Vivian Myers-Jones of New Brunswick stands in front of the Maine State House in Augusta on April 5 at the “Hands Off” protest against the Trump administration. Hannah Kaufman/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — Vivian Myers-Jones crossed from New Brunswick into Maine at the Calais entry point on April 4, holding her breath slightly as the Border Patrol agent checked her passport.

A small check on the passport identifies her as female, but she knows many officials in the United States do not see her that way.

Myers-Jones drove four hours to join thousands of people protesting President Donald Trump’s administration at the Hands Off rally April 5 at the Maine State House. A U.S. Navy veteran and transgender woman living in Canada, she said her dual citizenship is not an excuse to stop fighting for American rights.

“I can exercise a lot of privilege being over on this side, and knowing I’m safer here in Canada,” Myers-Jones said. “But that’s not the way I roll. We are all part of the same family, and I will use what resources I have to be visible and just try to do what I can.”

Dressed in a decorated U.S. Navy suit jacket, a sequined transgender pride belt and a fanny pack, the 51-year-old Myers-Jones stood in contrast to the gray State House. She was in Augusta to protest the Trump administration as a whole but said she is especially concerned about policies targeting gender-affirming health care and identity documents for transgender people.

“That’s the big concern: Our health care is gone,” Myers-Jones said. “We’re not going to be able to live much longer. And on top of that, with things like our legal documentation, our identity documents — rendering it impossible for us to get our documents corrected to reflect us as we truly are.”

Myers-Jones was born into a military family in North Carolina. She joined the U.S. Navy and fought in the Iraq War before being honorably discharged in 2010 and moving to New Brunswick with her ex-partner. She has three children.

After she came out as transgender in 2020, she began attending protests, drag shows and queer community events around Canada. She joined the board of Saint John Pride, a pride organization in New Brunswick.

Alex Saunders, president of Saint John Pride, said Myers-Jones, herself a drag performer, would drive two hours late at night to support another drag performer.

Protesters hold signs as they start a march April 5 at a Hands Off rally at the Maine State House in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“She’d show up at a show in Fredericton that doesn’t start until 10 p.m. and then she’d drive home that same night,” Saunders said. “So she really started out to me as this super supporter of the community, because as a trans woman, she’s getting herself out there, she’s getting herself involved. And then as I got to know her and I uncovered the story of Vivian.”

Myers-Jones crosses the border once a week to receive gender-affirming health care and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder through a Veteran Affairs clinic in Washington County. She said Trump’s executive orders targeting gender-affirming health care are a death sentence for some individuals.

“They’re starting with our health care access, and for those of us who are trans, who do need resources like (hormone replacement therapy) and affirming surgeries, it’s the agenda that Trump and Musk and this whole MAGA cult embraces,” she said. “If you eliminate that, then that’s a step to eliminating us as a people.”

After Trump was elected for his second term, Myers-Jones spoke at a Feb. 17 protest at the Maine State House. She drove down state Route 9 — primarily rural roads — in the middle of an ice storm to be there.

For some, crossing the border has become similarly treacherous. Myers-Jones changed the gender marker on her passport to female after she transitioned, but Trump’s Jan. 20 order stating the federal government only recognizes two sexes — and will no longer permit gender updates to passports — leaves transgender, intersex and nonbinary people in limbo.

Myers-Jones said she and other transgender and nonbinary people fear being stopped, questioned or held at the border.

“That’s been a bit of a test run, every single time I cross the border,” Myers-Jones said. “Because my gender marker is actually in place and everything, and so far, it’s been good. But I don’t know what’s going to happen each time.”

Samantha White, co-lead organizer of Bangor Pride, said she expects more queer people will move to Canada in the coming months and years.

“I think a lot of queer people are probably now realizing that Canada would be a safer place to be able to immigrate to, if needed,” White said.

One vulnerable demographic is transgender kids, Myers-Jones said. Transgender high school athletes have become the focus of national attention in Maine. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to halt federal funds because Maine allows transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.

Canada has had similar fights. Policy 713, also called the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity policy, was originally enacted in New Brunswick to require school personnel to use students’ chosen pronouns and names, but was revised by former New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs in 2023. The changes forbade New Brunswick teachers from using the preferred names and pronouns of students under 16 without parental consent.

At a protest in Fredericton against the revision, Saunders watched Myers-Jones respond with grace after being verbally attacked by a group of people.

“I’ve stood next to Vivian in those situations in Canada and watched her fight for us,” Saunders said. “She always talks about how she’s going to shoot her mouth off, and I always laugh, because you’d think that shooting her mouth off would be rude, but nothing she ever says is rude unless the person is against her existing or her human rights. So I don’t really look at that as rudeness, as much as I look at it as truth.”

Saunders said Myers-Jones rallies against the odds in every way.

Transgender people make up 1.6% of United States adults, according to a 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center. Only 0.3% were 50 years and older.

“It’s so rare to even have a trans person make it to 50,” Saunders said. “So to have this trans elder that widely supports literally every community event she can in our province, and then to cross the border and also somehow make it to just about every event in (Maine), is amazing.”

Bangor Pride will happen in June, and Saint John Pride is set for August. Leaders from the two organizations will march and ride floats in each other’s parades.

Myers-Jones plans to march in both pride festivals while continuing to speak out across Canada and Maine. She said attending protests makes a difference, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.

“I think it really is making a huge difference,” Myers-Jones said. “It’s one of those things: If it gives one person pause to maybe rethink about things and understand just why we’re out there, but also why things need to change, then it’s all been worth it for me.”