Montreal musician Bells Larsen raised alarm around the world in cancelling American shows because his passport does not reflect his biological sex at birth. On April 2, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its policy manual to say it ‘only recognizes two biological sexes’ and that it ‘considers a person’s sex as that which is generally evidenced on the birth certificate issued at or nearest to the time of birth.’Supplied
The American Federation of Musicians is cautioning Canadian trans performers that they could encounter visa difficulties trying to tour the U.S. – after Montreal musician Bells Larsen raised alarm around the world in cancelling American shows because his passport does not reflect his biological sex at birth.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said April 2 that it was updating its policy manual to say it “only recognizes two biological sexes, male and female,” and that it “considers a person’s sex as that which is generally evidenced on the birth certificate issued at or nearest to the time of birth.”
Larsen brought this issue to light last Friday in an Instagram post revealing that he was cancelling the U.S. concert dates promoting his album Blurring Time, which will be released by Royal Mountain Records on April 25.
The album directly addresses Larsen’s transition, and was partly recorded in 2022 before he began testosterone treatments, allowing him to later harmonize with himself using his subsequently lower vocal range. But Larsen learned after speaking with the musician’s union that because his male-identifying passport disagreed with older forms of ID, he could expect trouble with the process.
“Any which way you slice it, it’s not good,” Larsen said in an interview. “On one hand, people will not be able to apply for visas because they have changed their gender marker to reflect who they are. And on the other side, people might have to go undercover and perform as someone they are not.”
The publicity from cancelling Larsen’s concerts in the critical U.S. touring market has both highlighted the threats trans people face in this Trump era and created a situation Larsen is concerned will overshadow the art he wanted to promote: “I have a story to tell, but that story is in the music. I don’t want the music to be a backdrop to everything that has just happened.”
The musicians’ union, which handles applications for Canadians touring the United States, has for several weeks been telling artists that the new policy contradicts its long-held values of respect and dignity for all, but that artists must consider all available information when applying for visas.
Allistair Elliott, the union’s director of Canadian affairs, and its Canadian office’s executive director Liana White said in a joint interview Monday that they are not warning trans musicians against applying for U.S. touring visas entirely. Instead, they asked trans musicians to contact the union directly for assistance to know what is possible given their individual situations. (Non-binary visa applicants, for example, would likely face difficulties with the new strict male-female requirements.)
The union leaders shared their interpretation of the new U.S. policy direction: that discrepancies in visa applicants’ gender or sex listings on current IDs versus original birth certificates could lead to delays in processing. And even if the visa is approved, the union can’t guarantee safety when trans musicians try to cross the border. “The next task is hoping they are cleared by a border officer who does not hold any prejudices,” White said.
Larsen first contacted the union seeking clarity about how to identify in his application for a touring visa, noting that he had updated his passport, but not other ID, to identify himself as male.
In White’s correspondence with Larsen after the April 2 policy change, she warned him that the union would only be able to file a visa application if the identification included aligned with the applicant’s gender assigned at birth. White told The Globe and Mail that she wrote her e-mail “out of caution,” and reiterated that the union will look at each trans musician’s application individually. In Larsen’s case, she said, the discrepancy between IDs would at minimum present delays.
Larsen said he felt the union should have been more proactive in clarifying its stand for trans members after the April 2 policy change. “I’m one guy with a guitar who wants to sing his tunes,” he said. “I’m communicating here with a union that has thousands of people who subscribe to their newsletters. There’s an obligation to let members know as soon as possible when there are new policies.”
The non-binary musician and author Rae Spoon decided about a month ago not to go to the U.S., pointing out in an interview that people from numerous marginalized backgrounds are already being turned away and sometimes detained at the border. “My feelings are less for myself,” Spoon said. “When these things happen, I try to focus on the most marginalized trans people.”
They pointed out that governments throughout history have tried to “erase” trans people – such as the 1933 burning of the library of Germany’s pro-LGBTQ Institute of Sexual Research during the Nazis’ rise. “We have to work together to not be erased totally again,” Spoon said.
Larsen said that he has gained many new listeners since his post Friday, but that “it just feels a bit backwards. Because this is not the way that I would have wanted so many people to find out who I am. I welcome it, but hopefully the album-release shows I’m going to have in Toronto and Montreal will be spaces for people to gather, and mourn, and celebrate queerness.”
