In the eyes of the British government, the U.S. may now be a risky destination for LGBT travelers. The British Foreign Office posted a travel advisory update to its website Tuesday warning members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities about anti-LGBT laws passed recently in North Carolina and Mississippi. “The U.S. is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country,” the advisory reads. “LGBT travelers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi.”
The advisory also provides a map that marks countries around the world — including Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Nicaragua, as well as much of northern Africa and the Middle East — that also have anti-LGBT laws, and includes a few more pieces of travel advice. “Some hotels, especially in rural areas, won’t accept bookings from same-sex couples — check before you go,” the British government warns, noting that LGBT travelers should also “exercise discretion” in rural areas and avoid “excessive physical shows of affection” when in public.
This is the type of thing that I think would come as a shock to some Americans, as to how SCARY their country appears to many of us in the rest of the world.
(And that’s allowing for the fact that many of our countries can be scary in their own ways.)
It’s not the fact that our country seems scary to other people. We live in a fucking dystopian state where people get warnings that excessive shows of affection might get us beaten or some shit, where we might be turned out of restaurants, stores, or hotels. Like, shit, I’ve never actually had a girlfriend (had a couple boyfriends), but my best friend and I hold hands and if we lived in the South I would fucking live in fear that she was going to pay for the fact that I’m a tactile person.
Like. We’re scared. It’s scary. I think sometimes we just forget that other people might look at us from the outside and give an active shit, because we’re so used to our government doing the exact opposite.