Florida governor Ron DeSantis seeks to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth and Medicaid recipients
Florida governor Ron DeSantis asked the state’s medical board to ban gender-affirming care for trans individuals. Over the last year and a half, the Republican official has consistently attacked the LGBTQ+ community with harmful legislation.
During Pride Month in 2021, DeSantis banned transgender girls and women from competing in school sports. His crusade against the LGBTQ+ community continued earlier this year when he signed the highly controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill into law.
The legislation, which is officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, restricts “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” On 2 June, the DeSantis administration shifted its focus to gender-affirming care for trans youth and trans adults on Medicaid.
In a letter obtained by NBC News on 2 June, the conservative governor’s surgeon general Joseph Ladapo asked the state’s medical board to ban medical care for trans youth. “I recommend against certain pharmaceutical, non-pharmaceutical and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria,” Ladapo wrote.
