Organizer of transgender history conference in Canada says U.S. participants now afraid to cross the border

The chair of transgender studies at the University of Victoria is worried about attendance at this year's Moving Trans History Forward conference, with expectations of a 40 per cent drop in numbers.

Aaron Devor says potential U.S. attendees are reluctant to cross the border — not because of what might happen when they enter Canada, but what could happen when they try to return to the United States. 

He says the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump sent a chill through the trans community in January with an executive order that the federal government recognizes two sexes, male and female, that cannot change and are an "immutable biological classification" from conception.

Devor says the biennial trans history conference that begins Thursday was hoping for 500 attendees based on past events, but only about 300 are now expected.

"The difference, I attribute almost entirely to Americans being afraid to leave their own country," said Devor, who is the founder and host of the conferences.

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Trump's executive order says that all government-issued identification, including passports and visas, must "accurately reflect the holder's sex."

The U.S. State Department has said it will stop issuing travel documents with the "X" gender marker preferred by many non-binary people, and it will only issue passports with an "M" or "F" sex marker matching the person's "biological sex" at birth.

"What I see has changed in light of the Trump administration and the actions that have been taken by the Trump administration is that trans-plus people from the U.S. are very nervous about crossing into Canada to come to the conference because they have to return to the United States," said Devor. 

The conference, which is running until Sunday, involves activists, academics, and artists from across the world, the university says, with more than 100 guests making presentations. 

The organizers say the event addresses "both our history and the crucial issues that impact us today and into the future — locally, nationally, and globally."

Retired U.S. lieutenant colonel to speak

American philanthropist Jennifer Pritzker, who gave a foundational gift to help start the chair in transgender studies at the University of Victoria, is scheduled as a speaker on Thursday night. 

Prtizker is a retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Illinois Army National Guard who identified herself as transgender in 2013. 

She has been critical of Trump's attempts to ban transgender troops from serving in the military, telling PBS program Chicago Tonight this week that it would cause chaos and destroy morale.

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Gregor Craigie spoke with Aaron Devor, the Chair in Transgender studies at the University of Victoria.

Social justice lawyer Adrienne Smith, who has been invited as a panel speaker at the conference, said the Trump administration had spread misinformation and transphobia, leaving members of the trans community feeling very unsafe.

"And I think it's important to note that trans people have always been afraid. We have always lived in the shadow of danger, but that danger is much bigger and much closer now," said Smith.

Smith applauded the conference for allowing attendance by video.

The first conference of Moving Trans History Forward was held at the university in 2014 with around 100 activists and researchers attending the event. 

Devor said the context of this year's conference had shifted, with "so much anti-trans rhetoric and organizing."

"And we are facing the president of the most powerful nation in the world, who is trying to pretend that trans people do not exist at all, and doing his best to erase any evidence that trans people exist," said Devor. 

Legal centre overwhelmed with immigration requests

Smith, who is the litigation director at Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre, which provides free legal services across B.C., said their office has been overwhelmed with immigration requests from trans people hoping to leave the United States and come to Canada.

But Smith said there are few immigration pathways available for them.

They said the Trump administration wanted trans people to be afraid and withdraw from public life.

"And not go to important things like a conference where we can talk about research and human rights, not have us gather, not have us know where each other is, and really to separate us from our community," said Smith.

"It's intentional and it's working."

Listen to They & Us, a CBC British Columbia original podcast that explores gender identity beyond the binary. Subscribe at cbc.ca/theyandus.