It Is Morally OK to Flee the United States

Trans people can’t be expected to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.  We have a right to safety.

By Jane Migliara Brigham

“I cannot express how tired I am of thinking about, worrying about, talking about, and stressing about whether it's time for me to flee the United States while I have the means and opportunity to do so. I do not want to leave. I like it here. But this country is becoming increasingly unlivable for trans people.” -Katelyn Burns

Transsexuals constantly talk about wanting to escape.  Whether it's escaping some town where they are not respected, escaping to the city in search of a better life, or more recently, escaping the United States, the topic never goes away.  

We all seem to be dreaming of a better life.

The fact is that most of us live under the stress of being a hated and persecuted class, and we want to live in peace.  Seeing our persecution increase and our standards of living degrade, we are getting more desperate.

A few years ago, transsexuals who talked about fleeing the country (such as myself) were seen as insane.  

Now, it seems everyone has at least thought about it, and is expected to have an opinion one way or the other.  

The case for leaving is as follows: protecting yourself from bigotry often means separating yourself from your existing community.  

This is true of leaving the countryside and suburbs for the city, and it’s also true of leaving an intolerant country for a more tolerant one.  Therefore, should we be promoting it as a means of keeping us safe?

The case against this is that we have to stand and fight for our country.  

The argument goes that we (the good people) have more right to this country than the fascists.  Additionally, most people do not have the resources to leave the country, and are stuck with whatever regime they live under.  Therefore, we have a responsibility to stay and help those who cannot leave.

I want to give the stay and fight side its fair shake.  Right now, most people do not have the ability to leave the country without significant planning.  As of writing, claims of asylum from trans and queer people in the US are not considered legally valid in other countries (though that might be changing fast).  

As a result, telling everyone that they have to emigrate this instant (without helping to make that possible) will be seen as out of touch and alarmist.

That being said, we are still living under fascism, and our safety is in peril.  

We have every right and reason to be scared.  Leaving the country whose government wants to “erase [us] from public life” is both rational and understandable.  

It is reasonable to feel scared when watching your neighbors getting snatched off of the street with little pushback, and to know that all it would take to start doing that to you is a new law or executive order.  It is reasonable to not want to be raped to death in a men's prison.

It is reasonable to run.

"'should trans people flee, should we stay?' idk chat, i think about the horror stories of my family who decided to stay and fight.

they are all dead. every. last. one.

many great-great aunts and uncles ended up in the camps and not a one of them were lucky enough to survive. not one." - Fae'Rynn

I’ve thought about leaving every day since Trump was reelected.  

I set a line for myself and said that if it was crossed, I would leave.  Trump crossed it on the first day.  

The only reason I am still here is that I don't have the money to leave yet. Working on The Needle is the first consistent work I’ve had in over a year, and we don’t yet have enough paying subscribers to make getting out possible for me.

That doesn't change the fact that I still plan to leave, and that most people can leave if they plan for it.  

We have no obligations to stay in the borders and societies where we are born, or to respect them.  Everyone on earth has the right to live where they can live in dignity.  

We all seem to be dreaming of a better life.

This is true of migrants fleeing persecution in the global south, and it is true of emigrants fleeing persecution in the global north.  Our interests are the same.  

No one has the right to decide for another whether they should stay in their society or leave it.  Only the individual can make that decision.  If the society around us does not make our safety and dignity a priority, we should not make that society our priority.

This is why transsexuals have every moral right to flee the United States.  It's also why anyone has the right to flee anywhere.

This is not radical.  Asylum seekers have a right to flee persecution and to resettle where it is safe.  This has been established in international law for nearly a century. 

Us transsexuals are simply asking to be given the same set of human rights.

It is reasonable to run.

I will not say that leaving your country and resettling elsewhere is easy.  

Moving is expensive, learning a new language is hard, and getting a visa is an arcane, bureaucratic, and bigoted process.  

The rights of asylum seekers are not always respected.  That being said, it’s still possible to get out and resettle.  

You are not betraying those around you by refusing to suffer with no purpose and no end in sight.  If you cannot have a dignified life where you live now, you owe it to yourself to find dignity elsewhere.

“If you as a trans woman remove yourself from danger, you have done more invaluable work than most will to protect the life of a trans woman.” - Willow Theatre