The Best Part of Leaving is Coming Home

One of my favorite parts of traveling is coming home. That may sound like I don’t like traveling, that I can’t wait for it to be over, but the opposite is true. In my editorial for this issue last year, I wrote about my childhood, during which travel was extremely limited, and how I’ve had the privilege to prioritize travel in my adulthood. Some of my greatest memories are of tubing through caves in Belize, coping with my first vicious hangover with Tim Hortons in Toronto, having fish nibble at my toes in a Mexican cenote, getting afternoon tea at the Ritz in London, and reading in the historic upstairs nook of the Shakespeare and Company book shop in Paris.

I had life-changing experiences on all of those trips, and on every single one, I was relieved when I was home again. Not because I had a terrible time, but because traveling is … a lot. Especially as someone with a lower income.

Because I have limited discretionary funds, every trip I go on I plan as though I will never return — because I likely won’t. It’s expensive for me to fly to Europe, so if I ever do it again, chances are I won’t be returning to London or Paris. I don’t have the money for a weekslong excursion, so trying to fit the experience of an entire city into a couple of days can be extremely overwhelming. As someone who errs on the side of introversion, doing multiple activities back-to-back, several days in a row — while also socializing with my travel companions the entire time — can be exhausting for me. There are also the natural stressors of travel, especially with transportation. Flying is a nightmare, and traversing a new city can be difficult. While in Paris, for example, we went on the wrong train line and were crammed into a bus like sardines at 2am before our flight home at 6am because we didn’t realize the Metro didn’t stay open late, and witnessed traffic that makes Atlanta rush hour seem like child’s play — all in the span of a couple of days.

Coming home to a place that is comfortable after being pushed for days on end to explore someplace unfamiliar, someplace that probably posed several challenges you had to overcome, is such an incredible feeling that it almost makes the trip worthwhile in and of itself.

But I’m not just happy to be home because I’m exhausted and can finally be alone to rest. Traveling makes me grateful for the life I have. I’m excited to come home to take care of my chores, to write and answer emails, to read my books and watch my shows, to sleep and to shower in my own bed and bathroom. As much as I love exploring a new city, I love coming back to what’s mine just as much.

Travel is not about escaping your life. It’s about expanding your capacity to enjoy the life you have. Yes, it is more stressful and time-consuming than vacationing at a resort on the beach (and sometimes, relaxing with all-inclusive food and drinks is what you need). But I genuinely do think travel is necessary to a good life. You can maximize your trip by minimizing stress — book through a travel company like EveryQueer (page 11) or plan out your trip by plotting your activities on your own map (go to maps. google.com and select “saved” from the side menu, go to the “maps” tab, and click “create your own map”).

As someone who loves nothing more than returning home, I can tell you that travel is absolutely worth the stress. Every new experience, new city, and new memory will only deepen your appreciation for what you call home and make living what may seem a mundane life feel like the gift it is.

Read these stories and more online at thegavoice.com

Mayor Andre Dickens has announced a combined $55,000 in proposed funding to support Atlanta’s transgender community.

The funding was introduced to the Atlanta City Council via legislation sponsored by Councilmember Matt Westmoreland. Once approved, these funds will represent the City’s single largest investment in the transgender community.

“Across the nation, we are seeing a push against the transgender community to eliminate the fundamental right to simply be who they are,” Mayor Dickens said. “Everyone has the right to live their life with dignity and freedom from fear, and our Administration wants the transgender community to know we stand with them.”

Three pieces of legislation introduced to City Council will allocate $10,000 to Atlanta Legal AID Society to support helping trans and non-binary residents through the legal process of changing their names and updating their supporting documents, $25,000 to Destination Tomorrow for a first-of-its-kind LGBTQ mentoring pilot program, and $20,000 to Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM) to sponsor up to 25 scholarships for Black Mental Health and Healing Justice Peer Support Training for trans and gender expansive youth.

“We are grateful to receive funding from the City of Atlanta to support the launch of our new LGBTQ mentoring program,” Sean Ebony Coleman, founder and executive director of Destination Tomorrow, said in a statement. “This grant will allow us to expand our services and help to fill the undeniable gap of resources for Trans and Gender Nonbinary/Nonconforming individuals in the South. As the first Trans organization to receive funding from the city, this signifies a growing recognition of the unique challenges faced by our community. We look forward to working with the City of Atlanta and other community partners to further provide LGBTQ individuals, specifically be able to donate blood just like everyone else.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Thursday that blood donors would no longer be assessed by their sexual orientation, but rather by individual questions to determine risk factors and possible exposure to HIV/AIDS.

“These questions will be the same for every donor, regardless of sexual orientation, sex or gender,” the FDA said. “Blood establishments may now implement these recommendations by revising their donor history questionnaires and procedures.”

Transgender people, with critical in-depth programming. We also urge other governing bodies, particularly in this region, to uplift local leaders supporting the community.” — Sean

Ebony Coleman, founder

and executive director of Destination Tomorrow

“I’m grateful for the leadership of Mayor Dickens and our Division of LGBTQ Affairs in providing resources and support to our trans residents,” Westmoreland said. “As a former teacher and school board member, I am especially excited about the investments in our young people. I hope this reinforces to them that we see them and love them.”

Mayor Dickens also recently appointed trans advocate Dominque Morgan to the Human Relations Commission — the body that investigates and hears complaints regarding discrimination and makes recommendations to the City on how to resolve such complaints.

Last year — through a partnership with FUSE Corps and the Okra Project — Mayor Dickens welcomed the City of Atlanta’s first ever Transgender Affairs Equity Fellow, who works alongside the Division of LGBTQ Affairs to build a playbook to advance equity in Atlanta’s transgender and genderexpansive community.

After a decades-long ban and required abstinence, men who have sex with men will

The move began in January, when the FDA first proposed doing away with targeting men who have sex with men and instead asking all donors about new or multiple sex partners in the last three months and their history of anal sex in the last three months. Prospective donors who are on PrEP would also be exempt from donating blood, as “the available data demonstrate that their use may delay detection of HIV.”

“The implementation of these recommendations will represent a significant milestone for the agency and the LGBTQI+ community,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

As a result of the AIDS crisis, the FDA put a lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men from donating blood in 1983. In 2015, the agency relaxed the rules and instead required that men who have sex with men abstain from sex for one year before donating. This time period was shortened to three months in 2020. In the days following the Pulse shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people, rumors circulated that the rules had been lifted — however, the FDA confirmed that no, gay and bisexual men were still unable to donate blood to those who needed it.

On Thursday, the Congressional Equality Caucus applauded the FDA’s update for blood donors.

“For far too long, the federal government used outdated and unscientific fears to determine who can and cannot give blood,” Equality Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Pocan said in a statement. “This recommendation aligns with the LGBTQI+ community’s long-term request for individualized risk-based assessments.”