In a chilling wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, Florida Republicans filed SB 254, a bill that would grant the state’s courts emergency jurisdiction over trans youth who receive or are “at risk” of receiving gender-affirming healthcare, including puberty blockers or hormone therapy. The bill would also empower anti-trans family members to seize children from supportive environments and bring them to Florida. Additionally, the bill would ban all public funding for gender-affirming care, including treatments for minors and adults, making it impossible for state and local employees and their families to access trans healthcare. Activists and legal experts have expressed concern that the bill would lead to the “legal kidnapping of trans children” and become a greenlight for transphobic family members to engage in state-sponsored kidnapping.
The bill has been met with intense backlash from advocates and political experts online. Lawmaker Carlos Guillermo Smith expressed disbelief on Twitter, stating that the vile bill even exists. He pointed out that the bill would charge parents with felonies and throw them in prison if they provide or are “at risk” of providing life-saving care to their trans children. Activist Erin Reed said that the anti-trans legislation is evidence that the US is “splitting into states with safe state laws protecting parents and anti-trans states allowing kidnapping.”
Florida, like other states across the country, has seen an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ bill proposals and laws in recent years. Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which limits discussions on LGBTQ+ topics in public schools in Florida, in March 2022. In 2021, the anti-LGBTQ+ governor approved legislation banning trans girls from playing competitive sports on the correct team. Other bills in the Florida state legislature this session sought to ban bathroom access for trans people, prohibit gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, expand the existing “Don’t Say Gay” law to older children, as well as ban the use of preferred pronouns and name for trans and non-binary students and teachers.
As the LGBTQ+ community continues to fight for their rights, the introduction of SB 254 and other anti-LGBTQ+ bills in Florida and other states highlights the urgent need for nationwide protections for trans youth and the entire LGBTQ+ community.