Statements & Press Releases

Press Release ∙
Hundreds of Students Rally at the Capitol as House Passes Don’t Say LGBTQ Expansion
On Transgender Day of Visibility, hundreds of students rallied at the Florida Capitol as the House voted 77-35 to pass HB 1069, expanding the Don't Say LGBTQ law through eighth grade, banning correct-pronoun mandates, and accelerating book bans.
LGBTQ
Statement ∙
Psychologist Blasts Reps. Fine & Massullo For Lying About Research
Massachusetts psychologist Dr. Sebastian Barr accused Reps. Randy Fine and Ralph Massullo of misrepresenting his research on transgender mental health to justify HB 1421, the Trans Ban bill. Equality Florida said the sponsors were caught lying about data.
Press Release ∙
Hundreds Attend Pride at the Capitol to Condemn DeSantis’ Anti-LGBTQ Agenda
Hundreds of LGBTQ Floridians and allies traveled to Tallahassee for Pride at the Capitol to denounce more than 20 anti-LGBTQ bills filed in the 2023 session, though bills to expand Don't Say LGBTQ and criminalize gender-affirming care still advanced.
LGBTQ
Statement ∙
Bill to Criminalize Gender Affirming Care Filed in Florida Senate
Sen. Clay Yarborough filed Senate Bill 254, a sweeping bill that would impose felony penalties on parents and providers offering gender-affirming care to minors and let courts upend custody agreements. Equality Florida called it an authoritarian assault on parental rights.
Statement ∙
Representative Randy Fine Files Bill to Ban Transgender Floridians
Rep. Randy Fine filed HB 1421, which Equality Florida described as a transgender ban that would prohibit gender-affirming care for youth, restrict private insurance coverage, and bar transgender people from being legally recognized on birth certificates.
Transgender
Statement ∙
Bill Filed to Expand Florida’s Harmful “Don’t Say LGBTQ” Law
Rep. Adam Anderson filed HB 1223 to expand Florida's Don't Say LGBTQ law, extending the ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity through eighth grade and forbidding use of transgender students' pronouns through twelfth grade.
LGBTQ
Statement ∙
Florida House Hosts Sham Panel on Gender Affirming Care
The Florida House Health and Human Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Randy Fine, held a panel on gender-affirming care that Equality Florida's Nikole Parker called a politically driven sham stacked with discredited, out-of-state speakers.
Statement ∙
Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy Align, Advance Rule to Ban Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth
Florida's Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy aligned and advanced a proposed rule to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, which would be the first such ban enacted through state agency rulemaking rather than legislation.
Transgender
Statement ∙
Equality Florida Condemns Filing of Permitless Firearm Carry Bill
Equality Florida condemned the filing of HB 543, a bill to eliminate training and permitting requirements for concealed carry of firearms in Florida, calling it an insult to victims of gun violence including those killed at Pulse.
Equality Florida
Statement ∙
Florida State Board of Education Adopts New Rules Designed to Confuse & Intimidate Educators
The Florida State Board of Education adopted two vague rules threatening to revoke teachers' professional licenses, which Equality Florida said are designed to confuse and intimidate educators but do not require them to out LGBTQ students.
Adoption