Aotearoa / New Zealand

There is lots of racism in NZ but it's mostly targeted at Maori, Chinese, and Indians (both Fijian and from India). If you are not one of those groups you should be mostly OK. I haven't seen too much hostility towards trans people so you should also be OK in that regard.

Be aware though, this is not an easy place to live. It's expensive as hell here and you'll be shocked at how much you are paying for food, utilities, rent and every day goods like clothes and electronics.

I have talked to countless expats and the number one thing they complain about is how impossible it is to make friends here. Kiwis are polite enough and nice enough for superficial interactions but they won't let you in their inner circles and become friends. Most expats are friends with other expats although not necessarily from the same country. Since you are in a marginal community I think this will be less of a problem for you. I presume the LGBTQ community will be more willing to embrace expats.

Having said all that I still think this is a great place to live. Just go into it with open eyes. Prepare well, bring in a shit ton of money and all your goods. You will regret not bringing something when you try to replace it and it costs triple what you paid for it.

This is a pretty hard one to answer. I'm not convinced there are many places in the world you can be openly non-cis and not ever feel like you're not welcome. Our latest election also swung our government pretty hard to the right, because we are not immune from the same things that affect the US and other countries. Luckily a proportional government means single parties almost never get over 50% of the vote so they are forced to make agreements with other parties and so extremist policies end up watered down.

It's also worth noting that NZ (the government and others) spend a lot of money on presenting a certain image of NZ to the world. You will find many people complaining about life in NZ, though you'll find much less complaining from people who have lived elsewhere.

With that said, I feel NZ is pretty trans friendly overall. For example, for NZ passports we let people select the sex they want, even if different from other documents, simply by signing a form (the term "sex" is used because of international passport requirements).

I would aim for a big city (by NZ standards), I know Wellington is pretty friendly to non-cis, in part because the government is based there and there are a significant number of government employees working at agencies with diversity policies (you might see this phrased as "bring your whole self to work").

I think you can say overall NZ is similar to other "western" nations (e.g. the UK or Australia), but with lower salaries, higher cost of living, and a better work life balance (for many but not all).

There are bigots and assholes the same as anywhere else, but you are not likely to see the sort of systematic discrimination like you would in the US. Protection from discrimination by employers or landlords is law, and not especially controversial.

The major issues we have as a country are pretty similar to the rest of the world; our government is a coalition of 3 "conservative" parties which have been trying to undo as much of the social safety net as possible in the name of "efficiency" and "lower taxes" (which only really works if you are wealthy enough to not need the safety net in the first place); the health and education systems are chronically underfunded; and the real estate market is set up for speculators, not people who want a place to live; and the cost of living in general has been increasing dramatically in the past few years.

Standard advice for anyone considering moving; come for a working holiday for a few months before committing to moving here permanently. I love this country, but you are probably going to be in for a bit of a culture shock coming from the US

If you are white or close you’re probably fine. Racism is alive and well in MZ and Oz. Especially outside big cities

Have you checked that they’ll have you? Iirc, they’re fairly strict about immigration.

I love NZ very much. Wonderful people and amazing natural geography. But Australia has higher incomes and more career opportunities and would still be considered a huge career downgrade for many US citizens which probably still favors relocation to the more liberal US cities/states. The city/inner burbs of the major Aus cities are going to be reasonably liberal (in the American sense) and very multicultural probably more so than most of New Zealand outside Aukland. Aus has ridiculously high immigration rates but can be difficult to qualify. NZ currently has a conservative government keeping the divisive culture wars alive while Australia has a centrist Labor federal government as do the majority of Australian states.