Canadian LGBTQIA Group Forgoes All U.S. Travel

Canadian 2SLGBTQIA+ (2-spirit Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Queer Intersex Asexual Plus) organization Eagle Canada has made the choice not to attend the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March or any other in-person event taking place in the U.S. for the foreseeable future. This includes World Pride 2025 that will take place in Washington, D.C.

The statement Eagle Canada released on February 6, says that, “The need to safeguard our trans and nonbinary staff who would face questionable treatment at land and aviation borders to attend such convenings, and to stand in solidarity with global colleagues who are experiencing similar fear around entry to the U.S.” is the reason why they will no longer be attending events in the U.S. And I don’t blame them. The Trump administration paused all passport applications using the gender marker “X” and issued an executive order claiming that “there are only two genders.” Those things alone feel like reason enough to sever ties with U.S. events. The State Department also removed the mention of any type of trans person from their website referencing travel tips. People living in this country feel unsafe being represented by this administration, and it’s clear that the discomfort is felt internationally.

The letter goes on to say that Eagle, “cannot in good conscience engage in a process of disentangling our organization from U.S. goods and services (as we have recently released in a statement) and then proceed to travel to the U.S.” As much as the U.S. has spouted that this country is “home of the free” and “the greatest country on Earth,” that sentiment is clearly not shared globally. Other countries can see who has been elected, “our” president, and they can see how our administration affects its citizens and other countries around the world.  It only makes sense to want to distance oneself from a place that aids in genocides, condones the targeted killing of its Black and Brown citizens, and attacks its LGBTQ residents.