United States Air Force Bases~

Having a transgender daughter (six-years-old) while being a military family has been an interesting if challenging experience. Living in Japan for the past six years, I am not familiar with the trans-friendly cities back in the States. With the help of others (online forums) and through a bit of research on my own, I've compiled a list of potential bases that would be preferred over others. For the most part, living on either coast is better than living in, say, the "Bible Belt" or the "Deep South" states. At any rate, here's what I've got:

1) Travis AFB Fairfield, CA (San Francisco Bay Area)
2) McChord AFB Lakewood, WA (Tacoma Area)
3) Luke AFB Peoria, AZ (Glendale/Phoenix Area)
4) Patrick AFB Satellite Beach, FL (Cape Canaveral)
5) McGuire AFB Cookstown, NJ (Fort Dix Area)
6) Peterson AFB Cimarron Hills, CO (Colorado Springs)
7) Beale AFB Yuba City, CA (Sacramento Area)
8 Hickham AFB Honolulu, HI (Pearle Harbor)

There are a couple of reasons I'm posting this list. One of them is to share it with other Air Force families who are looking to move to more progressive areas. Another reason is because I hope to get input from you. I need to know anything you can share about these areas. My daughter is counting on me to make a safe choice for her, and I need your help to do that.

Thanks much,
_________________
Venessia
Joie's Mommy~

_________________
Joie and Venessia

I think I would reorder the list in this way:

1) Beale AFB Yuba City, CA (Sacramento Area)
Yuba City may not be as liberal, but Sacramento proper has good resources and access to trans friendly healthcare. Many of the highschools have GSA's and there is great PFLAG support as well. Bottom line this is CA and the laws are better for kids in school and they type of discrimation that is usually seen.

2) McGuire AFB Cookstown, NJ (Fort Dix Area)
This might be a good choice in that we have 3-4 families in NJ already and there are some good protective laws on the books.

3) Travis AFB Fairfield, CA (San Francisco Bay Area)
I moved this one down the list because I'm not sure that the Bay Area is a huge influence here, but not sure. You may have better sources than me. Again, this is CA and they do have good protections so it would probably be a good choice.

4) McChord AFB Lakewood, WA (Tacoma Area)
As I mentioned we have already worked with some of the schools there and they have been receptive and Tacoma PFLAG is a wonderful resource.

5) Luke AFB Peoria, AZ (Glendale/Phoenix Area)
Phoenix area has a very active GLBT community and good support resources. Phoenix PFLAG has about 5 chapters in the various communities which is convenient. There are pocket areas that are very heavily Mormon and I would be careful about that. AZ does not, in general have the protections that CA and NJ has.

6) Hickham AFB Honolulu, HI (Pearle Harbor)
They do have a trans legislator so that is a good sign, but being off continent would make it more challenging for us to provide services for your schools and such, but not impossible.

7) Patrick AFB Satellite Beach, FL (Cape Canaveral)
Some areas of FL are really good and some are very conservative and down right hostile...I don't know which this is, but we could do some checking with other GLBT non-profits I know of there and see what they have to say.

8) Peterson AFB Cimarron Hills, CO (Colorado Springs)
Colorado Springs is the heart of Christian right conservatism as the home office of Focus on the Family. Unless you are going to be in Boulder or Denver I wouldn't see this as being a good choice. We have done extensive work in suburbs of Denver and it has been very, very difficult. One case we worked on made the national media. I would really NOT recommend Colorado Springs.

Now all that said, there are no guarantees no matter where you go, but your list is good (except CO) and should up your odds of a successful transition (pun intended) to life in the states. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

_________________
Kim Pearson
Executive Director
TransYouth Family Allies
kimp@imatyfa.org
http://www.imatyfa.org

Thank you Kim! You're awesome, really, thank you very much!!

Okay, we're taking Peterson AFB (Colorado Springs) OFF the list! Wow, am I ever glad you had the chance to look my choices over before it was too late. Phew! That could have been pretty awful.

Alright, so we're moving our California and New Jersey selections to the top of the list, and replacing Colorado with Vandenberg AFB Lompoc, CA (Santa Maria area) as choice number 4.

As much as I hate to abuse the kindness you're offering, I really would love to take advantage of your assistance in finding out about Patrick AFB in Florida. For now, I'll put that down as our choice number 8.

Thanks again Kim, you really are appreciated!

_________________
Joie and Venessia

Ok, I'll send out some feelers to my contacts in FL and see what I can find out.

_________________
Kim Pearson
Executive Director
TransYouth Family Allies
kimp@imatyfa.org
http://www.imatyfa.org

Gumbatte feelers! Gosh, I think it might just be past my bedtime; I'm speaking in Japanese and English mixed now. Oh my.
Yawns~

_________________
Joie and Venessia