A pride flag hangs at Old St. Paul’s in downtown Baltimore.
Baltimore — and Maryland at large — is rapidly becoming a destination for transgender Americans leaving their home states. But why are they relocating in the first place, and what makes them choose Baltimore?
For many, losing access to gender-affirming care is a key motivator. Chloe Gremory, a nonbinary trans woman, moved to Baltimore from Jacksonville two years ago, after the passage of a Florida Senate bill that limited her healthcare access. The 2023 law would have forced Gremory to drive three hours to the nearest clinic if she wished to continue her hormone treatments. So she left. “I packed everything I could into a 2012 Ford Focus, and I drove 900 miles,” Gremory said.
“I packed everything I could into a 2012 Ford Focus, and I drove 900 miles.”
Florida isn’t the only state forcing trans people out in droves. Anti-trans legislation in the US has hit a record high in each of the past five years, and is on track to do so again in 2025. These laws are dealbreakers for members of the trans community and their loved ones. In a recent survey of transgender people by the Williams Institute, nearly half of respondents had moved or wanted to move to a state they viewed as more trans-affirming.
Evelyn McBride lived in Columbus, Ohio for her whole life, until the state passed a law that prevented her from using the women’s restrooms at her workplace. “It’s frustrating because the local government was really great. I really liked Columbus … but I had to leave … because state legislation was impacting my daily life.” McBride moved to Baltimore in August of this year.
Across the country, these laws are demanding transgender people make a near impossible choice: Leave home, or live a lie. Kylie Lewis, a trans woman who moved to Baltimore from North Carolina, said if she hadn’t come to Baltimore, she’d “probably be in the middle of medically detransitioning,” citing a 70-mile drive to the nearest clinic. For one mother of a trans teenager, who wished to remain anonymous to protect her young daughter’s privacy, leaving her Southern state was “non-negotiable.”
“I was terrified she would hit puberty and we wouldn’t be able to do anything,” she said. “It would kill her.” Maryland, in contrast, has passed shield legislation that proactively defends gender-affirming care and enshrines it as a protected component of healthcare, alongside abortion access.
These laws are demanding transgender people make a near impossible choice: Leave home, or live a lie.
But it’s not just legal forces driving transgender people here from their home states — It’s culture. Alexander Reeves, a trans man who moved to Baltimore in 2021, said back in Houston, strangers would gawk at him or get offended when he introduced himself with his pronouns. “My experience in Baltimore was just …’You want me to call you this? I’m going to call you that.’”
Mo Taylor, a nonbinary person who moved to Maryland from Alabama, echoed the sentiment. When discussing their employment after moving, they said, “It was the first job that I ever had where people asked about my identity and respected it.”
It makes sense. Baltimore has a long queer history and a vibrant LGBTQ+ community, full of gathering spaces that celebrate and venerate queerness. For some Southerners, it can feel like a whole new world. “I see more pride flags here in my day-to-day than I ever would in Jacksonville during Pride,” Gremory shared.
It’s not all roses, though. Uprooting your entire life comes at a cost. Often the cost of proximity to friends, family, and home. “No one does Midwestern goodbyes here, so I always feel weird leaving,” confessed McBride with a shy smile.
Taylor spoke about their partner, who still experiences transphobic harassment in some areas of Maryland, as well as how they missed Alabama’s tight-knit drag scene, which welcomed newcomers to the art with open arms. “I do miss the South, but I knew, for my own survival, I had to move,” Taylor said.
The impact of anti-trans legislation has swept across the US this year, but for many transgender people, Baltimore stands in proud defiance of the bigoted and transphobic norm.
It’s a city where transgender people feel like they’re allowed to exist.
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