The Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine recently released six new informed consent forms that will now be required for transgender youth and adults to sign in the next six months to continue gender-affirming care like puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and surgeries.
Critics say the forms are inaccurate, intentionally vague, and full of transphobic language that could scare patients from getting care — and doctors from providing it.
The forms falsely claim that gender-affirming care is "speculative" and based on "limited, poor-quality research."
The forms also use terms like “biological men” and “biological women,” instead of the “assigned at birth” terminology preferred by most of the transgender community.
Research supports gender-affirming care
Major medical associations across the U.S. support gender-affirming care, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychiatric Association, The Endocrine Society, and The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Research shows access to puberty blockers during adolescence is associated with a significant decrease in suicidal ideation. Doctors have used these medications safely for decades for cisgender children who experience precocious puberty.
The Journal of Adolescent Health found that gender-affirming hormone therapy resulted in lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among older transgender and nonbinary teens.
A study by Stanford University School of Medicine found that positive mental health outcomes were higher for transgender people who accessed gender-affirming hormones as teenagers versus those who accessed it as adults.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that, two years after initiating gender-affirming hormones, transgender youth reported higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect, and lower levels of gender dysphoria, depression and anxiety.
A study published in the medical journal the Lancet found 98% of their 720 participants diagnosed with gender dysphoria and prescribed hormone treatment as adolescents continued therapy into adulthood.
How trans people are reacting to the forms
Tristan Byrnes, one of the co-founders of TransNetwork, Inc., a Tampa Bay-area based resource group for trans and nonbinary people, said his first thought after reading the new informed consent forms was that those who wrote them think trans people can't manage their own care.
"Like, as trans people, we don't know," Byrnes said. "We don't know ourselves, and we can't help ourselves and that we need others to do that for us. And that, of course, angered me."
Andy Citino, another co-founder of TransNetwork, said for the past 20 years, he's been educating his own doctors about how to treat him.
"So now they're educated, the ones that we've been seeing," Citino said. "And now we're finding ourselves having to continue to educate our own physicians on these [forms].”
Citino said it’s insulting that two decades after his transition, he has to sign forms that say testosterone injections put him at “high risk of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide,” despite evidence that it actually helps reduce those risks.
“Transition saved my life … I was not in a good place," Citino said. "And I was hurting myself and hurting a lot of people around me. And I didn't know why. Until I finally figured out my truth.”
The group has hosted several community forums for trans and gender-expansive people to combat misinformation about the forms and new laws. Citino said they’ve even had a few physicians attend to ask questions.
RELATED: Transgender Floridians remain in limbo as legal fight over gender-affirming care continues
The new forms are part of an emergency rule passed by the boards earlier this summer.
Trans patients have always had to sign informed consent forms, but Citino said the new ones are an additional hurdle.
TransNetwork is hosting a panel discussion and networking social for the trans community on Thursday, July 27, at 7 p.m. Details can be found on their Instagram.
Read the informed consent forms here:
Masculinizing Medications for Patients with Gender Dysphoria – Patient Information and Parental Consent and Assent for Minors (PDF)
Puberty Suppression Treatment for Patients with Gender Dysphoria – Patient Information and Parental Consent and Assent for Minors (PDF)
Surgical Treatment for Adults with Gender Dysphoria – Patient Information and Informed Consent (PDF)
Feminizing Medications for Patients with Gender Dysphoria – Patient Information and Informed Consent (PDF)
Feminizing Medications for Patients with Gender Dysphoria – Patient Information and Parental Consent and Assent for Minors (PDF)
