Go Bag's Diary

January 11th, 2025

Joan started researching options in November after the election. Her biggest concern has been Ash, her 14yo non-binary teen. With Trump in the White House, having run on “ending gender insanity” it seemed likely the gender affirming care (GAC) Ash relies on would disappear. Many “red” states already prevent minors from getting GAC. There are even a couple states like Texas that take trans kids from their parents! She’s also at risk due to being a trans woman. Since she can’t renew her passport she wants to leave before it expires.

Joan met with her realtor and downsized. She paid off her car loan to make it simpler to get rid of when she moves overseas. Joan decided they should leave; first to Canada and then hopefully move permanently to Japan. Then she talked to her co-parent Selene. Selene reasonably wanted a more concrete plan. Would Ash be able to get their SSRI in these countries? Where would Ash finish High School? It was a ton of work to get an IEP that was meeting their needs, can they succeed in a foreign school?

Japanese doctors do not prescribe Fluoxetine so a genetic test for Ash was done to see what alternative SSRI could be prescribed. Joan found some well rated international schools in Ontario. While those schools are private, she can afford to get Ash through their last 2.5 years of school.

She shared all this with her co-parent and Selene said it didn’t seem worth the risk. She suggested Joan go and Ash would stay with her. She felt that it would probably be safer to be non-binary than trans. Selene agreed that if Ash was in danger or could not get GAC they should move, but that she wanted them to wait and see.

Today Joan packed me, partly for Rakree, a convention in Boston and partly because the inauguration would be on MLK Jr day. I have cash, meds, and their passports. The plan is that if anything awful with executive orders happens after the inauguration she’ll take Ash straight to Ontario from the convention.

January 20th, 2025

Joan and Ash seemed to have a good time at the convention. She even considered traveling to Worldcon in Seattle after confirming it is currently a safe state for trans folks. The inauguration hadn’t really finished when the conference wrapped up so we headed home. Honestly, I’m a little nervous about this choice. Originally she had considered leaving the US on the 17th so they wouldn’t even be here for the inauguration. Joan unpacked some of the clothes she had in me but left a day’s clothes, passports, meds, cash, and charger.

February 23, 2025

Ash doesn’t go to Providence Dicecon, so Joan was a little worried about being an hour south without them. She left me home since that’s where Ash would be. She took just a suitcase.

March 2, 2025

It looks like she had a blast at Dicecon. Apparently it was way better than her experience the prior year. She had a roommate this year and it worked well. She was a little worried about a cisgender woman feeling uncomfortable sharing a room with her, but it worked out.

July 6th, 2025

Now I’m outright offended. She downgraded me to a pile on her bed so she could go LARPing in Andover! What if something happens? What if something valuable gets misplaced?

August 1st, 2025

Yale, Kaiser, and Connecticut Children’s hospital all folded to threats from Trump and now there is nowhere in CT youth can get GAC. People had been traveling there from states that ban it for care. I’m worried our state is next.

August 5th, 2025

Joan is driving to New Jersey today to see an Ado concert. She “upgraded” me to a paper bag and left me behind. I guess she’ll be safe. She won’t be back until late tomorrow because she’s going to an anime meet-up in Brooklyn. I hope she stays safe, that’s a lot of people she’ll be around.

August 12, 2025

Joan was hoping to convince a friend from church to fly to Seattle with her. The friend knows someone in Seattle so it seemed like a possibility. She certainly would be safer going through TSA with a friendly witness.

August 18, 2025

Yikes, apparently there was an incident at the Seattle airport for her return flight. TSA flagged her for a pat down. The agents were really rude during the process. After she got through it she encountered a woman with a MAGA hat. It seems Seattle isn’t so safe after all. Maybe this will convince her to leave the US. She’s very shaken up about the experience.

September 11, 2025

Apparently there was a terrorist attack on this day in 2001. Joan has been going to a weekly local protest against the Trump administration. She usually brings her trans flag to the protest which I feel makes her a bigger target. A few times she brought a Palestinian flag instead.

Apparently some popular conservative named Charlie Kirk was shot yesterday. The protesters got people driving by who flipped them off, people who gave the thumbs down, people who said, “go Trump”, and people who said, “get a job.” Then a tall bald man walked up to them and said they were freaks. The man said they shouldn’t be there after what happened to Charlie Kirk the day before. He said that Kirk was just a kid, despite him apparently being 31. The protesters weren’t there because of Kirk though. Joan is there every week!

She seems upset about the encounter. She says she wished she offered to take the guy to the ice cream shop across the square and listen to him. I don’t know, that sounds risky.

September 29th, 2025

Joan spent her birthday in Chicago for work. I was, of course, left behind. It sounds like she had a great time with friends though.

Since that Kirk guy died they discovered the shooter had a transgender roommate. Musk, who has a trans daughter, posted misinformation making it seem like trans folks are more likely to be the cause of shootings. The administration has been trying to ban trans folks from having guns. The NRA has stepped up to protect the transgender community.

Joan doesn’t seem interested in owning a gun. She certainly couldn’t leave the country with one. Still, many Jim Crow laws banned black folks from owning guns. If guns are a human right in America than this does seem like early stages of genocide. She really should take Ash and go! I’m ready, even if I’m paper.

October 14, 2025

Fenway Health has closed its doors to folks under 19 for GAC. Fenway Health is a Boston hospital that was founded specifically to care for the queer community. Ash goes to one of the other two hospitals in Massachusetts that offer GAC to adolescents, neither of which are dedicated to the queer community and thus seem more apt to close. This might be it. My next entry will hopefully be from Ontario.

December 30, 2025

I got restored and went on a trip! It wasn’t to Ontario though. Ash’s partner lives in Maryland so we went on holiday there for a few days. Teen romance is so gross, ick! I was a little worried about them being safe in Maryland since it had been a slave state, in fact Joan visited Harriet Tubman’s birthplace. At least I was there and everything seemed to go well.

January 19th, 2026

We just got back from Rakree. Ash bought two swords. I don’t think they are meant for protection, though apparently they are real!

January 30th, 2026

Medicare is being restricted for hospitals providing GAC so they might need to leave soon. Joan also just got news that she needs to move to Chicago in May or find a new job in May. Things look dire. Joan is excited about the possibility of working with kids soon. She’s been wanting to retire from tech to become an English teacher in Japan. It’s been a little over a year since she made me. While it’s great Ash will probably be able to finish their junior year of high school, senior year seems less likely.