Montreal-based singer-songwriter Bells Larsen announced on Friday that he had to cancel his upcoming U.S. tour due to discriminatory visa policies targeting transgender individuals like himself.

Larsen says he received an email Tuesday from the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) informing him that visa officers, due to a new policy, now only recognize identification with one's assigned sex at birth.

"To put it super plainly, because I'm trans (and have an M on …