A Colorado family has fled the US for New Zealand over concerns their nine-year-old transgender daughter could be persecuted if they stay in America. 

Parents Brandon and Candace, who would not reveal their last name over safety fears, left Denver earlier this month with their kids Holt and Chase.

Chase, nine, came out as transgender several years ago and the family started planning a way out after President Donald Trump returned to the White House. 

The day he did, Trump signed an executive order stipulating that there are only two genders, the family said that within 24 hours they had decided to leave the country.

Speaking with 9news, Candace said: ‘We knew we needed a little bit of an escape plan, maybe not something concrete at first, but we needed to start talking and start thinking about it seriously.’

Brandon told the outlet that people they knew had tried to calm their fears by saying Trump wouldn’t go after the trans or queer community.

‘When he did, it was so much worse. We thought it was going to be one at a time and over a period of time’, he said.

‘And it was within the first 24 hours that we really started to see that this was not only the entire queer community, it was specifically towards trans and trans youth, and that’s really made us jump on it quickly, and really start to make that plan.’

Brandon and Candace, seen here with their kids Holt and Chase, left the US for New Zealand earlier this month 

After President Trump signed an executive order saying there was only two genders they decided to leave the US for the sake of their daughter Chase

Chase also waded in to her family’s huge 8,000-mile move to Queenstown, New Zealand – saying she told her parents ‘they don’t have to do this,’ but admitted she’s ‘grateful’ they are protecting her.

Brandon and Candace said they had looked to their daughter to learn and support her in her identity, and as hostility towards transgender people grew, so did their concerns. 

A friend of theirs had moved to New Zealand previously and encouraged them to consider it as their new home, citing its progressive values. 

After researching, they decided on the move. Brandon, who works in the alcohol industry, was approved for an immigration visa through a job at a winery. 

He added: ‘It is an extreme decision. And we are privileged to even have the means to do it. We don’t take that for granted. But this is for the safety of our daughter.’

The couple had concerns that Chase’s access to health could be cut off, with states now actively passing laws blocking gender-affirming care for minors. 

Colorado, where they lived, still allows this type of care, but they feared that a ban would be passed on a federal level. 

Candace added: ‘There’s all these laws here to protect us. But it’s what is [Trump] going to do nationally that’s going to supersede any sort of state protection we had and how bad is it going to be.’

On July 1 they officially left their home in the Centennial State, before eventually arriving in New Zealand last week, according to the outlet. 

Chase came out as transgender several years ago to her parents

Trump signed an executive order stipulating that there are only two genders after a day in the White House

Candace told the outlet that the move proved harder than she originally expected it to be, having to say goodbye to family and friends.

She added: ‘There have to be brighter days ahead. When it gets really hard, I just imagine our lives in six months and how much better it feels. That’s what I keep holding on to.

Chase spoke with the outlet, saying: ‘It’s horrible you get no rights. My family does not feel safe with Trump as president.

‘[My parents are] just putting in all this work just for me and my brother just so we can be safe. 

‘I told them they don’t have to do this. But they keep doing it. And it just makes me so grateful.’

Daily Mail have contacted the family for comment. 

It comes after an Arizona transgender woman applied for asylum in Canada over fears she was no longer safe. 

Hannah Kreager, 22, ‘fled’ her home in the Grand Canyon State for the Canadian city of Calgary.

‘I have fled in hopes of finding safety, security, and the freedom to continue to live my life, and access/take my medications as prescribed,’ she wrote on a GoFundMe page.