DeSantis says election could decide future of Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care

Central Florida Public Media | By Danielle Prieur | August 29, 2024

Governor Ron DeSantis is applauding a federal appeals court’s decision to allow Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

The federal appeals court’s ruling came just months after a lower court ordered the ban to be lifted.

With the ban in place, people under the age of 18 can’t be prescribed puberty blockers or other hormone therapies.

DeSantis applauded the court’s decision, but said a lot could change, including with the ban based on results of the election in November.

“You know you are in a situation where, depending on how the election goes, I could absolutely see a Harris administration try to wield the administrative state against states that have done things like we did to protect minors,” said DeSantis.

DeSantis said he wasn’t surprised that the ban was upheld in Florida, as similar bans have been upheld in 25 states, including Alabama, New Hampshire and Wyoming.

“So we knew on appeal that we would win, we were able to win that, and so that’s going into effect, but that is going to provide protection for people in very vulnerable situations,” said DeSantis.

In June, after the first court’s ruling that temporarily halted the ban, several healthcare providers including 26Health in Orlando started providing gender affirming care to new patients again.

Now with this most recent ruling, clinics will have to stop treatment of some patients mid-care, which could lead to unfavorable outcomes.

According to the Trevor Project, that advocates for LGBTQ young people across the U.S., LGBTQ young people are more than four times as likely to commit suicide compared to their straight peers.

The group found a number of policies and practices can help save trans and gender non-conforming children’s lives, including respecting a person’s preferred pronouns, allowing a person to change their legal documents to reflect their gender identity, and making gender-affirming care accessible.

In a peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Adolescent Health, Trevor Project researchers “found that gender-affirming hormone therapy is significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people.”