<story><title>Find a new city</title><url>http://austinkleon.com/2016/08/03/find-a-new-city/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rpazyaquian</author><text>This jumped out at me:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; “I’m trans, so I need to live somewhere progressive so I feel safe day-to-day and don’t feel like I’m going to get beat up for using the wrong restroom.”&lt;p&gt;This is a pretty damn good reason to live somewhere like Seattle or Boston, and a pretty damn good reason not to live somewhere like (edit:) North Carolina or Tennessee or Georgia. The reality is that many of us are limited by not wanting to live in a city or state that basically wants us dead. The fact that tech companies tend to be clustered around progressive, blue areas is a major advantage.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s easy to say &amp;quot;just move to the middle of nowhere!&amp;quot; if you&amp;#x27;re privileged enough to not worry about these things. But some of us kind of want to keep our asses safe and, honestly, alive.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nostromo</author><text>Have you actually spent time in Raleigh or Atlanta?  The idea that trans people are getting murdered in the street is just not correct.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m gay and I&amp;#x27;ve spent a lot of fun nights in Boise, Idaho because a gay friend of mine lives there with her wife.  We always have a blast.  She has a great career in Boise and I don&amp;#x27;t think she&amp;#x27;s experienced more homophobia there than when she lived in New York City.  (I know she had at least one bad experience in NYC as she was cat-called once right before I met her and her then girlfriend.)&lt;p&gt;I think a lot of coastal elites have no idea what they&amp;#x27;re talking about when they speak about the extreme danger of being different in middle-America.</text></comment>
<story><title>Find a new city</title><url>http://austinkleon.com/2016/08/03/find-a-new-city/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>rpazyaquian</author><text>This jumped out at me:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; “I’m trans, so I need to live somewhere progressive so I feel safe day-to-day and don’t feel like I’m going to get beat up for using the wrong restroom.”&lt;p&gt;This is a pretty damn good reason to live somewhere like Seattle or Boston, and a pretty damn good reason not to live somewhere like (edit:) North Carolina or Tennessee or Georgia. The reality is that many of us are limited by not wanting to live in a city or state that basically wants us dead. The fact that tech companies tend to be clustered around progressive, blue areas is a major advantage.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s easy to say &amp;quot;just move to the middle of nowhere!&amp;quot; if you&amp;#x27;re privileged enough to not worry about these things. But some of us kind of want to keep our asses safe and, honestly, alive.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>initram</author><text>For me it&amp;#x27;s not only about being safe. I don&amp;#x27;t have to worry too much about that sort of thing because I blend in most places in my country. But I&amp;#x27;ve lived where people had different values than me and it just gets exhausting. Constantly being bombarded with messages you fundamentally disagree with 24&amp;#x2F;7. Billboards; local TV; newpapers&amp;#x2F;web sites; overhearing conversations of the people around you; having odd things said to you; day in and day out. I don&amp;#x27;t mind that other people have different values than me. But I do mind having to be constantly surrounded by it and having nowhere to go to get away from it.&lt;p&gt;I can&amp;#x27;t imagine what it&amp;#x27;s like to have that issue and also fear for your safety on a daily basis. That sucks and I wouldn&amp;#x27;t wish that on anyone.</text></comment>