Moving back - where to live? (apartments, house, school)

[belfaw]

Hey there! New to this forum, seems like a pretty good place to get some advice on where I should be living, since I've got to go back to the USA. A little background info:

I'm 19 years old, *unfortunately* not a student, and am currently living in the UK. I am a transgendered individual - however, i look, sound like, and am treated as a female. Nobody in real life knows that I'm trans except my closest friends and officials I present my passport to when I cross borders.

Reason I say is, I am very scared of the US. Not only am I scared, but I have a severe dislike for the country on various grounds. I was kicked out of my house when I was 17, for being trans, and lived homeless/dealt with severe discrimination for a few months. Fortunately I had friends here in europe, so once I graduated, I made the decision to live here illegally and hopefully attend school somewhere in mainland europe. I love it here, but the law has caught up to me and at my last "visit" (I've been living here on visitors visas) into the UK, the UKBA were as always understanding of my situation, but told me I had just 3 more months to live here, and that I'd have to go back to the USA, despite my circumstances.

I have a friend who is willing to split a 1 bedroom apartment with me anywhere in the US. Neither of us are wealthy, it would have to be cheap, like $600, $700 a month max, including water/heat. Neither of us have a drivers license, so half-decent available public transport is pretty much a necessity. We are both very liberal. He is a gay male, but not flamboyant.

Is there anywhere I could go in the US, that meets the above criteria, and where I hopefully wouldn't be discriminated against when I applied for jobs, etc? While I'm obviously fine in most situations since at this point I'm stealth, to be honest the thought of having people who aren't okay with it find out/risking discrimination absolutely terrifies me. I don't want to have to deal with that anymore.

Thanks, and any guidance would be appreciated!

[pch1013]

$600-700 apiece or total?

The problem with the U.S., as you probably know, is that if an area is tolerant and reasonably prosperous (i.e. with plenty of decent jobs), it will also tend to be expensive.

Portland, Oregon is *almost* an exception -- I say "almost" because it's a bit more expensive than you seem to want, but on the other hand it is very tolerant and I don't think either of you would have any problems fitting in there. And the weather's about the same as in the UK, except with much nicer summers.

[niceguy19125]

As a Gay Male myself I get where you're coming from in terms of discrimination and lack of tolerance. I would point you toward Atlanta which has a large Gay community as well as a significant Transgender population. You are well within price range in terms of apartments within your budget and won't have a difficult time finding decent housing.