Help Transmasc Couple Flee Texas for Shield State Protection

We are seeking emergency assistance to relocate to safety asap. We must reach a trans-refugee shield state before anti-DEI and transgender bills are passed into law. Our financial situation has suffered tremendously since the outbreak of COVID-19 due to layoffs, increased cost of living, and several costly house repairs and medical bills. We cannot afford the cost of relocation on our own.

In addition to upcoming changes in federal legislation, Texas is becoming increasingly hostile toward minority groups and is attacking transgender individuals as its first priority in 2025. We need your help.

There are already 37 anti-trans bills that attack healthcare, restroom access, DEI, and civil rights protections, pre-filed and awaiting the 2025 session. It is of utmost importance that we attempt to get out of Texas before these bills are pushed.

Who we are:

Hello, our names are Avicus (Zeke) and Sebastian. We are a disabled/chronically ill transmasculine couple with ADHD and Autism currently residing in Texas.

We are also joined by our two cats, Nixiebee and Beaker, who offer us daily emotional support, and our dog Finn. We are currently working on further training with Finn, as he naturally alerts us to neurological issues before they start. He's a good boy.

Our Goal:

As mentioned above, we are seeking emergency assistance to relocate to a trans-refugee shield state before the second week of January, ahead of life-threatening legislation being passed.

Due to several factors, this will be an uneasy and expensive endeavor. Based on shield laws, cost of living, available health services, and needed resources, we have narrowed our choices to California, Washington, and New York. We are also in the middle of researching Colorado and have recently added Illinois as an option.

We seek to raise a minimum of $5,830 to cover moving and resettling cross-country expenses.

Ezekiel is prioritizing the movement of equipment and supplies related to his home business. His business has been temporarily on hiatus while we make arrangements and move. Once settled, he will apply for appropriate licensing to operate out of our new home state.

Sebastian is prioritizing his office equipment in order to continue his remote employment.

Otherwise, we will be moving what belongings we can manage to fit into a moving trailer, and with any luck, we hope to move along with Finn, Beaker, and Nixie. We will not be taking much in the way of furniture besides a desk, some folding tables, a few computer chairs, and a portion of our storage systems. Anything else will either be left to our current housemate, who will be staying in Texas, or stored temporarily with a friend until we can retrieve them later.

We will not be moving with any pantry supplies and will need to replace food, plates, cups, cutlery, and anything else that had shared usage in the household.

We have already received a few Venmo donations and have started putting back what little we can. Our starting total before taking our GoFundMe live was $170.00. This has been manually added and is calculated in our current total.

Cost breakdown and progress as of 12/9/2024

The Cause:

Texas alone has introduced 37 anti-trans bills since early filing and is poised to push anti-trans legislation in 2025. 32 of these bills were introduced on the first day of the 2025 early filing session. This is on top of 6 anti-trans bills that passed last session that disproportionately impacted our trans youth, as well as a drag ban that has been on pause since September 2023 after being found to violate the constitutional amendment.

The current 2025 anti-trans legislation will impact every aspect of our lives, from legal recognition to access to healthcare and restrooms. Texas doesn't just seek to make our lives difficult; it seeks to erase our existence, inhibit our ability to maintain gainful employment, as well as remove every and all protection we may have currently in place to protect us in the name of equality. Texas has been upgraded to Do Not Pass. Avoid traveling through Texas at all costs if you are not in Texas.

The following article by Erin in the Morning goes over some of these details:

https://truthout.org/articles/tx-republicans-introduced-32-anti-trans-bills-on-first-day-of-pre-filing-period/.

LGBTQ+ Legislative Tracking 2025 (Google Sheets)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NfY8VvrUNQKX77CXilxlE1pepRSGTMZ70LoyFwx6fbk/edit?usp=sharing

You can use the National Legislative Search feature of LegiScan for more information on any bill.

https://legiscan.com/

The social and political climate has worsened day by day leading up to elections and continues to worsen now that those who would seek to hurt us feel emboldened.

We have already faced an act of aggression against us in our own neighborhood. We have also witnessed several fights, racist and homophobic slurs, and other unsavory behaviors against others in our community as a whole at such a high rate in the last two weeks alone; it is more than we have witnessed in our entire years of living in Texas.

Of course, the above does not even begin to cover what is happening on a federal, country-wide level. This makes the need to relocate to a shield state much more critical.

We must rely on the assistance of others during this time, as we do not have the funds or means to do this on our own. Please consider donating and share this with as many individuals as possible. We will not be able to do this without you.

Q & A

What if I can't afford to donate right now?

If you are unable to donate, we understand! We are all facing tough times ahead. Please consider sharing, as the more reach we can get, the better our odds of hitting our goal.

Do we have a backup plan?

We understand that if we do not reach our goal, sacrifices must be made to reach safety. We are prepared to do what we must. We have arrangements with a close friend for our fur friends to be taken care of if we can't raise the necessary funds and will be more limited to what we can salvage. We hope to bring what we can from our current lives, as well as our pets, in order to bolster our mental well-being through this process.

Why aren't we considering other Shield States? Washington and California seem like very expensive choices.

You are not wrong! We are seeking employment opportunities that will pay a higher wage to alleviate financial stressors once settled. We are also keeping track of local resources once we are residents of our new state so that we may apply for additional assistance until one or both of us obtain our degrees. We have also recently added Illinois to the list of possible relocation places.

Aside from a few areas in New York, the East Coast is cost-prohibited and offers fewer employment opportunities, resources, or potential community.

New Mexico is too close to Texas for our comfort, and areas that are affordable are red counties. In addition, New Mexico has the highest concentration of public sector workers, whose jobs may be disrupted by upcoming structural changes to government departments. This does not bode well for New Mexico or the stability of the current inhabitants' jobs and resources.

Additional shield states were initially considered but ruled out due to job availability, cost of living, fewer resources, and other factors impacting our ability to thrive. Making such a distanced move, we don't want to find ourselves in a situation that would necessitate another move before we are able to make that choice for ourselves.

Can we tell you a little more about ourselves?

Sebastian is currently employed full-time and currently enrolled in college. He is studying Data Analytics, working toward his Bachelor of Science, with plans to continue for his Master's.

Avicus has been working part-time at a nearby business to help make ends meet. He has also redoubled his efforts to revive his business but has been forced to halt activities until we are settled in a new place. He also plans to work toward a degree but is holding off on enrollment until we are more stable.

We are both artists and makers outside of our full-time endeavors. Needless to say, we rarely have time or energy for much else, but we do our best to make time to spend with our furred companions and our two close friends who live nearby.

If you have additional questions, do not hesitate to ask. We will answer promptly and update the Q&A with any frequently asked questions.

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Once on our feet, we plan to do what we can to pay this forward. Thank you all again. Keep your family and friends close, and stay safe!