4 November 16 - 22, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents expanding an already virulently anti-LG- BTQ+ agenda. The advocacy organization Equality Texas tallied 76 anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed in the state in 2021. This year the count nearly doubled to 141. Hurley and her family now live in Colo- rado, a move that was “absolutely 100% worth it” but that came at a significant fi- nancial cost. She keeps up with the news coming out of her former state, where some of her LGBTQ+ friends and friends with transgender kids still live. “We had a good-sized queer community down there,” she said. “And I’m terrified for all of them.” W hen Bob McCranie came out in 1992, he said, gay people “didn’t have rights.” He could be denied employment, he could be denied housing, just because of his sexuality. But the LGBTQ+ community fought hard over the years to make strides in the eyes of the law. To McCranie, the latest anti-LGBTQ+ push is both “intentionally destructive” and cruel. “It feels worse to have them stripping those rights away, rather than to have not had those rights to begin with,” he said. Speaking with the Observer in early Sep- tember, McCranie sounded equally troubled and determined. He’d helped some 28 groups of people flee red states and planned to follow suit himself in the coming months. In 2022, discussions with friends had started to reveal a throughline, he said: Where would you go if you moved away? What’s your plan B? Before long, McCranie launched Flee Texas, which would later be- come Flee Red States. It clearly resonated. People from other conservative corners of the U.S. soon began to get in touch. “I realized this is a universal conversa- tion going on in the gay community,” Mc- Cranie said. “I’m not stirring this up and making it happen. People are already mi- grating.” McCranie is quoted in a Realtor.com arti- cle in June titled, “The LGBTQ+ Migration: Why Many Are Leaving Everything Behind to Move Across the Country.” Houston- based Realtor Anita R. Blue told that outlet the official number of LGBTQ+ migrants is unknown but undoubtedly on the rise. The trend has begun bleeding over into the housing market, Blue continued: “Hous- ing’s going to suffer. People don’t want to live or buy a home in a state where they don’t feel safe.” After the June 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had for decades enshrined the constitutional right to an abortion, some po- litical observers wondered what would hap- pen if the issue of gay marriage were to again reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Seven years prior to Roe’s reversal, the landmark high- court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges legal- ized same-sex marriage nationwide. Considering the force and direction of to- day’s political winds, McCranie worries that gay marriage could be next to be swept away. And he fears what could come of queer couples’ property rights should the is- sue get kicked back to the states. When Texas Pride Realty Group started in 2009, McCranie explained, there was an idea that LGBTQ+ Texans would be safe as long as they lived in blue hubs like Dallas, Houston and Austin. He can’t say that today. McCranie’s realty group helps sell homes without disclosing sensitive information, such as reasons for leaving the state. It also assists in connecting clients with experts in other parts of the U.S. or countries who will treat them with dignity. He advises some to cut and run as soon as they can. “If you have a trans child, you need to get out of the jurisdiction now. And you don’t want to call Sally the Realtor to help you, be- cause Sally the Realtor may not like trans kids either and turn your ass in,” he said. “You want to hire somebody who gets your family, understands, gets you out quietly and then gets you to a location where you can be safer.” Texas lawmakers approved a slew of anti- LGBTQ+ bills in 2023, including those tar- geting gender-affirming care and drag shows. Laws like these prompted the Cana- dian government this year to caution U.S.- bound queer travelers about what they could encounter in states that restrict gay and trans folks’ rights. McCranie believes it’s gotten to the point where LGBTQ+ people need to move assets and money out of conservative states before lawmakers further clamp down. “It sounds hyperbolic. It sounds like, ‘Oh gee, Bob, you’re just stirring up the pot and you’re fearmongering,’” McCranie said. “If you study history, look at the headlines. “I am not going to be on the last train out of Paris.” A t the same time that Texas has begun to bleed LGBTQ+ resi- dents, newcomers from other parts of the country continue to pour in. The Los Angeles Times wrote earlier this month that “droves of Californians” are moving to the Lone Star State. Gov. Greg Abbott touted Texas’ draw this summer during a bill-signing ceremony for a law that effectively bans trans athletes from playing in college sports. Texas “is a very welcoming state,” he insisted when asked about LGBTQ+ constituents who feel shunned, adding that lawmakers would con- tinue to “protect all Texans and their free- doms.” Johnathan Gooch, communications di- rector for Equality Texas, noted that the state holds on to its natives more than any- where else in the country. To him, it says a lot that so many choose to remain: They’re attracted to Texas’ culture, grounded in homegrown friendships. But Gooch is also well aware that the state’s political pressures have driven some away — at least, those who can afford to leave. Equality Texas has heard stories from parents with trans kids who’ve been put in a terrible bind as they mull uprooting their families. In some cases, one parent will move away with the children while the other stays behind for their job. And transgender men and women are now leaving as their own healthcare access becomes jeopardized, Gooch said. The ban on gender-affirming care for LGBTQ+ youth has implications for trans adults, too, in that some specialists are now relocating their practices or being forced to shut down. “Seeing people leave is a really powerful reminder that if we want to stay, we have to fight,” he said. “We have to be intentional about making this place — our state — wel- coming for everyone.” McCranie knows that Flee Red States will have its detractors. Some critics insist that there’s a blue wave on the horizon, that LGBTQ+ Texans should remain and work to turn the tide. He views it differently. “The idea that we’re going to win against [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis or win against Greg Abbott is absurd,” McCranie said. “We’ve lost this ground. Get to someplace safe.” The FBI logged a nearly 20% rise in anti- LGBTQ+ bias crimes in 2022 over the previ- ous year. This comes as former President Donald Trump, the current GOP primary frontrunner, has turned increasingly com- bative toward the LGBTQ+ community. Speaking with the Observer in early No- vember, McCranie relayed that he expects to see a spike in people leaving red states closer to the 2024 election. No Texas Democrat has won a statewide race in some 30 years, he pointed out. Even the most promising candidates, such as for- mer gubernatorial hopeful Beto O’Rourke, often fail by double-digit margins. The way McCranie sees it, LGBTQ+ Tex- ans can stay in the battle if they want, but they also shouldn’t be faulted for opting to get out of harm’s way. Perhaps they’ll see the merit in moving to a purple state and “de- fending the line” there. Nearly every year, in nearly every elec- tion, LGBTQ+ people have fought to gain or simply maintain their civil rights, he said. “And it’s just exhausting,” he continued. “It’s exhausting to always have your identity used as a political football to get votes.” McCranie recently took his own advice. He packed his belongings and headed to a purple state on the East Coast. F or the last year of Ryan Lewis’ time living in Texas, he was scared. He carried a gun wherever he went, checking to make sure it was there before holding his boyfriend’s hand in public. “I realized I was doing that, and I really hated it,” he told the Observer in September. “I don’t do that here.” These days, Lewis calls Michigan home. As he described his decision to say goodbye to Texas, where temperatures soared as high as 110 that month, rain fell outside the open windows of his new place, the air a cool 70 degrees. Lewis sought the help of McCranie, whose team he credits with preparing his house for sale quickly after watching Texas’ landscape turn more hostile toward Kyle Gustafson Bob McCranie believes LGBTQ+ Texans should consider moving for their safety. Unfair Park from p3 >> p6
