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One of the things that a transgender person might like to do is travel. However, when the name and image on one's legal identification does not match that expected for one's gender presentation, this can get a person into a lot of trouble. There is still a lot of prejudice against us out there, and I have been a worry wart about going places where I might not be welcome.
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I live in a relatively liberal area of the United States. Yet, there are many people who would hate me simply for being transgender. The closer to coastal metropolitan areas one is in this country, the more likely it is that transgender people are accepted. (This doesn't mean that we don't suffer due to societal prejudices. It simply means that most people tend to respect our rights as human beings.) The further away one gets, the less we are accepted and the more we are subject to discrimination (and worse). So, I have learned to be very careful about travel outside my region, as I could get killed if I am in the wrong region.
Now, I've been told that I would be relatively safe in the Dallas, TX area. But I can't be sure of this. So I will avoid seeing my friends in the Dallas area until I look more feminine than I currently do. Yes, I'd love to meet my friend Stephanie again, but it will be much more difficult now that I have RQS in my life. Kim (of Traveling Transgender) has had few problems with her interstate travel (from the Austin, TX area), flying across the country on her business trips. Sadly for her, she doesn't travel as much anymore, and she no longer posts about her exploits.
When I had FCP as a cruise partner, I had the pleasure of beginning to cross national boundaries while in gender non-conforming presentation. At first, I worried about how people would treat me on the cruise, and I found that there was nothing to worry about. However, I didn't know how I'd be treated when I left the safety of the cruise ship and landed on foreign soil. In Canada, I found that my rights were protected by law. And on islands part of the EU (St. Martin), I had no problems as well. Yet, I feared getting off the ship in places like St. Kitts, as they are hostile towards the LGBT community. So, I developed confidence in cruising, but realized that I had to do some research before getting off the ship at foreign ports.
Recently, I took a Hawaii cruise. And this time, I heard the dreaded "S" word, instead of the welcomed "Ma'am". This was not true in most cases. But it was true where my ID came into use - such as at the airport. Yet, people took my dress in stride, and treated me with respect. Did this mean that my biological gender was not an issue? Who knows? But I had no problems with gender presentation on my last trip.
But what about future trips?
I am thinking of taking at least one of the following cruises next year:
- Panama Canal, with stops in several Latin American countries, including Columbia.
- Norway (and Iceland?), with routes within the EU and also Great Britain.
The stops on the first cruise concern me, as I need to do research before deciding to travel in Marian mode. Are my rights protected in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia and other countries along the way? Since Cartagena is a port that I want to visit, I need to know this as soon as possible. Although I've reached out to Rhonda (of Rhonda's Escape), I've yet to hear from her about documentation she used in her travels. Hopefully, I will be able to get more information from more sources regarding transgender travel to these ports, so that I can be safe when I make this trip.
In the future, I hope to do more and more of my travel as Marian - even if I have to preserve my Mario identity for purposes I've discussed elsewhere. But to do so, I'll need more information, and I will document what I find out in this blog to make travel easier for the transgender people who follow me.
