The Canadian government has updated its travel advisory to the United States, warning LGBT travelers that some U.S. states have enacted laws against their community.
According to Canada’s Global Affairs Department on Thursday, LGBT travelers are advised to check the local laws for their destination before traveling.
“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,” Global Affairs spokesman Jérémie Bérubé said in a statement.
“Outside Canada, laws and customs related to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics can be very different from those in Canada,” the statement added. “As a result, Canadians could face certain barriers and risks when they travel outside Canada.”
This comes after red states such as Florida, Arkansas, and Oklahoma have enacted laws and policies that ban gender-affirming care for minors, target drag shows, restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools, and force people to use certain bathrooms.
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest LGBT organizations in the U.S., has since declared a state of emergency for queer citizens in the country.
When asked about the advisory change this week, Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Global Affairs Canada’s travel advisories are based on information from experts whose job it is to keep an eye out for specific threats.
“Every Canadian government needs to put at the center of everything we do the interests — and the safety — of every single Canadian and every single group of Canadians,” Freeland said.
Critics, meanwhile, condemned the advisory, with some calling it a “virtue-signalling” motive by Global Affairs.
“It sounds like virtue-signaling by Global Affairs,” said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. “In no U.S. state, to my knowledge, has any government charged or discriminated against an LGBTQ+ traveler because of their sexual identity or orientation. This all strains the credibility of the department.”
“Travel advisories are meant to highlight things that threaten the safety of Canadian travelers, not things the govt and its supporters disagree with. It’s about danger signaling, not virtue signaling,” David Mulroney, Canada’s former ambassador to China, posted on X.
