural barriers, many people bring up the “Seattle freeze,” the conception that people from Seattle are usually not very social and introverted. I didn’t have much of an issue with that as I’m also rather introverted, and we had a similar concept back in my previous home, referred to as “Minnesota nice,” which is a cultural stereotype that people from the northwest are extremely passive-agressive due to our whole reputation of being overly-friendly and nice. The stereotype is accurate to an extent.

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