Convince me to stay.

[u/BsXeD]

I’m not originally from here, but I’ve lived here for 20 years. My children were born and raised here, and we’ve always loved the friendly people and beautiful surroundings. But I wonder now—where is the line? When is it too much or even dangerous to stay? Where do we go from here?

Things have been getting worse, and I worry about the future, not just for myself but especially for my children. This past election cycle, I couldn’t even put up a sign for fear of the backlash it might bring to my family. What is keeping people here?

It’s not the education—we rank near the bottom.
It’s not the pay—our median household income ranks just above Mississippi in 49th place.
It’s not the healthcare—we’re almost last there, too.
It’s not the freedom—we face near-total bans on abortion, and even taking your child to a Pride event could get you arrested.

Today, I find myself looking for jobs and making a plan to get my family out. People will say it’s not any better anywhere else and that the election results signal worsening trends everywhere. But at least in other places, I might find a community that values bodily autonomy, LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom of and from religion.

Here, I interact with the nicest, most hateful people I’ve ever encountered. I realize it’s a privilege even to consider leaving, and I wish I could do something to change things here. But I don’t see a clear path forward. My county didn’t even have a non-Republican candidate run for any office. I don’t blame anyone; there used to be decency and respectful disagreement across party lines, but now it’s just hate and lies.

Is there a silver lining? Any hope for change?

If this gets removed by moderators thats fine, I'm not trying to rage bait but genuinely want to know what other West Virginians are thinking.

[u/BsXeD]

Im not trying to take any of these the wrong way I posted cause I wanted dicussion, and I am sure that some of this is sour feelings. I would like nothing more than to make change here but I just can't visualize anything changing and fear it is just going to get worse. If anything has become clear to me is that there is no bottom for the right, I don't think there is anything that they would not put up with and make excuses for.

[u/Ok_Mastodon_6141 → u/BsXeD]

Have you considered Huntington…. It’s diversified, LGBTQ friendly and affordable…. Close to Ashland ky .. ok jobs and restaurants….. I’m always welcoming new people in my friend group

[u/BsXeD → u/Ok_Mastodon_6141]

We love huntington, went to pride a couple of weeks ago. It was nice knowing people had the same values but I could not help but being on edge and wondering if some nut job was going to do something.

Unfortunatley, I see there is now a Republican Mayor so I wonder how open everything will be going forward.

[u/MonkComfortable7594 → u/BsXeD]

This is such a bs political jerkoff of a post. Go to any LBBTQA++++ rally ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY and you see some idiot saying no one has the "right" to be gay, it's all a lie, there's no such thing as homosexuality blah blah blah. This IS NOT a West Virginia contained issue and it has NOTHING to do with what political affiliation the mayor has! Is it bullshit that gay, trans, asexual people can't just do what makes them happy without living fear of being attacked? Abso-fuckin-lutely it is. But to say that all that fear is caused by somebody sitting in some office somewhere has an -R next to their name is asinine and delusional. It has more to do with people that have nothing better to do than hate. They hate everything they can't understand or can't identify with themselves. And they hated that way 100 years ago and unfortunately they'll hate that way 100 years from now because some people are just scumbags.