For L.G.B.T.Q. People, Moving to Friendlier States Comes With a Cost
When Stefanie Newell decided to move to Denver last year, the choice was about acceptance. Feeling comfortable as a transgender woman didn’t seem possible in San Antonio, her hometown, in the midst of a flood of Texas legislation targeting the L.G.B.T.Q.
community. But the decision also had financial implications. In San Antonio, she lived with her mother, and the cost of living was generally low.
Just driving her stuff two states north wiped out her savings. “I thought I was well prepared, and when I arrived I was flat broke,” said Ms.
Newell, 25. And Denver isn’t cheap: Her one-bedroom apartment downtown costs about $1,800 a month, which she pays with a mix of part-time paralegal work, freelance writing and editing, and ad revenue from her content on Instagram. “It’s taken off to the point where I’m not in the negative,” she said. “It definitely gets close.” It’s a choice that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the United States have made for decades: Move from a less welcoming part of the country to one, usually a coastal city, with more protections and a bigger community.
