Resistance Report Week 7: Anti-Trans Bill On The Move

Posted on 02/23/2024 by Cielo

We’re heading into the final TWO WEEKS of Florida’s 60-day legislative session, and we need your help more than ever.

🚨URGENT:🚨 The Trans Erasure Bill (HB 1639) PASSED out of its final committee in the Florida House yesterday — despite bipartisan opposition from lawmakers and thousands of Floridians sending emails and testifying at public hearings to raise the alarm about the harms this sweeping legislation would cause. This bill could move to the House Floor for a final vote any day now.

We need YOU to keep the pressure on by sending a message to your Representative right away.

Transgender people exist — and always will. And we’re going to keep fighting every single day to try and stop this cruel bill from making it to the governor’s desk.

Pride At The Capitol Volunteers After Testifying During The Trans Erasure Bill Hearing.

Despite continued attacks from extremist lawmakers, one thing is clear: Your hard work is paying off, and our message is breaking through. Our sustained resistance effort has stalled and neutralized some of the worst bills this session. Fewer and fewer are still moving through the process. The fight isn’t over, but we couldn’t make this type of progress without you on the frontlines with us.

Our Pride at the Capitol Program is still one of the most critical ways to keep the pressure on as we inch toward the final day of session. Please consider joining the resistance in Tallahassee as a citizen lobbyist during these final days of legislative session to meet with lawmakers, tell your stories, and fight back against harmful bills. Find a Pride At The Capitol Day that works for you.

If you can’t join us in person, please consider a donation of any amount. Our Pride At The Capitol budget this year is $170,000 to help bring the resistance to Tallahassee. But as we approach the final days of session, we need help refueling the frontlines — can you donate today?

This week’s WINNERS are Representatives Anna Eskamani and Angie Nixon for their strong debate and fight back against the Trans Erasure Bill (HB 1639). Rep. Eskamani and Rep. Nixon both filed amendments to help minimize the harmful, sweeping impacts of HB 1639 when it came up for a vote in the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee. While neither amendment passed after the bill sponsor voiced his opposition, we are grateful to these LGBTQ-accomplices for standing with us on the frontlines as we work to defeat this bill.

This week’s LOSER is Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka who followed in Senator Erin Grall’s footsteps and amended HB 651 with dangerous “fetal personhood” language, which establishes personhood at conception. Rep. Persons-Mulicka was the sponsor of last year’s 6-week abortion ban. This new legislation, “The Abuser Empowerment Bill,” would allow a pregnant person’s ex-partner to sue for damages in a wrongful death action for an “unborn child.” In other states like Arizona, comparable laws have been used by abusers to maintain control over their victims and to harass health care providers who offer care to survivors of abuse.

Now, we're going to take you through exactly what happened in Week #7, what's still coming, and how you can take action.

🚨The Transgender Erasure Bill (HB 1639)🚨

Sponsors: Reps. Doug Bankson and Dean Black

What it does: The Trans Erasure Bill is a sweeping new assault on the rights and dignity of transgender Floridians that seeks to further disenfranchise the community, create costly new barriers to accessing lifesaving care, and increases Floridians' insurance premiums, LGBTQ or not. The bill requires all health insurance plans in the state to cover the widely debunked, fraudulent and dangerous practice of “conversion therapy”, specifically for gender identity. Additionally, it requires that government driver's license and ID card applications collect information on applicants’ sex assigned at birth rather than their gender.
What happened: The Trans Erasure Bill (HB 1639) was voted out of committee by a 15-9 vote. The bill is now positioned to be considered on the floor of the Florida House.

How you can help: We need you to contact members of the House of Representatives right away and urge them to vote NO on HB 1639. Click here to send a message.

The Juvenile Justice Package (HB 1425/SB 1352)

Sponsors: Rep. Taylor Yarkosky and Sen. Jennifer Bradley

What it does: Among various reforms, the Juvenile Justice Package mandates inferior treatment for transgender youth, who would be denied access to programming, services, interventions, and facilities that affirm their gender identities, and would, instead, be classified, under this bill, according to their sex assigned at birth, potentially suffering worse outcomes as a result.
What happened: SB 1352 passed out of its final committee, Senate Fiscal Policy. Next, SB 1352 could be scheduled for a final vote on the Senate floor any day. HB 1425 has been scheduled for a final vote on the House Floor on Tuesday, February 27.
How you can help: We need you to contact your Senator and Representative and tell them to vote NO on SB 1352/HB 1425.

The Preemption of Employment Protections Bill (HB 433/SB 1492)

Sponsors: Rep. Tiffany Esposito and Sen. Jay Trumbull

What it does: The Preemption of Employment Protections Bill threatens existing and future local employment nondiscrimination protections. It would repeal or ban local governments from adopting nondiscrimination policies on "conditions of employment," which already protect 60% of Floridians. This is legislative interference with local control and a dramatic roll back of local priorities that have been in place with broad support from the public and businesses for years. The Senate version has been amended to remove broad provisions related to ”wage or employment benefits” but still attacks the freedom of local governments to protect outdoor workers from heat stress.
What happened: HB 433 PASSED out of its final committee in House Commerce. Next, it could be scheduled for a final vote on the House floor any day.

How you can help: We need you to contact members of the House of Representatives and urge them to oppose HB 433. Click here to send a message.

“Criminalizing Sex Ed” Bill (HB 1135/SB 1238)

Sponsors: Rep. Taylor Yarkosky, Rep. Doug Bankson, and Sen. Jonathan Martin

What it does: Child sexual abuse is real and devastating. As originally filed, the sweeping “Criminalizing Sex Ed” bill confused what grooming actually is and trivialized its seriousness. It threatened to restrict information crucial to preventing STDs and unwanted pregnancy for minors and threatens to deny them access to LGBTQ content. It used broad, vague language and a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine to censor a wide range of content in the absence of parental approval.
What happened: Equality Florida has been working with the bill sponsors, other lawmakers, and partner organizations to explain and address the primary harms of this legislation. This week, Representative Yarkosky successfully introduced an amendment that remedies those concerns. The House bill now clearly does not criminalize “any act of medical diagnosis or treatment or to an educational conversation by a parent, caregiver, counselor, or educator that is intended for the purpose of sexual education.” While it still uses the term “grooming”– which has been improperly associated with the LGBTQ community by right-wing extremists – the bill only criminalizes conduct where there is lewd or lascivious intent. This is an important step in neutralizing the serious threat of this legislation, and Equality Florida appreciates Rep. Michael Gottlieb for helping secure this critical amendment.

In addition to the bad bills that moved this week or are scheduled to be heard next week, we also need to keep up the pressure on the good bills, including one that is close to passage in the Florida Senate and needs our final push!

🏆 THE GOOD BILLS 🏆

We’re keeping up the pressure on lawmakers to support and co-sponsor these bills, and we need your help.

🏆 The PEP Access Bill (HB 159/SB 1320) 🏆

Sponsors: Rep. Gallop Franklin and Sen. Alexis Calatayud

What it does: These bills facilitate greater access to medications that are critical to preventing HIV transmission by allowing pharmacists to dispense PEP under physician-developed protocols. The legislation recognizes the tremendous scientific advances in the fight to combat HIV and AIDS and allows people to take personal responsibility for their health, an important step towards ending Florida’s HIV epidemic.

What happened: HB 159 PASSED unanimously out of the Florida House of Representatives! SB 1320 has been scheduled for a vote on Monday, February 26 in its final committee, Senate Rules.

How you can help: We need you to contact members of the Senate Rules Committee to urge them to vote YES on SB 1320. Click here to send a message.

🏆 The Health Care Freedom Act (SB 1404/HB 1283) 🏆

Sponsors: Rep. Anna V. Eskamani and Sen. Shevrin Jones

Restores Reproductive Rights: Repeals Governor DeSantis’ 15-Week and 6-Week Abortion Bans, reinstating abortion access up until the start of the third trimester, in line with broader medical and legal standards.
Protects Medical Care For Transgender People: Eliminates restrictions on essential medical care for transgender individuals, ensuring access to treatments supported by leading medical authorities like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.

🏆 Freedom to Learn Act (SB 1414/HB 1355) 🏆

Sponsors: Rep. Michele Rayner and Sen. Tracie Davis

Safeguards Academic Freedom: Repeals provisions of the Stop WOKE Act and the “Don’t Say LGBTQ” law, protecting the right to discuss systemic injustices and LGBTQ topics in educational settings.

Promotes Inclusive Education: Requires the inclusion of LGBTQ history in public education, alongside Holocaust education, African American history, and women's contributions, and restricts book-banning practices by limiting who can raise objections to school materials to only parents of public school students.

Click here to send a message to lawmakers urging them to support the two Freedom bills.

If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our RESIST merch – an easy way to send a message that we are all Floridians, and we aren’t going anywhere! We have pins, shirts, and flags that you can wear proudly to show your support. Click here to check out our online store!