My biweekly segment, Erin Answers, where I answer all of the questions on transgender legislation, life, and what you can do to play a part in the fight.
One thing I hardly ever see addressed in answers about other countries--and it’s gotta be a huge, complicated topic--is what it would take to emigrate. Some friends, a married gay couple, want to eventually emigrate to Uruguay because it’s a safe country for their marriage, has been politically stable since the 80s, and requires only proof of income and for said income to be deposited into the national bank. That seems like a relatively easy place to go. On the other hand, since I work in IT, I don’t think I’d be wanted all that much in the majority of safe countries that require I have some sort of skills the country needs or wants. (Throw a rock out of a window and you’ll hit eight people working in IT.) And nothing here talks about the extreme privilege required to go. There are going to be a lot of people left behind to suffer and some of those are going to die.
I’ll try to remember to bring up the emigration question for next time.
Speaking of trans positive producers: In the UK there are Jake and Hannah Graf, both of whom are transgender and who have already produced several really excellent short films about transgender people: https://www.jakeandhannahgraf.com/about
When talking about safe countries, there are a number of European countries that come to mind. Belgium (where I'm from) has made real headway in the last 5 years. It has self-id in place, it's a process that I used to have my birth certificate updated and it went really smooth. As well, every time I've gone back home in recent times, I've never felt stressed like I do in the UK. I've never been misgendered which is quite telling because in the UK it happens all the time. And the best testament to Belgium's progress is the fact that one of the ministers in government is actually a transgender woman. Aside from Belgium, I would definitely also include Germany and Finland as well. Both are tolerant and open-minded societies. Spain has recently made huge steps on the legislative aspect, but I would say it still has a bit of catching up to do on the social aspect of things.
Someone sent me a letter that this is a good resource for trans friendly countries:
https://www.asherfergusson.com/lgbtq-travel-safety/
One thing I hardly ever see addressed in answers about other countries--and it’s gotta be a huge, complicated topic--is what it would take to emigrate. Some friends, a married gay couple, want to eventually emigrate to Uruguay because it’s a safe country for their marriage, has been politically stable since the 80s, and requires only proof of income and for said income to be deposited into the national bank. That seems like a relatively easy place to go. On the other hand, since I work in IT, I don’t think I’d be wanted all that much in the majority of safe countries that require I have some sort of skills the country needs or wants. (Throw a rock out of a window and you’ll hit eight people working in IT.) And nothing here talks about the extreme privilege required to go. There are going to be a lot of people left behind to suffer and some of those are going to die.
I’ll try to remember to bring up the emigration question for next time.
Thank You for your great work Erin. I love you and your brilliant spirit.
And continue to remember to take care of yourself too.
Erica
Speaking of trans positive producers: In the UK there are Jake and Hannah Graf, both of whom are transgender and who have already produced several really excellent short films about transgender people: https://www.jakeandhannahgraf.com/about
When talking about safe countries, there are a number of European countries that come to mind. Belgium (where I'm from) has made real headway in the last 5 years. It has self-id in place, it's a process that I used to have my birth certificate updated and it went really smooth. As well, every time I've gone back home in recent times, I've never felt stressed like I do in the UK. I've never been misgendered which is quite telling because in the UK it happens all the time. And the best testament to Belgium's progress is the fact that one of the ministers in government is actually a transgender woman. Aside from Belgium, I would definitely also include Germany and Finland as well. Both are tolerant and open-minded societies. Spain has recently made huge steps on the legislative aspect, but I would say it still has a bit of catching up to do on the social aspect of things.
Thank you Erin for all that you do! Many terrible bills currently in Indiana with some starting to pass out of committee.
Check out the National LGBTQ task Force. They have a FB page. here's their main web link: https://www.thetaskforce.org/
Thank you Erin! Feel better