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Borderland Pride reacts to Trump's attacks on gender diverse people

Borderland Pride's Pride march crosses the U.S. border to Canada.
Borderland Pride's Pride march crosses the U.S. border to Canada.

On Wednesday, January 22, 2025, Borderland Pride made the following statement:


"Borderland Pride is gravely concerned by the hostile measures taken by U.S. President Donald Trump to attack the trans and non-binary community.


"We join with other 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride and diversity advocates across Canada and the United States to condemn these despicable attacks on one of the most vulnerable groups in North American society, and particularly the President's disregard for gender diverse youth.


"We have always recognized that Pride is most needed where and when it is least visible – in times like these. At the same time, there are practical constraints and community safety concerns that are top of mind. Borderland Pride is the only local Pride organization that operates in both Canada and the United States. We host the only Pride parade in the world that crosses an international border. Consequently, we are continuing to evaluate our ability to safely provide Pride programming in International Falls, Minnesota and the surrounding area. We will be taking steps to seek support from community leaders on both sides of the border to affirm our area's towns, cities, and Indigenous communities as places of safety for gender diverse people.


"We also issue a caution to members of our local 2SLGBTQIA+ community, whose daily lives and families straddle the international border. With President Trump's executive order declaring that the United States only recognizes two genders – male and female – we simply do not know whether gender-neutral markers on passports and identification will be accepted by U.S. border officials. We call on Canadian officials to take steps to ensure the safety of gender-diverse people who have engagements with U.S. law enforcement or border guards.


"There is much uncertainty in the world today. We find comfort, courage, and resolve in the words of Episcopal Bishop Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, who spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Bishop Budde reminded President Trump in her sermon that God calls on us 'to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and to walk humbly with each other ... for the good of all people'."


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Borderland Pride is the 2SLGBTQIA+ organization serving the communities of and surrounding Fort Frances, in northwestern Ontario, and International Falls, in northern Minnesota.


Contact:

Douglas W. Judson (he/him)

Borderland Pride

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