Canada warning over US travel comes at ‘concerning time’, LGBTQ+ groups say
Canadian LGBTQ+ rights and civil liberties organizations are speaking out about the rise in hostile laws and hate crimes in the United States.
The development comes after the Canadian government earlier this week warned LGBTQ+ Canadian citizens about the risks of visiting the US due to a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ local laws.
In an updated travel advisory the government wrote that “some states have enacted laws and politics that may affect 2SLBGTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws.” According to the Canadian government’s terminology glossary, the first two characters of the 2SLBGTQI+ acronym refers to two-spirit.
It warned LGBTQ+ citizens to “watch for laws that criminalise samesex activities and relationships”, as well as laws that “criminalise people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics”.
“Since the beginning of 2023, certain states in the US have passed laws banning drag shows and restricting the transgender community from access to gender-affirming care and from participation in sporting events,” a Global Affairs Canada spokesperson told the Guardian.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, the US’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation, as of May, over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures. Additionally, over 220 bills specifically target transgender and non-binary youth while a record 70 anti-LGBTQ+ laws have been officially enacted as of May.
The growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment – as well as violence – across the US is becoming increasingly alarming to many Canadian civil liberties and LGBTQ+ rights organisations.
Speaking to the Guardian, Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, one of the country’s leading LGBTQ+ organisations, said: “We’re pleased that our government has issued this advisory. I think it’s important for members of our LGBTQ community here in Canada to understand the issue … It is somewhat alarming when the neighbor is imposing and enacting these pieces of legislation. I would encourage people to be very aware of where they’re going and what the laws are in those states. If they don’t have to go, go somewhere else.”
Kennedy cited the incident of a man shooting and killing a business owner in California last month after she displayed an LGBTQ+ Pride flag outside her store.
“Americans have different gun laws than we have here in Canada, and they don’t appear to be afraid to use them randomly on innocent people for various reasons, whether it’s racially motivated or if it’s for flying the Pride flag. I think this is really dangerous for members of our communities to be going into these regions,” she said.
Ross Wicks, the director of governance at the LGBTQ+ non-profit organisation Pflag Canada echoed similar sentiments as Kennedy, pointing to the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes and healthcare bans faced by trans communities in the US.
“Travel advisories are issued to protect Canadians… When you think about it, are 2SLGBTQ+ people going to have a positive experience on vacation, studying or working in parts of the US? Or, would the parent of a trans child
accept employment in a state that restricts trans youth healthcare?” Wicks told the Guardian.
For Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, executive director and general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and laws in the US is a reflection of a “concerning time”.
“I’ve heard many people express deep concern about laws that are harming reproductive justice rights, harming 2SLGBTQI communities, harming freedom of expression, harming the fundamental rights and freedoms that we hold dear in Canada and that many people hold dear in the United States,” said Aviv.
“It is a concerning time, and it is a time for all of us to do everything we can to make sure that that does not happen or that it doesn’t go any further,” she continued.
To many Canadian civil liberties and LGBTQ+ rights organisations, the increasing anti-LGBTQ+ hostility in the US is a threat that extends to realms far beyond just Canadian travelers seeking to enter the US.
Across Canada, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is also on the rise, with Canadian outlets reporting instances of book bans and implementations of restrictive policies surrounding personal pronouns, among other anti-LGBTQ+ incidents.
“The legislation … attacking gender-affirming care for trans people, attacking education, attacking drag storytime, drag performances, it’s all starting to have a mirror effect here as well,” Kennedy told the Guardian.
“We’re seeing similar policies and legislation being introduced in various governments and regions across Canada, we’re seeing an increase in protests against drag storytime, we’re seeing flags defaced and burned. I think that it’s starting to come across the border a little quicker than we anticipated,” she said
Similarly, Wicks pointed to the growing anti-trans hostility in the US having an impact in Canadian communities.
Wick said: “Pew Research calls America’s views on trans issues ‘complex’. While 60+% support trans rights in education employment and public services, 41% support banning education about gender identity in elementary schools. Many did not expect this sentiment to creep into Canada but it has. In 2021, Statistics Canada found a 64% increase in reported hate crimes targeting 2SLGBTQ+ people.”
Aviv stressed the importance of challenging the growing wave of antiLGBTQ+ rhetoric in both the US and Canada.
“Things that happen in the US have an impact on what happens in Canada and groups and people who are influenced or bring their anti-rights advocacy into Canada … We have to fight back. We have to reclaim the equality rights that we have fought so hard for.”