TL;DR

• Florida Republicans introduced bills that expand the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
• New provisions could criminalize pharmacists, counselors, and even teachers for “aiding or abetting” trans youth.
• Advocates say the language is dangerously vague and could silence mental health professionals.
• The attorney general would gain sweeping investigative power over health providers.
• LGBTQ organizations warn this is part of a larger, coordinated anti-trans agenda in Florida.

FLORIDA ESCALATES CRACKDOWN: NEW BILLS COULD FELONIZE THOSE WHO SUPPORT TRANS YOUTH

A new front in Florida’s war on transgender care

Florida lawmakers have decided that attacking doctors wasn’t enough. Now they’re coming for pharmacists, counselors, and anyone else who dares support trans youth. In a sweeping and alarming escalation, Republican legislators have introduced House Bill 743 and Senate Bill 1010—measures that would not only expand the state’s existing gender-affirming care ban, but potentially criminalize anyone who “aids or abets” in providing such care.

The phrase “aids or abets” is so broad and undefined that LGBTQ advocates warn nearly anyone could be caught in its dragnet: pharmacists filling prescriptions, therapists doing their jobs, teachers offering support, or counselors simply talking honestly with trans kids about their identities.

And yes—the bill’s own sponsor confirmed that pharmacists could face felony charges. Florida has now reached the point where dispensing a prescription could be treated like a violent crime.

These proposals come on top of a 2023 law that already made gender-affirming care for minors a felony offense for physicians. But lawmakers are now signaling that anyone connected to those physicians—even peripherally—could be next on the chopping block.

Republican sponsors say they’re protecting kids—activists say that’s a smokescreen

Supporters of the bills, including Rep. Lauren Melo and Sen. Clay Yarborough, insist they’re targeting “bad actors” who are skirting coding rules or misrepresenting diagnoses. But there’s little evidence to support these claims, and their explanations have done little to quell the panic created by the bills’ sweeping reach.

Sen. Yarborough, who spearheaded the original ban, framed the expansions as necessary for child protection. But LGBTQ advocates say this rhetoric is nothing more than a distraction—one designed to obscure the real goal: using government power to intimidate and silence anyone who works with trans youth.

Stratton Pollitzer of Equality Florida called the bills “smoke bombs,” accusing lawmakers of fueling fear and lawsuits rather than solving Florida’s real problems. Housing crisis? Skyrocketing insurance? An affordability disaster? According to activists, these bills are DeSantis allies’ latest attempt to turn cultural panic into political currency.

Therapists warn: This will silence us

Mental health professionals—already under constant scrutiny—say these bills could destroy their ability to ethically treat young clients.

“This could increase the feelings of fear from my clients who are under 18,” therapist Savannah Thompson told WFSU. “It could increase the likelihood that professionals won’t be able to talk with their clients honestly and openly.”

Silencing therapists doesn’t help anyone. It only traps trans youth—who already face elevated risks of depression, anxiety, and suicide—in a system that deliberately withholds lifesaving support.

A massive power grab for the attorney general

Under the bills, the attorney general—currently James Uthmeier, a DeSantis appointee with a history of far-right positions—would gain sweeping power to investigate, sue, and potentially prosecute health care professionals accused of violating the care ban. Critics warn this places an extraordinary amount of unchecked authority in the hands of a single political figure.

Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat, blasted the proposal: “It is about giving one individual and maybe his successors authority that they don’t deserve and cannot manage. They’ve proven that they cannot be trusted.”

Florida is already prosecuting doctors under existing law. These bills would turn the attorney general’s office into a political weapon aimed at therapists’ offices, counseling centers, and pharmacies.

Part of a bigger anti-LGBTQ legislative blitz

These bills are only one piece of a massive slate of anti-LGBTQ legislation hitting Florida this session. Other measures would:

• Bar LGBTQ-inclusive training and allow workplace misgendering
• Ban rainbow flags and LGBTQ imagery in government buildings
• Make it easier to ban books, especially those featuring LGBTQ characters
• Restrict minors’ access to contraception and STI treatment
• Limit school-based sex education and programs deemed “activist”

It’s a coordinated attempt to restrict LGBTQ visibility, healthcare, community support, and expression at every level of public life.

What this means for LGBTQ Floridians—and for the country

Florida has become a bellwether for national anti-LGBTQ movements. What lawmakers pass here often appears elsewhere months later. Criminalizing pharmacists and counselors would be a chilling new frontier—one that threatens to ripple across the country.

For queer Floridians, especially trans youth, the message is unmistakable: the state is willing to treat the people who care for you as criminals.

But LGBTQ advocates aren’t backing down. Pollitzer struck a note of defiant optimism, reminding Floridians that several anti-LGBTQ bills failed last year. “We hope lawmakers will again refuse to prioritize DeSantis’s agenda of censorship and government control.”

Until then, Florida’s trans community continues to rely on one another, building networks of support, resistance, and care—because when lawmakers target them, the community shows up twice as strong.

And that’s something no legislature can outlaw.