Mandy was sitting alone under a vast New Mexico sky, stars scattered like diamonds across the darkness, when she realized something profound had shifted. Just months after coming out as a queer woman, she'd driven solo from her conservative home state of Utah to Santa Fe — a journey that required careful planning, location sharing with friends and strategic stops only at crowded, well-connected gas stations. (Note: Our travel subjects have opted to use first names only in this story to help...
