“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws,” the government department that oversees the country’s international relations said in an advisory released last week, per the Washington Post. “2S” stands for “two-spirit,” a word that originated with Indigenous people to describe a spectrum of gender identities.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister, told reporters last week that the advisory was issued because the Canadian government cares about “the interests and the safety of every single Canadian.”
“We have professionals in the government whose job is to look carefully around the world and to monitor whether there are particular dangers to particular groups of Canadians,” Freeland said, adding that issuing the advisory was “the right thing to do.”