Fleeing Hate, Finding Hope: Starting Over in New Zealand

HUGE UPDATE 5/31: Some of you may have already heard the good news - Brandon accepted a job offer last week at Kinross Winery in New Zealand. The Watts family will depart the US for Queenstown, NZ on July 23rd. In other good news, NBC "Out" will publish the Watts family story this week. We will make sure to post the link so all supporters can read it. Your support is more critical than ever to the success of their move. Thank you for being a part of their story!

UPDATE 5/5: Thank you to all who have donated! Candace and Brandon continue to work hard to meet their goals and deadlines. Their documents are in order and both have had very promising first and second interviews for different roles. We will continue to keep you all posted. Thank you!

UPDATE 4/17: THANK YOU to everyone for the donations. Candace and Brandon are feeling the love. Their story will be featured in the Denver Gazette, as well as the Denver Post in the coming days!! Please stay tuned for more updates. We love you all!

We have known Candace since we all worked together back in 2019-2022. Through many years of friendship, we've grown very close to Candace and her family - her husband Brandon, and her amazing kids, Holt and Chase. Holt is a star pitcher in traveling little league and one of the sweetest teens you'll ever meet. Chase is a spicy, smart and fashionable girl, who happens to be trans. The recent election and the tidal wave of hate that came with it has thrown this very normal, very close-knit family into a tailspin. As parents, the idea that Chase could be persecuted for living as her true self means they made the hard decision to leave the United States for the foreseeable future. This summer, they'll be moving to New Zealand to live and work.

Raising children is complicated, but we all can agree that safety, support and happiness of our kids is first and foremost. Candace and Brandon want to provide the best future for their children and that is sadly no longer possible in the U.S. We will miss Candace and her family, but want to support them in this next chapter. While New Zealand is one of the most tolerant and welcoming countries in the world, moving a family (including pets) halfway across the globe is not cheap. The cost of shipping their belongings, visa expenses, rental deposits and a pet moving service adds up quickly. Any amount of donation helps!