Texas might not show up on your radar of great places for LGBT folk to live. There are a few good reasons for this, as LGBT rights in Texas aren’t the most progressive. However, there are quite a few reasons why moving to Texas might be a good idea depending on your circumstances.
Texas Is Heavily Influenced By Spanish Culture
Texas has a huge Hispanic population, which means that every aspect of the local flavor is filtered through the Spanish cultural lens. In fact, street signs and product labels sometimes actually display Spanish before English.
Texas is one of the few places where you can get an authentic Spanish experience while still living in the US. If you’re interested in Spanish culture or are Spanish and want to reconnect with your roots, this place is fabulous.
Lots of Spacious Ranch-Style Houses
Texas’s housing market is full of spacious ranch-style houses that are available for less than $150,000. For a little more money, you can find homes that come with large tracts of open land around them. This would be perfect for a large garden, villa, or even a smaller home built nearby if the land is big enough.
Low Cost Of Living
Moving to Texas from virtually anywhere else in the US is very easy to do. In 2012, the cost of living index for Texas was 82.3, which is drastically lower than the 100 point average for the US. For comparison, places like Brooklyn, New York have indexes of 181, and Manhattan has an index of 216! This means that for the average salary of a New Yorker, you could live quite wealthily in Texas.
Not Progressive At All
Legislation in Texas isn’t progressive. There are no laws in place that protect against discrimination in the workplace or in crime situations. There is also no widespread recognition of LGBT family rights such as adoption. Same sex unions of any kind are forbidden in most places in Texas as well. This means that Texas doesn’t recognize gay marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, or anything else of the sort. Same-sex sexual activity wasn’t legal until 2003 either. While LGBT rights are slowly being given to Texas residents, activists and protesters still have a lot of work to do.
Low Property Values
The low property values in Texas are great if you plan on moving there permanently. However, if you ever decide that you want to leave, getting out is difficult. Moving from Texas to somewhere like New York or Connecticut is almost impossible.
Texas is somewhere that you’d go to retire. The low cost of living combined with the robust housing market means that your retirement home will be quite luxurious. The weather is also warm year-round, with the average temperature of the coldest months being around 60 degrees Fahrenheit. However, if you’re a young person or someone who likes to travel northward, you might want to look elsewhere.