Florida Governor, Republican Ron DeSantis Several projects were signed into law this Wednesday in line with his conservative politics, including a ban on definitive sex reassignment surgery for children and puberty blockers that are used to guide development towards gender.
“It is important that we stand up for the youth in Florida.” DeSantis said this at a press conference at a Christian school in Tampa (west coast of the state). There the legislative package “Let the children be children” was introduced.
Gender reassignment
The battery of bills that would become law include SB 254 on the treatment of sex reassignment, which bans minors from surgery of this nature, and experimental puberty blockers for children. A medicine for those going through gender dysphoria.
The new law also includes requiring students not to announce their pronouns according to their gender identity at school. and that detention centers, correctional facilities, and public buildings with restrooms or locker rooms designate separate facilities based on biological sex.
“Kids gotta be kids,” DeSantis said during his speech.
DeSantis denounced that “they want to do things with regard to sex change in minors that are not reversible.” In addition to pointing out that there are “ideological groups in the United States that enforce this,” which “we believe,” he said, “is wrong.”
Irreversible nature of processes
The rule further states that adult patients receiving these drugs or surgery are informed of the dangers and irreversible nature of these procedures and that they provide written consent.
It also gives courts emergency jurisdiction to intervene and stop sex reassignment proceedings for out-of-state children present in Florida.
HB 1069 protects students from having to be told their pronouns based on their gender identity at school.
The bill expands parental rights in education by prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to eighth grade.
For its part, HB 1438 protects children from sexually explicit performances or shows anywhere in Florida.
This law authorizes the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to fine, suspend or cancel the operating license of a hotel or restaurant if they admit a child to an adult show.
HB 1521 to designate separate facilities based on biological sex or to provide “unisex” facilities for an individual in educational institutions, detention centers, and correctional institutions and restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms in general public buildings in Florida is also needed.
Florida, unlike the rest of the country
“Thus the law gives Florida authority over these interventions,” DeSantis said, after acknowledging that Florida does “unlike the rest of the country” in this matter.
The bills, which became law today, were criticized by Planned Parenthood, the largest network of reproductive services clinics in the United States, because, according to the organization, “it would cause extreme harm to minors in Florida by making it illegal for a provider.” Write down the inhibitor of puberty.
DeSantis was supported at the event by Education Commissioner Manny Diaz and the Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, Jason Vida.
The governor has not yet commented on his intention to become the Republican nominee for the White House in 2024, as he is expected to do in the near future.
