File photo from July 16, 2023, Pride celebration in Portland, Ore. More than 80 anti-LGBTQ+ laws have passed across the country this year. For service providers like the Equi Institute in Portland, the last few months have seen a 60% increase in people from out of state seeking services.
Caden Perry / OPB
Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in statehouses across the country during this year’s legislative sessions.
While many of those bills didn’t end up passing, the ACLU found that more than 80 passed into law. They range from banning gender-affirming care for minors to banning trans athletes from playing in K-12 sports.
While some of the laws are currently being challenged in court, service providers say the end result is a queer migration.
“We’ve seen about a 60% increase over the last few months of folks coming to us from out of state seeking safety, health and housing access,” Katie Cox, executive director and co-founder of the Equi Institute said.
As reported earlier in Willamette Week, many are fleeing red states where the laws are being passed and heading to places that have stronger protections for the LGBTQ+ community, like Oregon.
Jesse, whose full name we won’t be using for his protection, moved to Oregon three years ago from Missouri because of an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
“I can tell more of my neighbors feel negatively about people like me, I feel less safe in this place,” he recalled thinking in Missouri.
Not being able to fully live as himself in Missouri put a toll on Jesse’s mental health. He was later diagnosed with PTSD, but finding a community here has helped him tremendously. He said the change was almost instant.
“I was in a much worse place when I was physically in Missouri, than right after I moved here,” he said.
Jesse isn’t alone in this struggle. Meg Miranda, the integrated behavioral health program manager for Outside In, says that moving to a new place can be incredibly challenging, especially if you feel like you have no choice.
“When you’re fleeing somewhere that you love, that’s fighting against you, it’s insurmountable the impact and the trauma that people are facing,” they said.
Outside In has seen a 6% increase in the number of trans and gender-diverse people seeking services at the clinic. For Miranda, this meant going from writing one to two gender-affirming care letters of support a week, to now five or six.
File photo from July 16, 2023. Mental health workers say that for those queer people who are fleeing their home states that have passed anti-LGBTQ+ laws, the experience can be extremely traumatic.
Caden Perry / OPB
Cox says that an issue that has continued is Portland’s lack of infrastructure for unhoused LGBTQ+ individuals. More than just housing, Cox is also concerned that accessing gender affirming care may take a bit longer because of the addition of new people to already long wait lists.
“There are not nearly enough providers across the state of Oregon to be able to provide this type of care,” they said.
Jesse says that while he may have some “survivor’s guilt” from leaving his community, he fully supports and believes in the people fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in Missouri. He also says there are still some role models in his home state that kids can look up to.
“One thing to remember about this most recent anti-trans push, it is a backlash to a wave of trans acceptance,” he said.
Jesse, Katie Cox and Meg Miranda joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to discuss this movement. You can listen to the full conversation here: