TULSA, Okla.– A new guide for LGBTQ+ travelers ranked 30 cities across the U.S. as safest in 2025, but not a single city in conservative Oklahoma made the cut.
For the report, misterb&b, a travel and short-term rental platform designed for LGBTQ+ couples and individuals, combined data from its booking trends, state policies, local protections, community support and safety indicators to determine the safest places to visit.
In total, the 30 cities come from just 17 states located in the North, South, Midwest and the West. The cities include:
- Chicago, Illinois (0.925818)
- Seattle, Washington (0.8820167396811622)
- San Francisco, California (0.859765)
- Portland, Oregon (0.828624)
- San Diego, California (0.819190)
- Honolulu, Hawaii (0.805810)
- Denver, Colorado (0.803871)
- Albuquerque, New Mexico (0.801627)
- Las Vegas, Nevada (0.794831)
- Providence, Rhode Island (0.788671)
- Cathedral City, California (0.785347)
- Palm Springs, California (0.782136)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (0.776131)
- New York, New York (0.75)
- Washington, Washington DC (0.737)
- Los Angeles, California (0.728369)
- Atlanta, Georgia (0.712163)
- Tampa, Florida (0.699735)
- Wilton Manors, Florida (0.626081)
- Oakland Park, Florida (0.626081)
- Orlando, Florida (0.624527)
- Miami, Florida (0.622352)
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida (0.619867)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (0.584884)
- Indianapolis, Indiana (0.574057)
- Phoenix, Arizona (0.539445)
- Nashville, Tennessee (0.529054)
- Dallas, Texas (0.368089
- Houston, Texas (0.338946)
- Austin, Texas (0.338738)
Oklahoma not among safest cities for LGBTQ, Black Queer Tulsa responds
Daniel McHenry, founder of Black Queer Tulsa, was disappointed to find out no cities in Oklahoma were ranked as safe for LGBTQIA+ communities.
“I am shocked, honestly, with all of the development and new ideas that Tulsa and Oklahoma’s communities have developed and curated,” McHenry told the Black Wall Street Times Monday.
Founded to build the safe space he never had growing up in Tulsa, McHenry’s team at BQT has created community events, resources and opportunities for the city’s Black LGBTQ folx, who’ve often felt excluded from both traditionally heteronormative and predominantly white LGBTQ+ spaces.
“Especially in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, we’ve been striving to make this place a safe for queer, LGBTQ individuals and to hear there isn’t one city listed as a safe option for Oklahoma does surprise me,” McHenry said.
“However on a religious standpoint, on a marginalized standpoint, on a controlling standpoint though, it’s like, yeah. This is what Oklahoma has been curating in the laws and bills wrapped up in the soil here,” he added.
Oklahoma’s history of hate toward LGBTQ+
Years before twice-impeached second-term President Donald Trump inserted verbal attacks against LGBTQ+ communities into his rhetoric, Oklahoma was leading the charge.
The state has passed or proposed dozens of laws targeting gay, lesbian, transgender and non-binary Oklahomans each session for years, according to Freedom Oklahoma, an advocacy organization that tracks LGBTQ+ hate bills.
It’s home to history of hate crimes, including in 2022, when a man firebombed a donut shop after it hosted a drag queen story hour.
In 2023, the Oklahoma Legislature censured Democratic state Rep. Mauree Turner of OKC, the state’s first and only nonbinary lawmaker, and stripped them of their committee assignments.
The vote came after Rep. Turner allowed a trans-rights protester to take refuge in their office. Rep. Turner declined to seek re-election in 2024.
In February 2024, following the death of nonbinary Owasso, Oklahoma student Nex Benedict, one lawmaker was recorded referring to the LGBTQ+ community as “filth.”
“I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma,” state Senator Tom Woods, R-Westville said at a forum in Tahlequah. “My heart goes out to that scenario if that is the case, but we’re a Republican super-majority,” he said, when asked if bullying and rhetoric from state lawmakers contributed to Benedict’s death.
Woods’ words received a mixed response from the audience.
Freedom Oklahoma says state is “vilifying trans folx”
The list of safest cities for LGBTQ+ travelers from misterb&b was created because many travelers are rethinking where they feel safe to move freely and authentically as themselves, according to the report.
“I look at this list as a nonbinary person, and think only of the ways so many of these places exist within the rapidly compounding systems of harm targeting 2STGNC+ people,” Freedom Oklahoma Executive Director Nicole McAfee told the Black Wall Street Times.
Their organization is currently tracking over 200 bills in the Oklahoma Legislature, with a majority of them deemed harmful.
“So long as we have government officials vilifying trans folkx, and encouraging the policing of gender, safety doesn’t feel like a tangible thing we can feel, where we live or where we travel,” McAfee said.
“We’ve always existed in all of these places”
According to misterb&b’s LGBTQ+ travelers list, Dallas, Texas represents the closest safe city to Oklahoma.
“As a human being, I think that is sad. I truly hope the Oklahoma Legislature is ready to do some work to rectify that because safety for all people is what’s most important,” McHenry said.
The misterb&b Queer Safety Index (QSI) drew its findings from the Movement Advancement Project’s (MAP) Overall Policy Tally, the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) dataset of anti-LGBTQ state bills, and the presence of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapters.
Ultimately, in a state dominated by a super-majority of Republicans who’ve continued to pass bills targeting LGBTQ+ communities, it appears a more inclusive environment will have to come from the bottom up.
“I feel hesitant to endorse any metrics of safety, beyond where we create safety for ourselves. And, we’ve always existed in all of these places and far beyond,” McAfee said.
“Even as the government continues to try and legislate 2STGNC+ folks into hiding, we’ll keep living our full, vibrant lives, and be good stewards of the community and the land when we consider how, when and where we travel.”
Related Stories:
- Black Queer Tulsa breaks down barriers in conservative Oklahoma
- Freedom Oklahoma condemns bill that forces schools to out gay students
- March for Nex Benedict Held at the Oklahoma State Capitol
Comments are closed.