Canadian LGBTQ+ Group won't attend UN Forum for "fear around entry to the U.S."

Egale Canada Executive Director Helen Kennedy center

Egale Canada the leading Canadian LGBTQ+ advocacy group said in a statement that it wouldn't attend the UN Women's Forum over concerns of how its Transgender and non-binary members would be treated at the US Border.

"Egale Canada was registered to attend the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations Headquarters in New York next month. As a regular attendee of this commission, we had looked forward to engaging in important and essential conversations relevant to 2SLGBTQI inclusion on a national and global level."

"After deep consideration, we have decided not to engage in-person in this year’s Commission on the Status of Women or any other UN, OAS or global convenings, including World Pride, taking place in the United States in the foreseeable future."

"This decision is foremost based on the need to safeguard our trans and non-binary 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.

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Egale Canada Executive Director Helen Kennedy said she worries about anyone who identifies as non-binary, transgender or intersex and travels with a Canadian passport bearing an 'X' gender marker.

She said "the risks are too high" for people whose documents don't match how they identify or present to others.

Kemmedy's fears are justified. Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from sports that included an ambiguous directive banning trans athletes from entering the US. It's entirely feasible that this could be interpreted by overzealous US Border agents to mean any trans or non-binary person.

@alice.in.winterland #egalecanada is a queer organization in #canada that fights for equality in this country. They’ve officially pulled out of going in-person to the US due to the threat against queet people in the US. And given the uncertainty with the removal of #gendermarker changes, and the anti-#trans efforts by the administration, it’s understandable. A #travelban ♬ original sound - Alice Winterland

Hundreds Protest Stonewall National Park Service Erasure of Trans History

With just one day's notice, hundreds gathered at Christopher Park Friday to protest the Stonewall National Monument Website's erasure of Transgender and Queer history.

The Stonewall Inn, a tavern on Christopher Street, has long been considered the cradle of LGBTQI activism since a police raid there in 1969 ignited riots that helped galvanize a long-marginalized population into a force for political and social change.

Action #transrightsarehumanrights #transrights

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— Brian Meegan (@imabmee.bsky.social) February 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM

The 7.7-acre national monument — which includes the bar, Christopher Park across the street, was established under President Barack Obama in 2016, and applauded by the National Park Service Office of Communications in a press release.

Protest at the Stonewall National Monument right now 👇

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— Rua Lupa 🐾 (@rua-lupa.bsky.social) February 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM

On Wednesday, according to a version of the Park Service website saved by the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, the introductory text on the monument’s main page said: “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal.”

Who is Marsha P Johnson, and why is Trump so afraid of her?

I'm here at a protest at Stonewall. A speaker let the huge crowd and press know that park service employees were not responsible for the erasure.

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— martinjosephq.bsky.social (@martinjosephq.bsky.social) February 14, 2025 at 11:16 AM

By Thursday afternoon, the word “transgender” and the letter T in the abbreviation had been removed from the page. By Thursday evening, the word “queer” and “Q+” had also been removed from the website.

#love #joy #defiance #stonewall #history #lgbTQIA #nyc #usa #protest #checkinonyourfriends #liberation

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— Sam Schultz 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@s-schultz.bsky.social) February 14, 2025 at 12:27 PM

There are no congratulatory press releases from the public affairs office celebrating the unconscionable erasure of transgender history. Thursday a park ranger on duty at the Stonewall Monument told the NY Times she just found out about it.

The Park Service’s public affairs department told the NY Times that the agency had deleted mentions of transgender and queer people on the website to satisfy an executive order signed by President Trump.