Latest news with #AllRoadsFestival
WIRED
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- WIRED
Trans Musicians Are Canceling US Tour Dates Due to Trump's Gender ID Rules
Apr 15, 2025 12:52 PM Two trans Canadian artists are pulling out of US concerts as Donald Trump's border crackdown sparks 'panic.' Singer/Songwriter T. Thomason Photograph: Boy Wonder T. Thomason's US touring visa doesn't expire until June—but the Canadian pop artist is pulling out of a festival appearance in Belfast, Maine next month because he doesn't want to be targeted at the border as a non-binary trans man. Last week, Thomason, 30, who splits his time between Toronto and Wolfville, Nova Scotia, announced he had dropped out of the All Roads Festival, which takes place May 16-17. He tells WIRED he made the decision after seeing President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the trans community, including one proclaiming the US government will only recognize two sexes, male and female. He's also been increasingly fearful after hearing stories of visitors, US visa-holders, and applicants being held at the border, including a Vancouver woman who told the Guardian she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for two weeks. 'I just thought if that's happening to cis people, I really feel worried about what could happen to me,' Thomason says. Toronto-and-Montreal based singer Bells Larsen, a trans man, also announced Friday that he is cancelling his spring tour because the gender on his passport, male, does not match his assigned sex at birth, potentially disqualifying him from being eligible for a US visa under the Trump administration's new rules. Aya Sinclair, a London-based musician and trans woman, told Pitchfork she'll be avoiding American shows 'until anything changes.' Even Neil Young, a dual Canadian-American citizen, has said he's worried about being 'jailed' upon returning to the States, due to his criticisms of Trump. But the decision not to play in America means foregoing touring income and the opportunity to build one's fanbase in the largest music market in the world. And simply rerouting to Europe or elsewhere abroad, particularly for Canadian artists, is a costly endeavour. 'It's like trans artists are having their own pandemic. In terms of the financial hit and the restrictions and adjusting your mind to a new reality.' The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, a union that can petition the federal government to grant touring visas, told Canadian members in late March that the updated immigration rule 'runs afoul of our shared values. At this time, it is unlikely the US government will pivot from this objectionable position.' Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney Dani Oliva, a trans man, tells WIRED, 'there's been a general panic' amongst his clients in the last few weeks. Oliva, who is Thomason's lawyer, notes that Canadian musicians who want to play in the US have two options for visas, one of which costs up to $8,000 and is 'extremely onerous.' He says processing times for his clients have jumped from three to four months to eight to 10 months without paying for expedited processing. He says he does a risk versus benefit analysis for each client looking to come to the US. But he's worried that trans clients' visa requests could be denied on the grounds of 'misrepresentation or fraud,' if the gender on the identifying documents they submit doesn't match up with their assigned sex at birth. That finding could result in a person being banned from the US for life unless they successfully apply for a waiver—a cumbersome process. Despite the headaches of getting a US visa, there's a reason people do it: money and cultural cachet. 'Let's be real. I mean, so many artists only find their breakthrough if they tour in America,' says Kurt Dahl, a Vancouver-based entertainment lawyer. 'There's 10 times the population, it's just more likely to get press and get attention.' While he says almost every Canadian he knows, artist or not, is re-evaluating taking trips across the border, some of his clients' fanbases are 80 percent American. 'I just see them sort of scrubbing their social media, scrubbing their cell phone of anything that might be considered controversial, and then sort of rolling the dice.' There's also the geography. In Canada, he says, sometimes a band is driving 10 hours to the next city, whereas in the US they might be able to hit 30 cities in a much shorter span. Thomason says Trump's border crackdown has forced artists like him to rethink goals they've been working toward for 'years and years and years.' He says he won't be entering the US as long as Trump is president. Even if he wanted to tour here, he believes any of his new visa applications would be denied because he's changed the gender marker on his passport to male . 'The end goal for a lot of artists is to end up in places like New York or LA and build their careers out from there. It's kind of taking your dreams and completely changing them.' He says he's 'really, really sad' that his connection to his US fans is being 'severed' at a time when he was just starting to build it. His friend and fellow artist Larsen, meanwhile, noted on Instagram on Friday that he was hoping to play his album Blurring Time , 'for queer and trans people in the US who saw their stories reflected in my own.' The album blends Larsen's vocals both pre and post-transition. To help make up for the income loss, Thomason is advocating for Canadian arts groups to develop new funding streams for trans artists. But he also says this is an issue that will go far beyond trans artists in Canada, or trans people around the world. 'This is a country undermining the validity of a government-issued document by another country,' he says. 'If people think that starts and stops with trans people, they're wrong.'
CBC
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canadian trans musicians cancel U.S. shows citing fear and policies targeting gender identity
Toronto singer-songwriter Bells Larsen and Halifax pop artist T. Thomason have both announced today that they are cancelling their U.S. tour dates and a festival appearance, respectively, due to safety concerns and visa policies that discriminate against trans artists. "I received an email on Tuesday from the American Federation of Musicians stating that I am no longer able to apply for a visa because U.S. Immigration now only recognizes identification that corresponds with one's assigned sex at birth," Larsen posted on Instagram. "To put it super plainly, because I'm trans (and have an M on my passport), I can't tour in the States." Larsen has had to cancel six tour dates following the upcoming release of his sophomore album, Blurring Time, which was crafted to follow Larsen's transition, harmonizing the artist's pre- and post-transition voice. "This is indescribably gutting," wrote singer-songwriter Georgia Harmer, who worked on Blurring Time, on Larsen's Instagram post. "I'm so sorry this is happening right when people need the healing power of your songs more than ever. I love you so much. Standing with you. Got your back forever." "This is absolutely horrific and incredibly unfair. I'm so, so sorry that this is happening to you," wrote rapper Cadence Weapon. "All the best to you on your Canadian dates and hope to see you again soon." Thomason was scheduled to play Maine's All Roads Festival in May, but posted in a video on Instagram today that although he has a current visa until June — given to him before U.S. President Donald Trump took office — he doesn't feel safe going across the border "as a Canadian trans guy." "I just don't feel like it's worth the risk," Thomason said. Trump declared in his inaugural address on Jan. 20 that "it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female," and swiftly issued executive orders and changes to the government's policies on gender and diversity. Those would include Secretary of State Marco Rubio's memo titled " Guidance for Visa Adjudicators on Executive Order 14201: 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,'" which encompassed the directive that "all visas must reflect an applicant's sex at birth." With increasing reports of people being detained by ICE or refused entry into the States, more and more artists are reconsidering tours over U.S. border detention fears — including Neil Young. "When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminum blanket," the dual Canadian-American citizen said recently. Larsen revealed in his Instagram post that he's been undecided for weeks as to whether he should follow through with his U.S. tour dates. "If random people are getting randomly questioned/stopped/detained at borders, how can I — as someone wanting to make money abroad by exhibiting my lived experience as a trans person — expect to pass go and get out of jail free?" he wrote. "This new policy has crushed my dreams. I'm cradling a very broken heart and the realization that I don't know if or when I will be able to tour in the States again." In his cancellation announcement, Thomason mentioned Larsen's news, and pointed to the wider effects this discrimination will have on Canadian trans artists. "The U.S. is a huge market, there's a lot of weight put on being able to break into that market," he said. "There's a lot of record labels and managers who really look to that as a benchmark of viability and success with an artist. And if you're an artist that is legally not able to get into the U.S., that's a huge hit to your career." "I think we really need to see support from the industry right now," he continued, "and we need to be shown by our community, or music community in Canada, this is not OK, and they're not gonna let trans artists be forgotten and just be sort of a brief headline and then everybody moves on and we deal with the consequences and ripple effects by ourselves. I really, really hope that we're not gonna let that happen."
