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should i include that i'm applying to colleges/unis to transition in a safer place? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/mtf@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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i'm finally graduating from high school soon :D oh my god i'm so glad that i'm leaving this shithole behind. anyways hopefully i'll be studying abroad this or next year. i want to transition where i live but surprise surprise "where i live" isn't really nice towards queer people.

should i include that i'm seeking asylum to transition? i feel like its a bit too much as i don't know if i can call myself a refugee. (also i don't want to forfeit my current citizenship lol)

also any uni/college suggestions for computer science? united states is a big nono unless i get accepted by a high ranking college and if it's in a blue state

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[–] 28 points 2 months ago

Don't give anyone more information about yourself than you are willing to have potentially used against you if the wrong person manages to get their hands on your application.

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    [–] 21 points 2 months ago

    i wouldn't tell them that no. no matter where you go there will be a population of transphobes, and you dont want your application to be rejected because you got unlucky to have one of them in the process. it can happen even in the best places sadly.

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    [–] 7 points 2 months ago

    There are transphobes everywhere and potentially giving one of them power over where you move isn't smart.

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    [–] 3 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    I'm not trans, but I'm in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and know a few trans people peripherally, and see more I don't know around town. So at the very least it's safe enough for people to be out and about just casually hanging with friends. We have the University of Waterloo (UW, but not University of Washington), and it has well-regarded math, CS, software engineering programs, at least around here.

    Just an option I figured I'd mention.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    how's Ontario when it comes to LGBTQ rights? is informed consent a thing there?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

    It partly depends on where you are. Much like the US, there's a split between urban and rural.

    I can only really speak for Toronto. We have a center-left mayor, fly the progress flag at municipal buildings, have strong LGBTQ protections, and have a generally welcoming population. The biggest issues with trans health care are due to the systematic destruction of our health system by a conservative grifter with a personal vendetta against us, and the federal government (useless libs) is just letting him do his thing. Mind you, that's a problem province-wide. But otherwise, I feel very safe here

    Ottawa seems quite queer friendly from the times I've visited. The rainbow flag is flown loud and proud. I also used to work in Kitchener/Waterloo but rarely left the office (I'm a big city girl so it's not my vibe), but my friends out there seem to like it. I also have trans friends in Guelph. Hamilton recently struck down a transphobic train ad, which is a good sign.

    Doug Ford can go fuck himself with a rusty tailpipe

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    For outsiders: Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, vaguely like a governor I think, and is Conservative. From Toronto, Ottawa is about 3ish hours North East by car, and Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) is about 1hr South West of Toronto. Hamilton is perhaps the next major city after Toronto and is around 30 minutes South (ish) of Toronto. Guelph is a smaller city 30ish minutes North of KW.

    This is why these various places were all brought up in relation to a comment about KW. Besides Ottawa, they're all pretty close to each other.

    And yes rusty tailpipe sounds about right 😉

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

    Yeah he's the equivalent of a governor, just for a much larger area. The other significance of Ottawa (for those in the US) is that it's the capital of Canada and the second largest city in Ontario

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    • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Depends if you want to filter out phobic institutions

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