On the 4th of November, the Florida Board of Medicine and Florida Board of Osteopathic medicine held a joint hearing to pass an almost total ban on gender-affirming care for teens. Only 8 speaking slots were allocated for pro and anti ban speakers, and a bunch of out of state detransitioners spoke in favor. Those opposing warned the proposal would trigger suicides-and several were physically removed, in one case for calling DeSantis the Nazi he is. The proposal passed, and power to mics was cut off and the hearing ended early.

A number of speakers called out the thousands and tens of thousands of dollars “donated” to DeSantis by many of the Board members. The hearing was so ugly even Fl State Legislature member Anna Eskamani was forcibly removed. This is Fascism in action, and DeSantis has made it plain that he is willing to kill transgender kids to please theocrats. Theocrats globally are known for killing LGBTQ folks anytime they take power, and this is no exception.

There was only one thing actually debated: the Florida Board of Medicine and Florida Board of Osteopathic medicine disagreed on whether to allow gender-affirming care for teens withing very limited university-funded studies. They passed different resolutions, one with and one without the “study” exception. For now, teens already receiving care can still get it,but no doctor can take new under-18 patients for anything but “conversion therapy” without risking their license.

This was not the first time a hearing was cut off early and opponents harassed. The Aug 5th hearing in Ft Lauderdale was cut off after one hour, and multiple opponents were arrested. Almost all public hearings of this type are fakes everywhere, as the usual policy is to make decisions FIRST, then present a “done deal” as though any public input would be listened to.

Photo by Planned Parenthood