Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures in 2023, spanning issues of education, health care access and public accommodations. Almost all of the proposals targeted the rights of transgender people.
Parents Susan and Brian, whose 7-year-old daughter Juliet is transgender, say their decision to leave their home state of Texas last summer for a new life in the Seattle area was necessary to protect their family. The couple and their twins, Juliet and Keegan, left behind loved ones, social support and financial security in Austin, when Texas began investigating parents of trans kids for child abuse.
A year later, the family feels safer living in Washington, which has strong protections for LGBTQ+ people. In the Pacific Northwest, Susan and Brian say they’ve found freedom and joy, and safety for their kids. To protect their privacy, the parents asked that the family’s last name be withheld and that pseudonyms be used for their children to avoid transphobia and harassment.
Learn more about Juliet’s story and her family’s experience rebuilding their lives over the last year in the video, above, and the full report here.
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