Canada's LGBTQ travel advisory is not politicized

The Canadian government has taken the unusual step of issuing a travel advisory for Canadians travelling to certain states of the USA. The advisory states that, "Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws."

The reason is that 19 Republican states (so far), which are not singled out and named in the advisory, have been passing anti-LGBTQ legislation recently that limits things like public drag shows, medical transitions for children looking to change their gender, etc. Perhaps not the usual basis for a travel advisory, especially not concerning our closest neighbour. But some of the new laws in states like Tennessee and Florida are very restrictive and very threatening to many gay, and particularly trans, individuals, and have emboldened many anti-LGBTQ activists in these states, which could make life quite uncomfortable for LGBTQ people used to much more relaxed attitudes in Canada.

Of course, some Conservatives are painting this as the Liberal government being excessively "woke" (as they would probably describe it) and politicizing the issue - here's an example of such. But Deputy Prime Minster Chrystia Freeland is at pains to point out that the advisory was initiated by the public service in the usual way, not mandated by the government, and is all about protecting particular groups of Canadians from particular dangers.

Quite right, too. Dog-whistle divisive op-eds like that one in the National Post, which describes the advisory as "the most ridiculous travel advisory in Canadian history", and of course blames it directly on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - would we expect anything different from the National Post? - have no place in this debate. Indeed, it should not even be a debate.