Representative Randy Fine Files Bill to Ban Transgender Floridians
Representative Randy Fine Files Bill to Ban Transgender Floridians
TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Today, the Florida Legislature introduced HB 1421, extreme, sweeping government assault on the lives and medical freedom of transgender Floridians with impacts ranging from the banning of lifesaving medical care for transgender youth to restricting access to private insurance and banning their legal recognition via birth certificate. The Trans Ban Bill filed today by State Representative Randy Fine (R-Brevard) would strip families of their medical freedom, put government in control of insurance coverage decisions, and codify a ban on transgender people being legally recognized as themselves.
“Governor DeSantis and his right-wing allies have made it clear that they do not believe transgender people exist,” said Nikole Parker, Director of Transgender Equality. “This cruel bill is a transgender ban. It goes beyond denying us medical freedom to policing who we can be. Republican leadership is saying that from the moment of birth, you should not -- and in important ways cannot -- be recognized by anything other than your genitals. And from that bigoted place of denying the very humanity of transgender Floridians, they are ruthlessly bending the power of government to erase the community altogether. Transgender people are neighbors, friends, family members. We exist and we matter. This bill to rip away lifesaving health care, shred insurance coverage, and bar birth certificate access will cost lives.”
The state has long provided a pathway for Floridians to determine how their identity will be legally recognized on their own birth certificate. The Trans Ban Bill would revoke that freedom, forcing Floridians to be recognized by the genitals they have at birth. It also takes aim at insurance coverage for gender-affirming health care, imposing government restrictions on what private insurance companies may cover for those diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The bill’s filing comes on the heels of the Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy finalizing a rule to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth in Florida that will go into effect on March 16, threatening doctors with revocation of their licensure should they provide that care. All of the nation’s major health organizations and associations support gender-affirming care. These include the American Academy of Pediatrics; American Medical Association; American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists; Endocrine Society; Pediatric Endocrine Society; among others.