Gay adult performer Milo Miles thought he was headed to Las Vegas for the GayVN Awards. Instead, the Toronto-based entertainer says his trip ended with a 10-year ban from entering the United States. For many gay travelers, a visit to Las Vegas means pool parties, questionable financial decisions, and at least one friend insisting they can survive on iced coffee alone. For Miles, however, the journey took a dramatically different turn.
And if you’re wondering whether being banned from Trump’s America is necessarily a bad thing, Miles has complicated feelings. The problem isn’t missing a vacation. It’s the experience he says got him there.
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He recently shared his story during an interview with UNCLOSETED, with Spencer Macnaughton, describing what he says was an eight-hour ordeal spanning two days at U.S. Customs preclearance in Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
The gay adult entertainer was on his way to Las Vegas for the GayVN Awards—the porn industry’s equivalent of the Oscars—where he was nominated for six awards and ultimately won one. Instead of celebrating, he says he found himself detained, questioned, and subjected to comments he believes targeted both his work and his identity as a gay man.
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“Why do you have so many gay clothes?”
According to Miles, the first red flag appeared when a customs officer pulled him aside for secondary screening. The questions quickly became unusual.
“He said, ‘Why do you have so many gay clothes?'”
He says the officer also questioned a Sniffies sticker on his luggage, asked about his PrEP medication, and allegedly wanted explanations for items that many gay travelers would consider completely ordinary.
“He even asked why I have a Sniffies sticker on my luggage.”
The encounter left him feeling as though he was being asked to justify his existence rather than explain his travel plans.
“It was as if being gay in and of itself was a crime, and I was expected to somehow defend my gayness.”
For many readers, that’s the part of the story that jumps out. Border agents can legally question travelers about immigration matters. But asking about “gay clothes,” HIV prevention medication, and hookup-app stickers raises uncomfortable questions about where security screening ends and personal bias begins.
The phone search that changed everything for Milo Miles
Miles says the first officer eventually took his phone for inspection. When the officer returned, he claims he was bluntly accused of being a prostitute.
“I looked at your phone, you’re a prostitute.”
He strongly disputes that allegation. According to his account, the officer appeared focused on photos and messages involving other men, leading to questions about why he had pictures with people besides his boyfriend.
“I suddenly had to explain that I’m in an open relationship with my boyfriend, that it’s very normal in the gay community to have sex with other men outside of your relationship.”
The first day ended without a ban, but not without consequences. He missed his flight and was told to return the following day. That, he says, was when things got worse.
Day two: more questions, more searches, and a 10-year ban
When Miles returned to the airport, he says another officer informed him that the previous night’s inspection had not been fully completed. A second round of questioning followed. Eventually, he says officers discovered evidence that he had worked in the adult industry and had previously engaged in escorting. The distinction matters to him.
“I’ve never taken money for sex, nor have I exchanged sex for money.”
U.S. authorities have broad discretion to deny entry to foreign nationals they believe have engaged in prostitution or certain forms of sex work. The legal landscape surrounding adult entertainment, escorting, and border admissions is often murky, especially for performers whose work exists online and across international jurisdictions. He argues that investigators pushed him toward admissions he disagreed with.
“He even threatened to charge me with fraud if I didn’t conform to the responses that he wanted on this topic.”
Hours later, he learned he would be barred from entering the United States for a decade.
More than a travel problem
For Miles, the ban wasn’t simply about missing an awards show. His boyfriend lives in Florida, and the couple had discussed building a future together in California.
“The hardest day of my life was that day.”
The emotional impact, he says, was immediate and profound. As a refugee who came to Canada from Colombia as a child, he says he had already experienced discrimination and trauma earlier in life. What happened at the border, he argues, felt painfully familiar.
“It literally felt like all that all over again, except this time the focus was on my sexual orientation.”
Is the LGBTQ+ community being targeted?
That is the biggest—and most controversial—question raised by Miles’ story. He believes what happened to him reflects a broader shift in how LGBTQ+ travelers, especially gay men and sex workers, are being treated.
“It’s literally the entire LGBT community.”
That claim is difficult to independently verify, and he himself acknowledges that some of his theories about why he was flagged remain speculation. Still, his account lands at a moment when many LGBTQ+ Americans and international travelers are already anxious about the political climate, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and the rollback of diversity initiatives under the current administration.
Whether readers agree with Miles’ conclusions or not, his story taps into a growing fear among many gay travelers: not just whether they’ll be welcomed in America, but whether they’ll be viewed with suspicion before they even arrive.
“Avoid the United States at all costs”
Miles isn’t mincing words about his advice.
“Avoid the United States at all costs. It’s not worth it, it’s not worth it to put your life at risk.”
That’s a dramatic warning, and not everyone in the LGBTQ+ community will agree with it. Millions of gay Americans continue living, working, dating, and building community across the country every day. But he says his experience fundamentally changed how he views the United States.
“I thought that it was safe until I realized that it wasn’t.”
Whether his case ultimately becomes a cautionary tale about sex work and immigration law, or a larger conversation about how gay travelers are treated at the border, one thing is certain: a trip that was supposed to end with an awards ceremony has become a much bigger story. And for LGBTQ+ people watching from the sidelines, the uncomfortable question remains: if border agents are asking about “gay clothes” today, what might they be asking tomorrow?
Milo Miles believes gay travelers should stay away from Trump’s America altogether. Others argue that avoiding the United States hands victory to the very forces trying to make LGBTQ+ people feel unwelcome. What about you? If you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, have recent political changes made you rethink travel to the U.S., or are you carrying on as usual? Let me know where you stand.
Source: QSaltlake