Donald Trump has formally began his second time period as President of The USA, after victory within the polls in November.
His divisive management has led some Individuals who disagree together with his politics to to migrate, with notable names like Ellen DeGeneres and Eva Longoria upping sticks to Europe.
And for liberal travellers, journeys to the States now really feel problematic, too.
Throughout his final time period, greater than 1 / 4 of UK holidaymakers stated they have been much less prone to go to the US whereas Donald Trump was within the White Home. A survey on the day the 2024 election outcomes have been introduced discovered 17% of Brits nonetheless really feel this fashion.
However 50.1% of Individuals didn’t vote for Trump, and greater than 6 million individuals are employed within the tourism trade, who all depend on guests to maintain companies thriving.
So, the place do you have to go if you wish to expertise America, with out feeling such as you’re going in opposition to your liberal views?
Houston
Texas is taken into account a Republican stronghold, well-known for its conservative views on gun management, abortion and local weather change.
However Houston is among the handful of blue Texan cities in a sea of pink, voting Democrat for greater than a decade.
The town has been celebrating Satisfaction for 47 years, taking part in host to the third-largest Satisfaction occasion within the USA, attended by 1000’s of partygoers yearly.
And there’s no scarcity of web sites to see right here, with the House Centre certain to be prime of each traveller’s listing.
The primary phrase ever spoken on the moon was ‘Houston’, and area nerds can go to the likes of Mission Mars, an interactive exhibit that paperwork the journey in direction of it, in addition to see numerous spacesuits, images and shows.
Houston additionally has greater than 10,000 eating places, and has some of the various meals scenes in the USA. Most individuals have heard of Tex-Mex and Southern consolation meals, however the metropolis additionally has an enormous Nigerian inhabitants and its Chinatown is eight miles lengthy.
Atlanta
The capital of Georgia and famously the house of Martin Luther King Jr, Atlanta performed a vital half within the Civil Rights motion all through the Nineteen Sixties.
Till 1964, Georgia was traditionally a blue state – but it surely was the Republican ‘southern technique’ that turned voting patterns on its head, drawing on conservative values as a response to racial tensions on the time.
Till Biden’s election in 2020, there have been solely three durations of workplace the place Georgia broke with Republican developments: 1976 when Jimmy Carter took workplace, 1980, and 1992 below Invoice Clinton.
So, in November, Georgia was watched carefully, having unexpectedly gone again to blue for Biden in 2020.
It’d now be pink as soon as once more, however Atlanta itself is commonly known as a blue metropolis in a pink state.
Guests ought to head to the thought-provoking Nationwide Heart for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta, an attractive museum the place guests can view the non-public papers and gadgets of Dr King. There’s additionally a programme of instructional occasions all year long.
There are different causes to go to too: Piedmont Park is the town’s reply to Central Park, and Ponce Metropolis Market is an previous warehouse turned procuring area, with boutique shops and eating choices.
And, Coke followers will certainly wish to make a visit to the World of Coca‑Cola, a museum the place you may discover the historical past of the beloved drink.
Pittsburgh
Trump may’ve received large in Pennsylvania, taking 50.4% of the vote share in comparison with Kamala Harris’ 48.7%, however Pittsburgh sometimes breaks from the remainder of the state politically, as do Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
The Metal Metropolis was beforehand described by NBC Information as a ‘powerhouse of progressive politics,’ and it has a very robust LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
The town’s first-ever Satisfaction passed off in 1973, which could’ve been two years after Atlanta, but it surely was marketed with the slogan ‘Homosexual Pittsburgh Is Coming Out.’
There’s a lot to see and do right here too. Famously residence to the first-ever Heinz manufacturing unit, there’s a complete museum devoted to tomato ketchup, full with big bottle.
Past condiments, it’s dubbed the town of bridges, boasting greater than Venice, and artwork lovers may also pay attention to a little-known artist by the identify of Andy Warhol who was born there.
The museum holds an in depth everlasting assortment of artwork and archives from the Pittsburgh-born pop artwork icon.Â
Salt Lake Metropolis
Salt Lake Metropolis was famously based by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with the primary Mormons settling there in 1847.
And whereas the faith hasn’t at all times been synonymous with liberal values, Salt Lake Metropolis is firmly recognized for its politically liberal tradition.
As we’ve seen with the likes of Atlanta and Pittsburgh, each liberal oases in a sea of Republicanism, Salt Lake Metropolis isn’t any completely different.
For many who fancy a visit right here, its mountain setting means there are outside actions aplenty, from snowboarding to climbing. Arches Nationwide Park is known for its 2,000 pure sandstone arches fashioned tens of millions of years in the past.
There’s additionally the Nice Salt Lake, from the place the town will get its identify. At 20,000 sq. miles, it’s the the second saltiest on the planet, attracting tens of millions of migratory birds yearly. Go kayaking to witness the lake up shut, or discover its salt flats.
Palm Seaside
Palm Seaside in Florida is famously inclusive of LGBTQ+ individuals, with huge queer communities discovered within the Lake Value Seaside and West Palm Seaside areas, the latter of which scored 100% on the Human Rights Marketing campaign’s Municipal Equality Index.
Once more, Florida may be a Republican state (the Democrats haven’t held workplace right here since 1999), however Palm Seaside was truly the primary place in Florida to declare itself a ‘sanctuary metropolis’ for LGBTQ+ individuals in 2023.
If it’s the luxe life you’re after, Palm Seaside is price a visit. Lengthy referred to as being the playground for America’s wealthy and well-known, its residence to The Breakers, a jaw-dropping Italian-style resort which first opened in 1894.
Whilst you won’t have the price range to remain at this decadent oceanfront spot, you may nonetheless dine at one in all its many eating places. When you’ve received money to burn you can too store ’til you drop in Value Avenue, thought of as one of many world’s most stunning procuring streets, with high-end shops aplenty.
This pleasant neighborhood can also be an ideal vacation spot for nature lovers. Loggerhead Marine Life Centre is a well-liked selection, the place company can go to the ocean turtle hospital. As soon as the animals have been nursed again to well being, they’re launched again into the world.
New Orleans
As soon as once more, New Orleans’ Democrat-voting nature differs from the remainder of Louisiana, which is essentially Republican.
The town has a 300-year-long monitor report in supporting the LGBTQ+ neighborhood, with the town’s oldest homosexual social organisation, the Steamboat Membership, fashioned in 1953.
The Black neighborhood in New Orleans can also be thriving, and is a driving power behind the tradition of the town. Throughout the Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties native civil rights activists held lunch counter sit-ins (the primary of their type), boycotts and marches to name for equality. They have been one of many first cities to start faculty desegregation within the Nineteen Sixties.
For a lot of, New Orleans is a bucket listing journey, particularly those that flock there for Mardi Gras, which takes locations round Easter. Take in the environment within the French Quarter (which has a complete strip of of LGBTQ+ venues referred to as the ‘Lavender Line’) or on Bourbon Avenue, one of many oldest streets in America and the life and soul of the New Orleans social gathering.
You’ll by no means be too distant from somebody making music, and at The Jazz Museum, you may even see Louis’ Armstrong’s first cornet. The meals right here is world-renowned too, from gumbo and po-boy to beignets.
The town is even residence to an organisation for self-identifying vampires – the New Orleans Vampire Affiliation. Arguably, nothing screams inclusivity fairly like a vampire membership. To every their very own, we are saying.
Will Trump carry again his controversial journey ban?
If his final time period is something to go by, there are specific guests Trump doesn’t need anyway: these from ‘shit-hole’ international locations, as was his flip of phrase again in 2018.
The ban initially restricted nationals from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya, though Iraq and Sudan have been later eliminated.
As soon as Joe Biden took the keys of the White Home again in 2021, one of many first issues he did was revoke the ban – however Trump appears set to reinstate it.
In September 2024, he acknowledged his intentions, and can seemingly develop it to incorporate refugees from Gaza. He additionally described a number of the international locations listed within the ban as ‘very vicious, violent components of the world.’
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