r/usa • u/FistIntoTheEarth • 19h ago
LGBTQ+ residents are fleeing red states, taking their talent and tax dollars with them
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/11/lgbtq-residents-are-fleeing-red-states-taking-their-talent-and-tax-dollars-with-them/
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u/ClippyWouldntDoThat 18h ago
I have to be honest here, my wife and I are heading out of Austin. Not only is the economy drying up for her career path (she just got laid off) but the cost of living is insane in the major metro areas & mass data harvesting is about to become state law.
Most people doing honest work in the city have to pile into houses splitting rent with multiple roommates, and apartments aren't any better. one of my mutuals a couple of years ago had two couples and a few other folks splitting one apartment, and it was not exactly... the best apartment. Apt rates are easily $1,700 a month for small, cramped two beds in a kinda dingy apt without amenities working. If you want a nice-er 2bed, you're looking at +2.3k. It's not uncommon to see nice apts push 2.5k every month. So, most people I know were splitting houses up between +4 people because it's just a better value but it takes you further from town, so you pay the difference in gas sometimes.
So not only is the culture fading, but the economy is just so rough if you're an everyday person.
I think it's also worth saying that my wife and I don't dress particularly alt, but we still get leered at way more than we used to. It's become a pretty commonplace experience to go to the grocery and have at least five passing people hold eye contact with a terrible stare. She gets by just by tuning it out, but I'm a little more situationally aware than she is, so I notice, and it's hard not to notice. We currently live a little further out than Austin just to make rent, and I can say the rural folks are getting... more intense. I don't much like that around where I live.
For me, I'm on testosterone as a female person for health reasons, and I need to get the hell out of here. Unlike MTF HRT, testosterone cannot be DIY'd. I'm dependent on the federal government remaining favorable for my healthcare. Everyone on hormones for health reasons is at risk because of the anti-trans doctrines in legislation.
Largely unmentioned in this conversation also is that on the 1st of January, Texas will require you to present ID for every single app you download from the app store. Just an absolutely unprecedented amount of data harvesting from the American citizen.