A Colorado couple with a trans daughter have spoke out about fleeing the US for New Zealand following Donald Trump’s re-election.

Candace and Brandon, who had lived in Colorado on and off for nine years, spoke to ITV News Washington producer Aisha Kherallah about relocating from Colorado to New Zealand. 

The move was a bid to protect their 10-year-old trans daughter from the Trump administration’s rollback of trans rights in the US.

Trump has signed a number of other anti-trans executive orders, including a national declaration that there are only “two sexes” and another aimed at banning transgender women from serving in the armed forces.

Candace told ITV that after Trump was re-elected to officer last November, “we knew we had to get out.” 

“We knew based on the platforms he was running on, and Project 2025, it was a huge indicator of what his next term was going to look like. The fact that they were targeting trans people, the writing was on the wall.”

Candace added that Trump’s decision to declare there are “only two sexes” was “incredibly devastating”.

But their daughter’s limitation to receiving gender-affirming care, due to the new administration, left the couple in panic. 

They were informed by the Children’s Hospital Colorado that it could no longer provided gender-affirming care to anyone under 19.

Then came the distressing reality of their daughter’s passport potentially being challenged. In June, US district judge Julia Kobick expanded a preliminary injunction she issued in April, which blocked Trump’s administration from refusing to issue passports to transgender and non-binary Americans nationwide that reflect their gender identities.

In order to flee the US the family arranged a GoFundMe fundraiser, with the aim of raising $50,000 (£36,854). 

Following Brandon receiving a job in New Zealand, which they had researched and knew was LGBTQ+ friendly, they decided to relocate. 

Candace said of her daughter’s new home: “As far as the transness, the great thing is the only documentation needed here is [Chase’s] visa and passport, which both say female. It’s only going to come up if she chooses to share that with someone.”

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