Florida’s Trans Erasure Bill (HB 1639) imposes sweeping mandates on private insurance companies & bans transgender Floridians from accessing accurate driver's licenses & IDs has passed its final committee in the Florida House. Despite bipartisan opposition from lawmakers & thousands of Floridians having spoken out against the harms this sweeping legislation would cause the bill was voted out of committee favorably by a 9 - 15 vote. The bill is now headed to the Florida House floor. Equality Florida stated, “Transgender people exist & always will. This cruel bill weaponizes private insurance companies & state agencies to threaten the safety & inclusion of the transgender community & it exists for the purpose of bullying transgender Floridians out of public life entirely. HB 1639 includes sweeping new anti-LGBTQ government mandates on private insurance carriers in the state that are sure to increase health insurance costs for every Floridian at a time when we are already facing an affordability crisis. The proposal further requires that all healthcare plans offered in the state include coverage for anti-trans “conversion therapy,” a dangerous & debunked practice opposed by the American Medical Association & banned in twenty-two states. The bill also blocks transgender Floridians from obtaining accurate state-issued identification, which denies their legal existence & takes Florida out of compliance with the federal REAL ID Act. Forcing transgender Floridians to out themselves at an airport, in interactions with law enforcement, or when accessing a club or movie theater is a threat to their safety. Lawmakers should end the continued obsession with culture war attacks in service to an agenda of censorship & government control & overreach & instead, focus on solving problems rather than creating new ones that future legislatures will eventually have to clean up.”
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