Republican Rep. Randy Fine plans to introduce legislation next session that would make it illegal for doctors to help a minor medically transition.
Fine says the bill wouldn’t stop gender nonconforming and transgender children from seeking services such as therapy or counseling.
“So if a boy wishes to be known as a girl, if a boy wishes to dress as a girl or vice versa, if a boy wants to go get a gender switching counseling from a psychologist, none of those would be forbidden under this bill. It is simply medical procedures whether it is puberty blockers, or or actual surgery to do things that cannot be undone.”
But he says it would prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from medically transitioning through the use of drugs or gender affirmation surgery.
“We treat children differently than adults for a reason. Their minds are not fully formed. We don’t want them to do things that they have to live with for the rest of their lives. It’s why our criminal justice code is entirely different for children. So the idea of children making decisions that they can’t undo if they change their mind, I think is a is a catastrophic issue.”
Equality Florida calls the proposal part of the Florida legislature’s continued attacks on LGBTQ kids and families.
In a statement, the organization says, Fine and DeSantis, “do not care about science or improving health outcomes for vulnerable kids.”
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