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UPDATE #1: TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
The plan is coming together, but I still need the money to make it happen!
With recent news of gender affirming care bans for those that rely on medicaid (hey, that's me!) now being allowed by states, and ICE being given full permission to detain trans people, I NO LONGER FEEL SAFE WHERE I LIVE.
And that's nothing to speak of what recently happened to the trans community in Kansas: https://transitics.substack.com/p/judge-refuses-to-block-kansas-extreme
The original final date for departure was May 21st, but at the rate the trans genocide is progressing here in the US, I quite honestly fear for my life, and would love to leave much sooner than that if at all possible.
Utah has, in fact, tried to pass two gender affirming care bans of its own. One failed, but the other passed.
Minors no longer have access to hormones nor puberty blockers.
https://www.kuer.org/politics-government/2026-03-06/passes-fails-heres-what-happened-in-utahs-2026-legislative-session
For those who don't know, HRT is lifesaving medication akin to insulin, chemo, and asthma inhalers. Without it, many trans people will die. I'm lucky not to have been affected by this legislation for now, but they will come after adults next.
On to the good news: I have a support system willing and able to help me move. With the trans relocation fund organization, things are progressing between finalizing paperwork with the apartment complex signaling my move-out, re-certifying my current housing voucher, and very soon we'll be identifying potential homes for me to move into, ensuring the 30-day notice the local Housing Authority wants is in order, processing a moving voucher, and completing intake paperwork and an in-person class (that hopefully has a virtual option) for the receiving Housing Authority in Oregon, then crossing our fingers to wait for them to make a decision.
We'll be renting a van to make the 11 hour drive to Portland, taking most of my belongings with me. The friend who's driving me has experience with long drives and gets a discount on gas prices.
This is preferable and safer to the alternative of flying there, as I get to keep my belongings and don't have to brave my fears of going through the airport and flying solo. Heaven forbid I get groped by security after going through the scanner machine or get stopped and detained by ICE. Riding in the passenger seat is the safest way to go for me.
The van rental plus gas costs total to about $300.
Any little bit helps.
Please help me leave Utah behind in search of sanctuary in Oregon.
Additional funds will be used for application fees and security deposits.
***
hi-hi! I'm Melody, a trans woman located in the Utah Valley. I like writing, playing the piano, and playing Nintendo. I love musicals, cats, reading/writing poetry, and taking pictures.
Where I live does not currently meet my needs. I'm leftist, lesbian, neurodivergent, disabled, can't drive, and have a very limited support network, which is a nightmare in a land of LDS faith, limited and slow public transportation, and a very small queer community.
Most of the time, I'm afraid to leave the house, and even if I were to go somewhere, there are limited options to find community and socialize. The few times I do go somewhere, I'm limited by the imposed curfew of the bus schedule, with the last bus home departing just after 8:00PM.
That makes it difficult to enjoy a night on the town with friends!
In fact, all public transit shuts down on Sunday, as well as most businesses. Now, I don't have a job— I receive a set SSI amount each month— but this makes it very difficult to connect with those that do!
And while I do enjoy what community I have found, and the friends I've made over the years, I have to be honest with myself about something: This isn't working for me.
Friends come and go; that's life. But what makes it hit so, so much harder here in Utah is that you'll likely never find someone like them again. Someone leftist, queer, neurodivergent? And that you click with? That meshes well with your personality?
It's all but impossible. And that's just friendships; don't even get me started on dating. With 8 years of swiping experience, I can tell you the chances of matching with someone I'm looking for are very, very low. I can count the number of dates I've been on in that time on my fingers.
Utah has also started to feel less safe politically over the years. Did you know it's illegal for trans people to use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity in federal buildings here? Yeah. We have a bathroom ban. That includes universities. That includes libraries.
And on top of it all, I just don't have good experiences with living here in Utah, personally. Without going into detail, there is a lot of trauma I would be leaving behind if I were to move. So much of it is inside the landscape itself. When a city, or part of a city, has wounded you so deeply, it's difficult to want to navigate near or around it ever again.
So why do I tell you all this?
To establish that Utah isn't a safe or desirable place for me to live.
So what I need your help with, is moving costs.
Where will I be moving to?
Right now the plan is to move to Portland, Oregon. Yes, that's right. Completely alone, up and moving away. Why Portland specifically? Because it is a sanctuary city for trans people, and has a thriving queer and neurodivergent community.
I don't like to talk about it much, because it feels embarrassing, but it really is so much more difficult to socialize when you have autism. I can't help but feel like neurotypicals are playing Keep Away with the Social Cues ball.
And having ADHD with executive dysfunction? Forget about it! Let alone the depression and anxiety that comes with living in such an overstimulating, confusing, and neurotypical world.
Oh, and I have Sensory Processing Sensitivity, too. It isn't widely well understood yet, but essentially, I have a different nervous system than most. It reacts more intensely to all stimuli. Lights, sounds, emotions, you name it. It's often perceived as having "sensory issues", or like a defining characteristic of autism, but honestly? It seems to me like it's entirely its own thing. Did you know only 40% of autistic people have sensory processing sensitivity?
My sensitivity isn't to be shunned; it isn't a mistake, nor a flaw, nor an illness, physical or mental.
It's precisely my sensitivity that allows me to be creative, to explore emotions in media, to cry at my favorite stories and belt my favorite songs. I delight in my favorite things. Sensitivity only has a negative perception because other people only "notice" it when it negatively affects us, like when we need to ask you to turn down your car radio or dismiss ourselves early from an event— or decline going altogether— because we're overwhelmed.
I digress, but I can't help but put that out there. My sensitivity is one of the most "me" parts about me, and I couldn't just write all this without mentioning it. The world isn't built for people like me. It stresses us out. It's too loud, too much, too cruel, too apathetic. That's why you hear about the lovers and dreamers living such short, depressed lives. It isn't easy.
But I've made it this far. So let's see what I can do in a place that's set up for my success, rather than my downfall.
To Oregon!!
All money raised is going to support moving and living costs. While I've connected with an organization that supports trans people moving to Oregon, they primarily offer case management and plane ticket costs.
The plan right now is for my friend and I to rent a U-Haul and drive 11 hours to Oregon, moving most of my belongings to my new home, especially my weighted-key electric piano. A few other things I'd be moving: modest-sized TV, a few small furniture pieces, clothes, silverware set, blankets, and of course, sentimental items.
I really really do not want to leave my piano behind. It was rather expensive, even on sale, and I need a good creative, musical outlet in my life.
I'm really excited to go on this new journey and begin this new chapter of my life, but I need a little help to make it there as comfortably as I can!
Thank you for reading all this. Please share this with whoever you can; it would mean a lot to me to not have to start over from square one, and bring my current comforts of home to my new one, especially my emotional support piano.
TL;DR I need to fund a rental van to move my electric piano to my new home in Oregon, a place with infinitely more safety and social opportunities than Utah has. Any extra money left over after paying moving costs for the truck, gas, security deposit, first month's rent, and additional costs like groceries for when I arrive, will go into saving $400 for an emergency.
Organizer
