An idea - the Queer State Project

[sophiaserpentia]

The Free State Project is a movement that is gathering the promises of 20,000 libertarians, to move to New Hampshire once enough people have been assembled.

The idea is that 20,000 libertarians converging on New Hampshire would create a large enough contingent to be able to affect the laws of the state.

Suppose... suppose a large number of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered, intersex, pagan, and poly people all moved to the same state, until a saturation point was reached. At that point we woul be a large enough community to affect state policy, or were even a majority. A place where we knew that, no matter what, we were welcome and accepted, where we could live as we wish without fear of reprisal and bigotry.

By estimate, we make up 5-10% of the population. Heck, we could take over several states.

Comments

[erinlefey.livejournal.com]

This morning my thoughts are flowing along the same paths. Maybe the solution is NOT acceptance and diversity. Maybe humans only function effectively in groups smaller than USA sized. Maybe we should gather all of the like-minded people in one place, and say "This is ours. Do what you want out there."

I don't know that invading a state is the answer. Maybe we can talk the government into making a new state from some area no one else wants...

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

It will probably happen anyway as a sort of non-deliberate invasion, as some states indicate that they are happy to have queer people, and other states indicate that they are not.

But, at the moment at least I am not interested in being reasonable. I am interested in not having my rights impeded.

[drewfer.livejournal.com]

I'd suspect most Libertarians are highly tolerant/accepting of such lifestyles and a side effect of the FSP would be that such a community would be fairly unhindered.

Btw, I'm seriously considering signing my family up there for the FSP but my wife is not fond of colder climates so we're still in the negotiation stage ;)

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

You're probably right; many libertarians agree that the state has no place regulating what people do in their bedrooms or how they arrange their families.

But libertarians take many things too far for me.

[akaiyume.livejournal.com]

I am right there with your wife. I think the answer is a multi-pronged attack. Gather enough people to take over New Hampshire and Hawaii!

[gentlemaitresse.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest the same thing. :-)

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Or maybe the freaking bigots should just all move to the same damned place and stone each other to death for minor sexual dalliances and leave the rest of us alone to live our lives.

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Oh, WHOOPSIE, that was mean, wasn't it? :))

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm going to edit the entry to include "pagan." If such a thing could be pulled off, it would be very instructive for American Christians to learn once again what it is like to be in the religious minority when Christmas displays on public property are replaced by Yule displays.

[herbalgrrl.livejournal.com]

I believe that place is called Utah :p

[galaxygrrl.livejournal.com]

Well, there is the issue of infighting. Take the Human Rights Campaign, for example. That organization purports to be fighting for GLBT rights. They have some good resources on transgender (T) issues, but when the exrement is about to hit the fan, HRC has historically jettisonned the T from legislation, etc. Recently, they endorsed the LLEEA (hate crimes bill) without "gender identity and expression" in it.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

The infighting is going to happen no matter what. But if we were in the majority somewhere, the infighting wouldn't prevent us from having our basic rights unimpeded.

Santa Fe already IS a "gay mecca."

[publius-aelius.livejournal.com]

I don't think New Hampshire is the place (and, actually, I don't think any place in America is ideal), but I do think it'd make more sense to pick a state that is poor AND fairly liberal, since many gay folks are relatively better off than many straights. I'd like to suggest New Mexico, the state which surprised the rest of the country by beginning to approve gay marriages. (Though it didn't surprise me at all.)

Re: Santa Fe already IS a "gay mecca."

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Yes, but California still has a conservative majority. Besides, isn't San Francisco going to fall off into the ocean eventually? ;)

Re: Santa Fe already IS a "gay mecca."

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Actually I wasn't going to advocate NH per se; I am not a libertarian. I was just using the FSP as inspiration for my idea. A different state would have to be chosen, I suppose.

But where?

[galaxygrrl.livejournal.com]

What state would we choose? What about jobs?

Some people won't want to move far from their families. Then again, many of our families have shunned us anyway.

San Francisco obviously comes to mind, but it's even more obviously not a state. I think California, as a whole, is too conservative to start with.

I think the path of least resistance would be to find a liberal state with a small population. CT? RI? MA?


On an unrelated note, I need that phone number and address again for tonight... couldja email me?

Re: But where?

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Since MA is about the be the only place in America where gay people have something close to equal rights (hopefully not just temporarily), it may become a sort of freedom oasis.
Need to kick Mitt the fuck out, though...

Re: But where?

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Oh, you *would* go and bring up the practicalities. ::snicker::

A sizable number of jobs might come with us, actually, as there are companies with GLBT-friendly policies that may decide to move their operations out of states that do things like what Virginia has done.

The states you mention seem like good candidates.

On the unrelated note, you have email.

[novasoy.livejournal.com]

I say go for it. I want a liberal state too. Or maybe we breeder liberals can hang out with you folks. I'm sure the club scene will be better there than in Kentucky. We'll be nice, tolerant, AND we'll bring HUMMUS!

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

We'll be nice, tolerant, AND we'll bring HUMMUS!

You've got a date. :)

God bless the "breeder liberals"

[publius-aelius.livejournal.com]

"Breeder liberals" are the best people in the world: the kindest, bravest, most generous-spirited--the ones who've faced down ALL their insecurities and overcome them sufficiently to love people who are different than they. Any "queer" person who abuses their trust and devotion is setting every single one of us back by eons (spiritually speaking). The boy I love best in the world is a "breeder liberal" whose trust and confidence in me are things I'd be willing to DIE for, TOMORROW.

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Someone ELSE from your friends list added me after I've gone off and been an asshole all over your journal again.
This is getting to be a habit :))

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

You must be living right. ;-D

[kerrizor.livejournal.com]

By some people's accounts, we've already taken over Vermont and Massachuesetts.. and let me tell you, being super-active in the queer communities, it often seems that way! ^_^

[logos801.livejournal.com]

A place where we knew that, no matter what, we were welcome and accepted, where we could live as we wish without fear of reprisal and bigotry.

That place already exists - Midtown Atlanta. I love the metro area because it's very diverse and very accepting. Sure, the ol' South has a reputation for wackieness - my current home Lawrenceville is best known for shooting Larry Flynt - but Midtown is great.

Got to be bigger than a ghetto

[publius-aelius.livejournal.com]

I used to live in Mid-town Atlanta--before I went to Asia for ten years--and, sure, it was great, but it also felt like living in some kind of ghetto, because every time I went out beyond Atlanta's periphery I felt like I was going to get whacked just for looking queer.