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Traveling to the Safe States

Traveling as LGBTQ

By Emily ElliottPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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My posts over the next two months are going to be a little different from my normal posts. My wife and I are going on our honeymoon, and we are taking a seven week long road trip around the country. While we are on the road, I have a few things in mind that I want to note. One of the main things that I would like to approach is how my wife and I will be treated and how we will feel in each state and/or region, as we will be traveling as a Lesbian couple. While we have done our research to ensure that the specific places in the country we want to travel to are going to be safe, I also want to talk about the different preconceived notions that we have for each place where we may not feel as safe, and I want to note if those biased perceptions are true or not.

I have noticed that in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) we are a little sheltered, and can sort of feel like we are in a bubble. I recognize that my wife and I are very lucky to live in a place that is so liberal and accepting, and I really want to be able to travel outside of our bubble and learn about the cultures different from ours. I want to learn about how others around the country treat people from the LGBTQ+ community. We have been very selective on where we are going to stop in each state to make sure that it is either “LGBTQ+ friendly” or that we would at least be safe. But I also know that ensuring safety isn’t always realistic or available, and I want to explore that.

Part one of our road trip will be to start in Seattle and head south down the West Coast, and then across the Southern states. Some of the most notable places we have looked into on this route that were LGBTQ+ friendly are: San Francisco, Austin, Nashville, and New Orleans. We have found some other places in between each of these stops that could be great, but we’ve also found that they just aren’t known for being as LGBTQ+ friendly. Our plan along the whole road trip is to camp as much as we can, and stay in some hotels as needed. The most exciting part is that we are bringing our husky puppy with us, and we are going to take advantage of as many hikes and nature adventures as possible. We want to enjoy every beautiful sight this country has to offer. But, reasonably so, we also want to remain completely safe.

My goal with these next seven weeks is to talk about what it is like to travel as an LGBTQ+ couple, and document my observations of how we are treated in each region. I also want to know how gay people are generally treated in this country, and how we can make the country a safer place for everyone to live. I want to give insight about where gay people can go to feel safe, and which places they should avoid. My goal is to best represent each place I go to with how I experience it and how we feel while we are there. I know that there is so much going on right now with our community and we have taken several hits. I just want to see where members of the LGBTQ+ community can feel safe in this country to live, and where it is safe to visit without feeling like we have to hide who we really are. Hopefully this journey will be enlightening and fun above everything else! And hopefully we will see a great deal of beautiful sites throughout our journey!

Cheers!

lgbt travel
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About the Creator

Emily Elliott

My name is Emily. I am from Portland, but Seattle is where I currently call home. My wife and I have a 2 year old Alaskan Malamute/Siberian Husky and he is our life. I love to travel and explore new places!

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