A family from Colorado has relocated to New Zealand, fearing the potential persecution of their nine-year-old transgender daughter if they remained in the United States.

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.

Their daughter, Chase, who identified as transgender several years ago, prompted the family to start seeking a new home after Donald Trump was re-elected as President.

On his first day back, President Trump signed an executive order defining only two genders. Within 24 hours, the family decided to leave the country due to this action.

Candace, speaking with 9news, mentioned, “We realized we needed some kind of escape plan, even if it wasn’t concrete initially, and we started discussing and seriously considering it.”

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.

“Within the first 24 hours, it became evident that this was targeting not just the entire queer community but specifically trans individuals and trans youth, prompting us to act swiftly and begin planning,” she added.

Chase also commented on the family’s significant 8,000-mile relocation to Queenstown, New Zealand, expressing to her parents, “they don’t have to do this,” but also feeling “grateful” for their protective actions.

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. 

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.