Statements & Press Releases

Press Release ∙
Equality Florida Awarded $22,000 Grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to Expand LGBTQ Youth Mental Health Services
Equality Florida received a $22,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County to expand LGBTQ youth mental health services, funding a new cohort of practitioners trained in AFFIRM Youth, an evidence-based intervention serving Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties.
Equality Florida LGBTQ LGBTQ Youth
Statement ∙
Civil Rights and Parents Groups Denounce Effort to Erode Local Protections in Sarasota Public Schools
A coalition including the NAACP, Florida PTA, SPLC, and Equality Florida urged Sarasota County Public Schools to reject proposals stripping express enumeration from anti-discrimination and anti-bullying policies, calling it a capitulation to vague, nonbinding Trump administration anti-DEI guidance.
Civil Rights Nondiscrimination Parenting
Statement ∙
Equality Florida’s Response to AG Uthmeier Press Conference on Transgender Athletes
Equality Florida responded to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's press conference on transgender athletes, accusing him of scapegoating transgender people to deflect from scrutiny over the Everglades detention camp contracts and Hope Florida funding allegations.
Equality Florida
Statement ∙
The Supreme Court Sided with Politicians — We Stand with Trans Youth and Their Families
Equality Florida responded to the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, calling it cruel but noting it has no immediate impact on Florida, whose similar law remains under review by the 11th Circuit.
Transgender
Statement ∙
Statement On Arrest of Transgender Woman for Using Bathroom at Florida Capitol
Equality Florida's Nadine Smith responded to the arrest of Marcy Rheintgen, a transgender woman charged with trespassing for using the women's restroom at the Florida Capitol, calling the bathroom law cruel, unenforceable, and designed to intimidate transgender people out of public life.
Nondiscrimination Transgender
Press Release ∙
Equality Florida Launches New Trauma-Informed Course Empowering Mental Health Providers to Support LGBTQ Youth and Families
Equality Florida launched Trauma-Informed Care for LGBTQ Youth, a free virtual course offering six continuing education credits for Florida mental health professionals, drawing over 325 registrants in its first week amid rising mental health disparities among LGBTQ youth.
Equality Florida LGBTQ LGBTQ Youth
Press Release ∙
Equality Florida Institute Wins Prestigious 2025 NASP Champion for Children Award
Equality Florida Institute was named the national winner of the 2025 National Association of School Psychologists Champion for Children award, recognizing its decades of advocacy for LGBTQ youth education and mental health, including training over 40,000 educators.
Equality Florida
Press Release ∙
Lawmakers Seek to Restore Rights and Freedoms Taken Under Governor DeSantis
Florida lawmakers filed the Health Care Freedom Act and the Freedom to Learn Act to undo laws backed by Governor DeSantis, with bills that would repeal the six-week abortion ban, restrictions on transgender care, and education censorship measures.
Press Release ∙
SAVE and Equality Florida Host “Recommitment To Marriage Equality” Celebration on 10th Anniversary
SAVE and Equality Florida announced a Recommitment to Marriage Equality celebration in Miami Beach on January 5, 2025, marking a decade since the Pareto v. Ruvin and Brenner v. Scott rulings brought same-sex marriage to Florida, featuring original plaintiffs and legal teams.
Equality Florida Marriage equality
Press Release ∙
A majority of Black adults are open-minded or supportive of transgender acceptance, new poll finds
A new HIT Strategies poll for Equality Florida found that 81 percent of Black respondents are supportive or neutral about greater social acceptance of transgender people, contradicting right-wing campaigns that targeted Black voters with anti-transgender messaging.
Transgender