Trans singer Bells Larsen cancels US tour dates because he can't apply for a visa under Trump

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https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/04/trans-singer-bells-larsen-cancels-us-tour-dates-because-he-cant-apply-for-a-visa-under/

Trans singer Bells Larsen cancels US tour dates because he can’t apply for a visa under Trump

Larsen said the Trump administration's new anti-trans visa policy “has crushed my dreams.”

By John Russell Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Canadian singer-songwriter Bells Larsen has canceled his upcoming U.S. tour dates thanks to the Trump administration’s new rules targeting transgender visa applicants.

Larsen, whose sophomore album Blurring Time will be released on April 25, had been scheduled to perform in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other U.S. cities this June. But in a Friday, April 11, Instagram post, the musician announced that he’d been forced to cancel all American dates on his upcoming tour after being told he would not be able to get a U.S. visa.

Larsen said he’d received an email from the American Federation of Musicians informing him that he would not be able to apply for a visa “because US Immigration only recognizes identification that corresponds with one’s assigned sex at birth.”

In late February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a memo directing U.S. consulates and immigration offices worldwide to ban transgender visa applicants under a section of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act requiring a “permanent fraud bar” for people who lie on their visa applications. Rubio’s directive followed President Donald Trump’s February 5 executive order calling for a national and international ban on trans female athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. However, as legal experts have noted, the new visa guidance’s language is so broad it applies to all new transgender visa applicants.

“To put it super plainly,” Larsen wrote in his Instagram statement, “because I’m trans (and have an M on my passport), I can’t tour in the States.”

Larsen explained that he’d been considering canceling his U.S. dates for weeks, while also approaching his tour with “harm reduction in mind.”

“I planned on traveling with another guy (who is cis), handing border agents a Visa and passport with M’s on them, crossing borders via plane, and performing in exclusively blue states,” he wrote. “I thought I’d be good to go, but the distressing stories, texts, and updates kept multiplying.”

Larsen said that after speaking with two immigration lawyers and receiving word from the American Federation of Musicians, it became clear “that there is no way to move forward here.”

The Trump administration’s new visa policy, he said, “has crushed my dreams.” Larsen explained that he’d hoped Blurring Time, which is built around his transition, would help him break into the U.S. music market and connect with other American musicians.

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