New FL Laws Target Drag Shows, Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Kids, Preferred Pronouns

FLORIDA — In a move that targets Florida’s LGBTQ+ community, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a series of bills that he dubbed the "Let Kids Be Kids" bill package into law on Wednesday, according to his office. He signed the new laws at Cambridge Christian School in Tampa.

The laws ban children from attending drag shows and using their preferred pronouns at school, prevent trans kids from accessing gender-affirming medical care, and expand the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group, called the “four discriminatory and harmful bills … part of (DeSantis') slate of hate.”

“A bill that threatens drag artists and Pride festivals, a bill that overrules a parent’s right to seek lifesaving care for their transgender child, a bill that drastically expands last year's cruel ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ law that banned books and made classrooms more hostile for LGBTQ youth, and a bill that criminalizes transgender people for using the restroom that aligns with how they live their lives every day,” Equality Florida wrote in a Facebook post. “This is an attack on our children, our families, and our fundamental human rights and freedoms. We know there is still more headed to his desk for signature — but we will never stop fighting back.”

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SB 254, the "Outlawing Permanent Mutilation of Minors" law, outlaws gender-affirming surgery and puberty blockers for minors. It also grants Florida courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to intervene and halt procedures for out-of-state children, according to the governor’s news release.

“With my signature, Florida permanently prohibits genital mutilating surgical procedures and experimental puberty blockers for minors,” DeSantis said. “Minors given these procedures without their consent will now be able to recover damages for permanent injury or death caused by these medical experiments.”

Such laws contradict medical guidelines from several groups, including the Endocrine Society, which has guidelines that recommend doctors offer transgender teens pubertal suppression therapy, also known as puberty blocking, CNN reports. It became a treatment option in the United States in 1998.

HB 1438, known as the "Protecting Children's Innocence" law, bans children from attending "sexually explicit adult performances in all venues — including drag shows and strip clubs," according to the news release. Hotels and restaurants that allow children to attend adult performances risk being fined or having their license suspended.

HB 1069 expands the existing "Parental Rights in Education" law, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by its critics. The law initially limited classroom conversations on sexual orientation and gender for students in grades K-3 when it was passed last year. The expansion of this law now prohibits these topics for grades 4-12, as well.

With the law's expansion, students and teachers are no longer allowed to declare their preferred pronouns at school or be forced to use pronouns for others that aren't based on biological sex.
“We never did this through all of human history until like, what, two weeks ago? Now this is something? They’re having third graders declare pronouns? We’re not doing the pronoun Olympics in Florida,” DeSantis said, according to PBS.

HB 1521, called the "Ensuring Women's Safety" law, prevents transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity in public places like schools and correctional facilities.

“A woman should not be in a locker room, having to worry about someone from the opposite sex being in their locker room,” DeSantis said, according to CNN.