Written by Khadijah Silver, Supervising Attorney of Civil Rights at L4GG

For many of us, there is one fear greater than the fear of death: fear of harm to those we love. The idea of our loved ones’ suffering drives many of our bravest feats, our worst nightmares, and our most impassioned advocacy. Many of us have ancestors that fled to this country, escaping oppression or death, seeking the right to be themselves, free of persecution. Some of us are Black or Native American, and have known what it means to flee one’s home and seek sanctuary from bigotry in another state or even another country.

Right now, this week, family members of transgender, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people are confronted with that same calculus, as our southernmost state has signed a host of laws criminalizing trans people’s use of public facilities, access to healthcare, and ability to exist safely, authentically and in dignity. Should we stay in our homes, in a place that has written hatred for us into the letter of the law, and fight? Or should we leave that home behind to protect ourselves and those we love?

On Wednesday morning, standing in a private Christian school in Tampa, a city with a lesbian mayor, behind a lectern with a sign reading “let kids be kids,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis forced families across his populous state to ask this question as he signed a slate of anti-LGBTQ+ bills targeting both youth and adults and further stripping Floridians of their civil liberties.

The first and most immediately dangerous of these new laws is SB 254, an anti-trans healthcare bill that criminalizes gender-affirming care for minors, vastly curtails care for adults, and permits unsupportive parents to claw back custody of a trans child residing out-of-state, on the grounds that receipt of gender affirming care constitutes an emergency akin to child abuse. Already, adults have been forced off their medication as prescription refill requests are refused. This law is a human rights violation of tremendous proportions, placing Florida at odds with the  United States government and international bodies such as Amnesty International and the World Medical Association, which  have found that deprivation of medication is a form of torture.

The second, SB 1438, bans vaguely and broadly defined “adult oriented performances'' and attaches criminal penalties for officials who grant permits for events featuring drag. In addition to drag shows themselves, this bill is likely to impact event permitting for the state’s wildly popular pride events – already, organizers have canceled Tampa’s “Pride on the River,” which boasts 10-20,000 visitors a year, and Port St. Lucie’s pride celebration.

From the House, HB 1069 further expands Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which restricts pronoun use in both public and private schools and declares that it is “false” to utilize a pronoun that does not conform to a person’s sex assigned at birth. The bill also broadly prohibits discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in the classroom, opening the door to penalties for LGBTQ+ supportive school officials. 

Finally, Governor DeSantis signed HB 1521, a trans bathroom bill which allows individuals to ask trans folks to leave the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity and attaches criminal penalties if the trans person fails to do so, once again elevating the “rights” of the intolerant over the safety of trans people. HB 1521 also opens all publicly owned spaces up to lawsuits brought by the state AG or revocation of their operating licenses if they are reported for noncompliance with the law. 

As a nonbinary attorney that was disowned for my gender identity as a young person and forced back into the closet to receive my mother’s care when I fell ill, I am terrified today. Not just for myself, but for my loved ones in Florida, Texas and across the country that keep sending me Signal messages, asking “what should I do?” I am terrified for the local attorneys in states with bans on gender-affirming care, writing me to ask, “what can I do?” And, I am terrified for our country, which does not have a clear answer for them. Please join all of us at L4GG in standing against these hateful laws, and standing up for your trans loved ones. 

Please join all of us at L4GG in standing against these hateful laws, and standing up for your trans loved ones. Read more about the challenges they are facing at L4GG.org/TransHealth.