This petition asks Canada to grant asylum to transgender people from the U.S. Could it work?

Tens of thousands of Canadians joined the call for the Canadian government to help transgender and non-binary people who fear the consequences of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the United States and other countries.

Cait Glasson, an activist in Waterloo, Ont., launched an online petition to the House of Commons, asking the federal government to extend the right to claim asylum “on the grounds of the law of elimination in the country of origin, any country.”

He said his friends in the U.S. were getting ready to leave the country.

“I know a lot of people are renewing their passports, making sure their IDs are up to date,” Glasson said in an interview with CBC Radio. Day 6.

“They’re making plans to move quickly if necessary. And, I think, that scares me more than anything.”

Laws and bills targeting LGBTQ rights at the state level in the US have reached record numbers by 2023. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking more than 400 anti-LGBTQ bills across the country, including bans on accessing gender-affirming healthcare . -care services, criminalizing transgender people using public bathrooms and banning minors in drag performances.

Other bills aim to ban books about sexual orientation and gender diversity from libraries, or restrict the use of selective pronouns in schools. The ACLU warns that years of progress are at risk of being undone.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen races in state houses across the country that try to limit trans people in almost every area of ​​our lives,” said Gillian Branstetter, a communications strategist for the ACLU.

“I think, as a whole, it’s an attempt to undo a lot of the legal progress that trans people have made, not just in the last decade, but in the last decade, and add a rigid and antiquated understanding of gender. .”

Request for action

Glasson’s request has received more than 135,000 signatures since it was launched on January 26 – the third highest number of signatures, behind two petitions on gun laws, since the federal government started the e-petition in 2015.

Mike Morrice, Green Party MP for Kitchen Center Ontario, authorized the e-petition and will present it to Parliament once it is closed. He said he’s surprised it’s gotten so much attention, but he’s talking to Canadians who have “a sense of wanting to be a safe place.”

He told CBC News the petition is a means of forcing the federal government to understand what is happening with anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ laws in the US and other countries. They want the government to ensure there are ways for transgender and non-binary people to seek refuge, if necessary – especially young people from countries that restrict gender-affirming treatment.

Morrice admits Canada has a history welcoming people from all over the world, fleeing persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and US and UK citizens can claim asylum here.

But although American and British citizens can travel to Canada without a visa, unlike refugees in many countries with repressive anti-LGBTQ laws, it is not easy to get protection.

“[The U.S. and U.K. are] considered a safe country,” Aleks Dughman Manzur, program and advocacy director at Rainbow Refugee in Vancouver, told CBC Radio’s Early Edition last week.

He said there is a high threshold for proving “fear of persecution.” Anyone seeking asylum must also prove that they “face an imminent risk or a cumulative amount of discrimination” and cannot seek safety in their home country, he said.

Some Democratic-led states are taking steps to protect transgender and non-binary people, especially young people. This month, for example, Minnesota Gov.Tim Walz entered and executive order to protect the rights of LGBTQ people in the country. A bill filed by Minnesota’s first transgender lawmaker also aims to make the state a “trans refugee state.”

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan, who supports the cause of the petition, said she’s not sure traveling to different parts of the country of origin is feasible for everyone. There is also uncertainty about whether it is a viable long-term option.

“It’s an ongoing concern,” he said. “If they are [go] to other countries, maybe the laws there will change too.”

Morrice worries that restrictive legislation could also be introduced at the federal level in the US, by members of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives or the incoming president.

“We are starting to see the erosion of human rights in one country and then in another,” he said. “We have also seen quotes from former US presidents, for example, who said that if they were to take office, they would consider it. [similar measures] at the national level.”

Claims from US citizens are often denied

CBC News reached out to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to request data on the number of asylum claims made by people from the US and the UK, and how many are accepted or rejected.

In a statement, a spokesperson said IRCC “does not systematically track information on the sexual orientation or gender identity of refugees to respect the privacy of refugees.”

Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) website does not track claims by state of alleged persecution, although it does not specify the type of persecution or grounds for denying applications. In 2022, the IRB rejected 186 applications from the US; in 2021, there were 339 rejected claims.

With the rise of anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ bills in the US and elsewhere, there is a need for a special program to allow people to settle quickly in Canada, regardless of where they are from, according to Kimahli Powell. Rainbow Railroad Toronto- and New York CEO.

He pointed to a federal government program which allows up to 250 human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and journalists to live in Canada each year.

That approach could “address some of the fears and concerns felt by everyone who signed the petition,” said Powell, who said the organization has seen requests from inside the US.

Since the beginning of 2022, the Rainbow Railroad has received approximately 300 inquiries from US citizens seeking the organization’s help, including requests for support to leave the US or move to other parts of the country.

Support from parliament

The petition will remain open for signatures until May 26, after which Morrice will present it to the House of Commons. The government has 45 days to respond.

Morrice and Kwan support measures that could extend the right to claim asylum for transgender and non-binary people seeking refuge with restrictive laws, although it remains to be seen how many other lawmakers will sign on if there is a move to change Canada’s asylum policy. they were brought to the floor of the House of Commons.

CBC News requested an interview with Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, but a spokesperson said he was not available. Tom Kmiec, the Conservative Party’s critic for immigration, citizenship and refugees, and the Bloc Québécois’ immigration critic, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, did not respond to CBC News’ requests in time for publication.

Glasson admits that accepting asylum claims from countries like the US and the UK is a political challenge. But she hopes the petition will push the federal government to take the safety of trans and non-binary people in the country more seriously.

“What I hope is that they go into this with a presumptive maybe. That they go in with the idea that this could be a real thing,” she said.

“I’m not saying it should be automatically taken away. I’m saying, you know, give people a chance to make their case.”