T. Thomason's tour in the United States has not expired until June, but the Canadian pop artist is withdrawing from the appearance of the festival in Belfast, Maine, next month because he does not want to be targeted at the border as a transgender person who is not human.
Last week, Thomason, 30, who divided the time between Toronto and Wolfville, Nova Scotia, announced that he had dropped out of the All Roads festival, took place on May 16 to 17. He told Wired that he made a decision after seeing seeing President Donald TrumpOperating orders target Trans communityIncludes a statement that the US government will only recognize two gender, male and female. He is also more and more scared Listen to stories belong to VisitorsWE VisaistAnd candidates were detained on the border, including a Vancouver woman Who told The Guardian She was detained by the Immigration and Customs Execution (ICE) for two weeks.
I just thought that if that happened to the CIS, I really felt worried about what could happen to me, Mr. Thomason Thomason said.
Singer Bells Larsen, a trans, a transgender man, also announced on Friday that he would cancel the spring tour because the gender on his passport, the male, not suitable for sex was appointed at birth at birth. New rules. Aya Sinclair, a musician and transgender woman based in London, said PitchFork She will avoid American programs until anything changes. Even Neil Young, a dual-American citizen, He is worried About being imprisoned for returning to the United States, due to his criticism of Trump.
But the decision not to play in the US means giving up the touring income and the opportunity to build the fans of a person in the largest music market in the world. And simply routing to Europe or other places abroad, especially for Canadian artists, is a costly effort.
The United States and Canada Musicians Federation, an alliance, can propose the Federal Government to grant tours, tell the Canadian members at At the end of March That the immigration rules are updated, operating our shared values. At this time, it is not likely that the US government will revolve around this protest position.
Los Angeles -based entertainment lawyer, Dani Oliva, a transgender man, told Wired, there was a common panic among his customers in the past few weeks. Oliva, Thomason's lawyer, noted that Canadian musicians who want to play in the US have two options for visas, one of them costs $ 8,000 and is extremely difficult. He said that the processing time for his customers has increased from three or four months to eight to 10 months without paying for fast handling.
He said he made a risk analysis compared to the benefits for every customer who wanted to come to the US. But he is worried that Trans customer's visa requirements may be rejected with the reason for wrongly presented or fraud if the gender on the identifiers they send is not suitable for their assigned sex at birth. That discovery can lead to a person banned in the US for life Unless they successfully register for a process of abandoning a bulky process.
Despite the headache when receiving the US visa, there is a reason people do it: money and cultural buffer.
Kurt Dahl, a Vancouver -based entertainment lawyer, said that many artists only found their breakthrough if they toured in the US. 10 times the population; It is only more likely to receive the press and attract attention.