Canada Warns LGBTQ+ Travellers Visiting The US

Canada has issued a new travel warning to its LGBT citizens planning to visit the United States.

Anti-LGBT protests in the US rose 30-fold last year compared with 2017, while legal moves to restrict LGBT rights are on the rise.

Global Affairs Canada warned that some state laws may affect them on their travels, but did not specify where.

“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws,” reads its US travel advice page.

The term 2SLGBTQI+ is widely used in Canada for people who consider themselves two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or intersex.

Travel advisories and advice are only issued after a thorough analysis of information sources, including consular trends observed by Canadian diplomats, according to Global Affairs Canada.

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada pointed to US laws targeting the transgender community.

“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,”

Spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada

US Local Laws

Although no state in the US has outright criminalised homosexuality, dozens of US states have recently passed laws that advocates say curtail LGBTQ rights, including restrictions on gender transitions for minors, prohibitions on transgender people participating in women’s sport, and bans on drag shows in public.

In June, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the biggest LGBTQ advocacy group in the US, declared a national state of emergency, citing “real, tangible and dangerous” threats against LGBTQ people.

More than 20 million Canadians travel to the US every year, making the US their top destination by far.

About 4 percent of Canadians aged 15 years and older identify as a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, according to government data.

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