Former Louisiana Democratic Party CEO fleeing state. Says he feels unsafe as a gay man

The former top executive of the Louisiana Democratic Party and his husband said they are leaving the state because of a wave of ant-LGBTQ legislation and an increasingly intolerant atmosphere that has made the couple feel unsafe.

Stephen Handwerk, who has lived with his husband Danny in Lafayette for 22 years, announced his decision in a guest column published by Big Easy Magazine based in New Orleans.

The headline: "Last one out, turn off the lights ... A bittersweet goodbye to a state that is pushing us out."

"If you are a woman, LGBTQ, Black or really anything other than a middle-aged white heterosexual man, it is just not safe to live in Louisiana," Handwerk wrote.

Handwerk's decision follows another high-profile exit from Louisiana by one of the state's few children's heart specialists and his family.

Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, medical director of Ochsner Hospital for Children's, said he and his husband Tom can't continue to raise their two children "in this environment" in a Facebook post last month that went viral.

"I hope it's a trend that wakes people up," Handwerk said in an interview with USA Today Network.

Handwerk, who served as executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party for nine years, is now a consultant and senior adviser for the Association of State Democratic Committees. He and his husband Danny, a psychiatric nurse, are moving to Michigan, a state Handwerk believes is more welcoming to the LGBTQ community.

"How do you stay in a place that is so incredibly hostile and unwelcoming to you?" Handwerk said. "Everything is so vitriolic."

Handwerk said the hostility toward the LGBTQ community escalated with the intensification of culture war issues and peaked during this summer's legislative session.

Louisiana banned gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children beginning Jan. 1 after the Legislature overrode a veto from Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Legislators also passed bills to restrict the discussion of gender and sexuality in public school classrooms and another requiring school employees to use the names and pronouns of students on their birth certificates unless they have parental consent but were unable to override those two vetoes from Edwards.

"We recognize the headwinds," Handwerk said. "It seems to me the handwriting is on the wall for things to continue to go in the wrong direction.

"Before they come for me and my husband we'd rather get out."

More: Top Louisiana children's heart doctor leaving state because of anti-LGBTQ bills

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Former Louisiana Democratic Party CEO flees state, feels unsafe as gay man