In Florida the Boards of Medicine & Osteopathy have aligned the language & advanced a proposed rule to restrict gender affirming care for transgender youth. Nikole Parker, Director of Transgender Equality stated, “Shame on the Florida Boards of Medicine & Osteopathy for continuing this assault on the health of young people & the rights of their parents to seek the best care possible for their children. This rule puts transgender youth at higher risk of depression, anxiety & suicidality & strips parents of the right to make decisions about care for their kids. Those are the facts that have been purposely ignored by Boards of Medicine & Osteopathy stacked with DeSantis allies & campaign donors who have put their toxic politics over people’s health & wellbeing. Transgender Floridians exist. Transgender youth exist. Gender-affirming care is lifesaving care & it is care that is supported by every major medical organization, an overwhelming majority of medical providers & should be left to young people, their families & their doctors; not politicians.” This is the first time a state medical board has been weaponized in this way to ban medical treatments for transgender children. The Boards of Medicine & Osteopathy are just two among the many state agencies stacked by Governor DeSantis with right-wing extremists to weaponize against our LGBTQ Floridians. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s rule ending Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care in the state went into effect last summer. Then of course we know too well that the Florida State Board of Education has adopted a new series of rules dramatically expanding enforcement of the “Don’t Say LGBTQ Law” that puts teachers’ licenses at risk & targets school districts with LGBTQ-inclusive policies regarding bathrooms & locker rooms.
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