CHICAGO, IL – As President Trump attacks the LGBTQ+ community with hateful rhetoric and discriminatory policies, new reporting from the Chicago Tribune found that people are moving to Illinois cities like Peoria to find a safe haven against these attacks.
This is all thanks to Governor JB Pritzker’s commitment to creating a welcoming environment, bringing affordable housing and job opportunities, and protecting gender-affirming health care across the state.
Meanwhile, GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey stands by his hateful ideas, supporting Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda that’s stripping away the rights and protections of Illinoisans.
It’s no surprise that Bailey continues to support backward, malicious rhetoric from the president, as he continues to oppose marriage equality and operate a school with an extreme anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum.
While Gov. Pritzker fights for progress through LGBTQ+ protections and gender-affirming care, Bailey wants to reverse all this progress and make Illinois a less welcoming state.
See coverage below:
Chicago Tribune: As Trump administration rolls back LGBTQ+ protections, some flock to Peoria for a reprieve
- Amid an increasingly hostile environment for the LGBTQ+ community under the second Trump administration, people are flocking to Peoria for a reprieve. While the diaspora of LGBTQ+ residents from less welcoming areas of the country is something blue states, Illinois included, are no stranger to — especially as the political divide in the United States deepens — it’s an exodus that local advocates and community members say has been acutely felt in this midsize Midwestern city.
- The draw is something that’s difficult to define with precision. But interviews with local real estate professionals, area organizations and recent newcomers like Ross and Deputy point to Peoria’s affordability, range of local LGBTQ+ resources, midsize but small-town feel and fiercely proud queer community. Alongside state-level LGBTQ+ resources that have long been known to be some of the strongest in the country, Peoria has become a particularly apt choice for refuge.
- Data from the Peoria Area Association of Realtors shows that there’s been nearly 800 Peoria home sales to out-of-state buyers from 2022 through mid-March of this year. Of those, Florida has produced the most non-Illinois buyers at 95, followed by California, Texas, Arizona, Iowa, Indiana and Tennessee.
- There is a slate of reasons that spur someone to move, Van Cleve and Rendel said, from quality of life to climate to income tax. But safety is also a factor they’ve been hearing from clients more and more.
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