Canada issues warning for LGBTQ travelers planning trips to US

Canada has issued a warning for LGBTQ travelers planning trips to the US to check how they might be affected by recently passed laws – citing a risk of potential dangers.

The cautionary message was added in the travel section on the Government of Canada’s website – just days after the country’s foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly said she was ‘keeping an eye’ on America as campaigns begin for the next election. 

The warning was for those who consider themselves two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or intersex – or 2SLGBTQI+ for short.

While the  advisory did not specify which US states it was referring to, it wrote: ‘Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons.

‘Check relevant state and local laws.’

Anti-LGBTQ demonstrations in the United States last year rocketed 30-fold compared with 2017 and legal moves to restrict LGBTQ rights are on the rise. 

According to the Human Rights Campaign, in 2023 alone there have been over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures – mainly those with Republican majorities. 

Over 220 of those bills specifically target transgender and non-binary people. 

Since the beginning of the year, a record 70 anti-LGBTQ laws have been enacted across the US – with more expected to be finalized before 2024. 

This includes laws that banned gender affirming care for trans youth, allowed the misgendering of trans students, targeted drag performances, and censored school curriculums.

The U.S. State Department said the United States was committed to ‘promoting tolerance, inclusion, justice, and dignity’ while advancing the rights of the LGBTQ community and was prepared to work with like-minded partners from across the world in doing so.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, asked why the advice had been updated, said the Canadian government employed experts ‘to look carefully around the world and to monitor whether there are particular dangers to particular groups of Canadians.’

She added: ‘Every Canadian government … needs to put at the centre of everything we do the interest and the safety of every single Canadian and every single group of Canadians. That’s what we’re doing now’.

She declined to say whether any talks had been held with the Biden administration before making the change. 

The overall risk profile for the United States remains at green, indicating a normal security precautions requirement.

The United States is Canadians’ top travel destination, and in June residents returned from about 2.8 million trips south of the border. 

About 1 million people, 4 percent of the Canadian population aged 15 years and older, are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or of another sexual orientation than heterosexual, according to official data released last year.

The largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign, has declared a national state of emergency, citing the proliferation of legislation in state capitols aimed at regulating the lives of queer people.

In Ron DeSantis’ Florida this year, at least three anti-LGBTQ laws have been enacted – HB 1069, SB 254, and HB 1521. 

They respectively expanded the ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ+ Law,’ criminalized providers who give gender-affirming care, and criminalized trans people who don’t use the restroom of their gender assigned at birth.

Similarly in Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Louisiana, a number of anti-LGBTQ laws have been enacted – from allowing the misgendering of students, banning gender-affirming care for kids, and adopting anti-LGBTQ definitions of sex. 

A swathe of similar bills in Arizona, Ohio, Missouri, South Carolina, and Texas are passing through their states’ chambers. Many are in the final stages of legislature or are awaiting signature from their governors. 

Missouri’s SB 39 bill, that was signed into law, has in the last few months banned transgender students from participating in school sports. 

And Texas’ SB 14 bill will be formally ratified into law on September 1 – banning gender affirming care for transgender youth. 

In Iowa, SF 496 was written into law this year and formally banned all classroom discussions that touch on LGBTQ+ topics in grades K-6. 

The update comes just days after a Canadian lawmaker revealed a ‘game-plan’ is being devised on how to respond if the US becomes a far-right, authoritarian regime, following the presidential election. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is keeping a close eye on who is going to be America’s next leader, the National Post reports.  

‘We are certainly working on scenarios,’ Joly told a Montreal radio station in French during an interview this week. 

‘In general, there is our game plan, precisely to be able to manage what could be a rather difficult situation.

‘I will work with my colleagues and with the mayors, the provincial premiers, with the business community, with the unions, with everyone in the country, so that we are ready regardless of the election outcome.’ 

She is believed to be alluding to the possible re-election of former President Donald Trump, who will likely be the Republican nominee and face off against Joe Biden in a tight race.  

During the same discussion, she said the issue of how Canada prevents the growth of the far-right is being looked at more widely. 

‘The other aspect of the question is more about knowing how we as a democracy are able to thwart the growth of the far-right in our country, because it’s happening in the United States, it’s happening in Europe,’ she said. 

Joly added: ‘So one can’t be naïve here, Patrick; it’s happening right now with us, there is, we know that there is certainly a radicalization of the [Canadian] Conservative Party.’ 

Back in April, an LGBTQ group in Florida was slammed for issuing a ‘travel advisory’ that urges members of the queer community to avoid the Sunshine State over recent laws restricting their ‘health, safety, and freedom.’

The campaign group Equality Florida made headlines by saying the ‘extremist policies’ of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis made the state more dangerous for LGBTQ Americans to live, work and study.

DeSantis has spearheaded a populist ‘anti-woke’ agenda aimed at restricting sex-reassignment treatments for trans kids and teaching about sex, race and gender in schools and colleges.

DeSantis’ office dismissed the bogus travel advisory as a ‘political stunt.’

Critics pounced on Equality Florida, saying the civil rights group was not really operating in the best interests of LGBTQ people, especially younger Floridians who struggled with their identity.