Similarly to other countries, the U.S. State Department has a ranking system for how safe other nations are for Americans to visit. The advisory levels range from Level One’s “Exercise Normal Caution” to Level Four’s “Avoid All Travel” that is given to active war zones and countries with authoritarian governments such as Russia and North Korea.
There is also a broad “Worldwide Caution” advisory that the government issues toward specific groups or situations. The State Department issued one such advisory when the Oct. 7 Hamas attack prompted the Israeli government’s military response and risks of a wider war in the Middle East.
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With June marking the start of Pride Month, the State Department sent out a similar “worldwide caution” alert for LGBTQ+ travelers abroad. The advisory says that terrorists have been specifically plotting to target pride parades and other LGBTQ+ demonstrations in a number of countries while many nations also do not have the same general protections that Americans can find back home.
‘Aware of the increased potential for foreign terrorist violence’ against LGBTQ+ people
“The Department of State is aware of the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events and advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution,” reads the advisory.
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It also reminds citizens to “stay alert in locations frequented by tourists, including Pride celebrations and venues frequented by LGBTQI+ persons” and enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program registry to be in the government’s records if something goes wrong.
Related: This is why the State Department is warning against Germany travel
Here is why the government issued this warning ahead of Pride Month
The advisory was emailed to all Americans who registered as being abroad with the State Department and was also released to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia on May 17.
“Even as more countries make meaningful advancements towards full equality, LGBTQI+ persons continue to be sentenced to death for daring to live their sexual orientation or gender identity, subjected to coercive conversion ‘therapies’ and ‘normalization’ surgeries, discriminated against while receiving health services, restricted from exercising fundamental freedoms, and denied the dignity of same-sex partnership and fulfillment of family,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
According to the State Department, the warning was also issued after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security communicated intelligence around terrorist groups who seek out pride parades in different cities for their acts.
While the exact situation will be different in each specific country (some nations are particularly dangerous for LGBTQ+ travelers while others may have more protections than in the U.S. but, like in Germany, have a higher risk of terrorist attacks), minority groups are generally at higher risk of attacks and other incidents while abroad.
A recent Forbes report recently identified Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands as the countries most friendly toward LGBTQ+ travelers while Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Brunei are among the world’s most dangerous. A few years ago, the latter Southeast Asian nation reintroduced stoning as a government-enforced punishment for both adultery and same-sex sexual acts. As a result, governments regularly rank Brunei as a “Do Not Visit” country specifically for their LGBTQ+ citizens.
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