This week, the Canadian government updated its travel advisory for residents of the country who are planning to visit the United States, warning potential travelers who are LGBTQ that some states should be navigated with caution.
The change reflects concerns among Canadian officials about dozens of anti-LGBTQ laws that have been passed in the U.S. over the past year.
As recently as Tuesday morning, the country’s travel advisory website didn’t include a warning for Canadian LGBTQ travelers. But later in the day, the site was updated to caution travelers about policies that certain U.S. states had enacted.
The top of the site remains unchanged, instructing travelers to “take normal security precautions” and noting that “regional advisories” should be considered. Further down, the newly-added advisory for LGBTQ travelers states the following:
Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws.
The advisory does not list specific states that have passed laws that may affect LGBTQ travelers.
Global Affairs Canada, the department that manages diplomatic and consular assistance, gave a statement to CNN about the developments that led to the change.
“Since the beginning of 2023, certain states in the U.S. have passed laws banning drag shows and restricting the transgender community from access to gender-affirming care and from participation in sporting events,” the department said.
Canada is not alone in its warning to LGBTQ people — indeed, several advocacy groups in the U.S. have issued similar warnings, with some singling out specific states over draconian laws targeting LGBTQ people.
In April, for example, Equality Florida issued an advisory warning travelers from within the U.S. and abroad that Florida “may not be a safe place to visit or take up residence” because of its multitude of laws targeting LGBTQ people.
That advisory singled out Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida), stating that he “has also weaponized state agencies to impose sanctions against businesses large and small that disagree with his attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
In June, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued a state of emergency for LGBTQ people living in the U.S. — the organization’s first such statement in four decades.
“The sharp rise in anti-LGBTQ+ measures has spawned a dizzying patchwork of discriminatory state laws that have created increasingly hostile and dangerous environments for LGBTQ+ people,” the group said.
Many of the new laws, particularly those targeting transgender people, have resulted in thousands of people fleeing their home states for parts of the country that may be safer or more welcoming. According to an analysis from Erin Reed, a journalist and trans rights activist, recently passed anti-LGBTQ state laws have prompted between 130,000 and 260,000 transgender people and their families to move from their homes.
Many more are considering a move.
“Over a million people, themselves contemplating relocation in the coming months, remain in a state of apprehensive vigilance, awaiting the potential signal that they too must bid farewell to their homes,” Reed wrote. “The current trend doesn’t just underline a social trend; it underscores a profound human rights issue unfolding on our soil.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.