One more. Florida joined, on Wednesday May 17, the list of American states that have brought into force legislation opposing the rights of transgender people, ped at the beginning of May. The date chosen for its proclamation by the governor, the ultraconservative Republican Ron DeSantis, likely candidate for the 2024 presidential election, coincided with the World Day Against phobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. A profusion of proposals for anti-transgender texts has been observed in the United States since the beginning of the year: there are 549, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker website.
The legislative package adopted in Florida imposes, among other things, severe prohibitions on transgender minors: they will no longer be able to benefit from hormonal therapy, puberty blockers or sex reignment surgeries. These treatments and interventions will now be considered child abuse. If a transgender minor uses it, the courts may order their temporary removal from the family home.
To take hormones, transgender adults will need written approval from the Florida College of Physicians, whose members are appointed by the Governor. Other regulations ratified: in public schools, teachers and students will no longer be allowed to use the pronouns of their choice; in government buildings (schools, universities, prisons, etc.), transgender people will no longer be able to use changing rooms or toilets in accordance with their gender identity.
On the same day, the Republican majority in Texas voted to ban hormonal or surgical treatment for transgender minors. An exception is provided for if they are already undergoing treatment, but they must gradually phase it out. “to wean”, according to the document. The text must still be signed by the governor of the state, Republican Greg Abbott, which should be a formality. Last year, he ordered his administration to investigate parents whose children receive such treatmentequating them with abuse.
A more lively offensive since 2021
Among the 549 texts submitted since the beginning of the year and listed by Trans Legislation Tracker, seventy-three have so far been voted or promulgatedonly in Republican controlled states – Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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