Canada's Borderland Pride scraps Minnesota leg of Pride March due to anxiety over U.S. policies
Canada's Borderland Pride scraps Minnesota leg of Pride March due to anxiety over U.S. policies originally appeared on Bring Me The News.
Anxiety over current U.S. border and LGBTQ policies under the Trump administration has led a Canadian group to scrap the Minnesota leg of its annual cross-border Pride parade.
Borderland Pride has announced that its cross-border Pride March will not start in International Falls this year. The event will instead take place entirely within Fort Frances on the Canadian side of the border.
The announcement was made in late February, about five weeks after the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. His administration has issued a series of orders, including ones targeting the transgender and non-binary community, and has removed more than $125 million in federal funding for LGBTQ health.
Borderland Pride said the decision to cancel its cross-border march was not made lightly, saying it recognizes "the ongoing need for a strong presence for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the United States and the International Falls area."
"However, we cannot, in good conscience, subject gender diverse members of our community to discrimination, misgendering, or uncertain treatment by U.S. border officials or other institutions, in light of the bigoted and transphobic policy edicts of the Trump administration," it continues.
"We also have growing safety concerns in the current political climate, including the potential for threats or actual incidents of harassment or violence targeting our participants. We are fearful, given the U.S. government's actions since the inauguration, that our complaints, or even a crisis, could be met with indifference."
Executive Director Douglas Judson told the Star Tribune that the organization doesn't feel it can ask march participants – particularly those who identify as transgender or non-binary – to cross the border, where they "may be confronted with uncomfortable questions, or worse, by U.S. border police."
There has been a significant decrease in travel from Canada to U.S. since January, with President Trump angering a significant proportion of the population north of the border with comments suggesting Canada could be annexed by the U.S. and become the 51st U.S. state, as well as sparking a trade war by imposing tariffs on imports to the U.S.
Forbes reports that border crossings from Canada to the U.S. by car and air travel has dropped by 35% and 20% respectively, which has the potential to have an economic impact to the U.S. of $7.4 billion this year alone.
This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
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