Trans Canadian singer Bells Larsen has been forced to cancel his US tour over the administration’s anti-trans visa rules. 

Larsen cancelled his tour following the Trump administration signing legislationthat required IDs, including passports and visas, to show a person’s sex as “either male or female”. The requirement has already been implemented by US citizenship and Immigration Services. 

Taking to Instagram, Larsen confirmed that his tour will be cancelled following the American Federation of Musicians stating that he can no longer apply for a visa that aligns with his gender. 

The post added: “To put it super plainly, because I’m trans (and have an M on my passport), I can’t tour in the States. 

“I hesitate to include a ‘right now’ or an ‘anymore’ at the end of my previous sentence, because – in this sociopolitical climate – I truly don’t know which phrasing holds more truth.” 

Larsen added that the “irony” of the cancellation is that it comes exactly two weeks before the release of his album, which is about his transition. 

The singer had intended to tour this spring in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, among other areas, but refunds will now be available to those who purchased tickets for his US shows. 

His Instagram announcement added that he had contemplated going ahead with the tour by travelling with a cisgender man, performing in “exclusively blue states” and handing border agents a visa and passport with “M” markers on. However, “distressing stories, texts and updates kept multiplying,” leading him to think “through a trans lens,” which he said “made everything all the more complicated”. 

He concluded that there is “no way to move forward here”. 

Comments under Larsen’s post have sent support his way, with many sharing that the update is “devastating”. 

“I’m so very sorry. And as an American so truly embarrassed… I look forward to the day when America is safe for you again,” a comment that has been liked more than 670 times reads. 

Another reads: “Reading this breaks my heart! You are amazing. Thank you for sharing your story!” 

The Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law estimated that around 16,700 non-binary people requested a passport using an X gender marker each year. This represents 1.4 per cent of the non-binary population in the US, which the institute estimates is around 1.2 million adults in the country.