Trans people are finding safe haven in an unexpected place: upstate New York

Rochester, Albany and other cities offer refuge from anti-trans laws in other states and ballooning costs in big cities

When Travis Covitz arrived in Rochester, in upstate New York, in 2022, he moved into an apartment owned by gay landlords on a major thoroughfare where shop windows displayed LGBTQ+ safe-space stickers.

Covitz, a 23-year-old transgender man, ended up in Rochester somewhat by accident for a medical research job after graduating from Cornell University, a two-hour drive south in the progressive college town of Ithaca. This is giving me similar vibes," he thought upon his arrival in Rochester. He felt safe walking through the city dressed in drag, to the gay club where he eventually took a second job as a barback.