Canada warned the community of LGTBQ people of the dangers associated with travel to the United States, where some jurisdictions have “enacted laws and policies that may affect them.”
Canadian authorities have taken the extraordinary measure of warning of the risks on the government’s website, which provides information for overseas travelers and advises against visiting dangerous or conflict-ridden areas.
The website links to a page that generally says that people from the LGTBQ community “may face obstacles and risks” when traveling outside of Canada given the differences between mores and laws.
The warning is not specific to any state in the United States.
Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland justified Tuesday’s decision by Canada’s executive branch to educate the LGTBQ community about the risks associated with visiting the United States.
“Any Canadian government, especially ours, must put the interests and safety of every Canadian and every group of Canadians first. That’s what we do. We will always do that,” he said.
Canada’s warning comes as several US states are reviewing hundreds of bills deemed anti-LGBTQ.
In May, the largest LGBTQ community rights organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), advised against traveling to Florida because of the state’s anti-gay, immigrant, and other minority laws.
For example, one of them in state, the controversial “Don’t say gay,” prohibits teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with younger students.
