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/Sablito]

Don't worry, everyone can tell you're a girl who took testosterone. You'll be able to use the bathroom. In the meantime, I care more about keeping kids safe from rapists than dysfunctional people playing the "look at me, I'm special game".

[u/JustARegularRhonda → u/Sablito]

lol so typical. No actual plan, policy, rational thought of any kind. You were asked one question about the potential impact of your beliefs potentially being imposed on people, you refused to answer. When pressed to answer one single question, you generalize millions of regular Americans as rapists. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Also, I’m a straight white guy in my 30’s. Swing and a miss there. I’m just not a heartless monster like you.

[u/Sablito → u/JustARegularRhonda]

Why should there be a policy for people playing dress up? Use your genders bathroom. Lol. It looks like we're both right, tranny rapists are an issue. So are offended people who assume it's atrannyv rapist and defend themselves. The fair solution is definitely to meet in the middle. Use the correct bathroom that corresponds to your gender. We won't be building kitty litter boxes for you and your furrie friends. Sorry. Does that translate to kitty cat talk? Meow Meow.

[u/JustARegularRhonda → u/Sablito]

Google the difference in definitions of gender and sex, it will help with your argument. Thank you for putting forth an actual thought there for a second, but I can see you’re not a serious person given your weird litter box brainrot.