A local advocate for LGBTQ2S+ rights is facing a decision to have the X gender on their passport changed or to cancel their travel plans altogether in the face of new rules put in place by the current U.S. administration.
The International Association of Pride Organizers, known as InterPride, recently issued a travel advisory for trans or non-binary people travelling to the U.S.
“Due to an executive order issued by the U.S. president on January 20, all travellers must select either ‘male’ or ‘female’ when applying for entry or visas. The gender listed at birth will be considered valid,” said the advisory posted to Facebook.
Ozhawa Anung Kwe is a two-spirit speaker and rights advocate from Rankin Reserve of Batchewana First Nation and someone who last year received a Canadian passport with an X mark on their gender.
“I’m aware of some of the ins and outs and the complexities of updating legal identification to match your own experience and how you feel and how you want to identify. So I thought that was something to consider and I chose X for my gender marker last year when I got my passport updated,” said Oz.
“X is what feels more comfortable for myself.”
With the most recent Trump administration in place, Oz had planned against travelling to the U.S. for the foreseeable future but decided to attend an upcoming conference there to speak.
With some of the reports coming out of the states since President Donald Trump began his second term as president in January, Oz said they are leery about travelling there and may have to pay for a new passport or cancel their travel plans altogether.
“There’s different departments in the United States that are picking up people of colour and Indigenous people and bringing them in for questioning and asking them where they come from and what their status is.
“There’s multiple levels that make it tricky that I don’t think everybody thinks of, but as somebody who does two-spirit LGBTQ advocacy and awareness — that it is something I’m aware of,” said Oz.
Even in less heated times, Oz suggests that LGBTQ2S+ people travel in pairs in the U.S. as a safety measure.
“But now folks are really questioning like, ‘OK, what is happening and what are my rights and what do I need to do?’ Because I have friends who are in the states right now who are actively trying to relocate to Canada or relocate closer to the border just in case anything happens,” Oz said.
The easiest thing for Oz would be to cancel the trip, but feel it’s important to support people south of the border who may be going through difficult times.
“There are moments where I do want to give up and there’s moments where I do want call it a day and do something else with my time, but it is those moments where someone does reach out and say, “hey, I remember when you talked about this,” or ‘I remember when you came to my school or you came to my community.’
“I think it’s like it gives people that representation and I think that’s something that’s important,” they said.
Oz is in the process of figuring out if a new passport will have to be purchased that marks their birth-assigned gender or if another solution can be reached.
“I have friends and folks who I know that work at the passport office and I’m asking them questions like ‘is it possible to have two passports at the same time, like you do if you have dual citizenship?’”
InterPride said in its Facebook post that it recommends people who have an X as their gender marker or a gender that differs from their birth-assigned one to contact the U.S. diplomatic mission before travelling to confirm entry requirements.
