Socialist students from a Florida university staged a protest and “die-in” to protest the Florida medical board’s discussion of preventing children from being gender transitioned.
According to the Surgeon General’s original petition to the board, the new measures would prevent anyone under 18 from hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or gender-changing surgery.
“Given the lack of quality evidence in support of gender transition treatments, the use of such treatments for gender dysphoria should be considered experimental and should require fully informed consent of the risks and limitations,”
Before the event started, the student club Young Democratic Socialists of America staged a “die-in.” Claiming that the Florida GOP and banning gender transition for children are deadly, the students pantomimed their deaths to show solidarity, holding paper gravestones as they lay on the lawn.
Attendees are staging a die-in to represent trans people who have died and those who will be killed by reactionary, anti-trans policies.
Gender-affirming care saves lives, and should be available FOR FREE to all people. The FL GOP is deadly. pic.twitter.com/FQy0U6b0R0
— YDSA @ FIU🌹 (@YDSAFIU) August 5, 2022
The club also claimed that Surgeon General Joseph Lapado was incorrect when he argued that puberty blockers are ineffective and dangerous. The tweet linked a single Vice article in which doctors were unhappy with how their studies were used to show issues with puberty blockers, as that was not consistent with their intent and conclusions.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo speaks first, arguing (incorrectly) that hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers are “ineffective” and “high-risk.”
There are countless sources and studies debunking these claims: https://t.co/Fn9M6jy8jv pic.twitter.com/PVQXRTs9N2
— YDSA @ FIU🌹 (@YDSAFIU) August 5, 2022
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However, a young woman named Sophia Galvin also spoke. Despite wide ridicule of the notion of rapid onset gender dysphoria, Galvin described her experience with the phenomena, detailing the harm done to her as a child allowed to transition.
“After 2 years of hormone therapy and a double mastectomy, I was left far worse than before. I lost my college scholarship, was unemployed, raped multiple times, addicted to sex and drugs, and unable to have a logical or coherent thought…”
Important words from @SophieeSpeakss pic.twitter.com/kaVHoF4nGF
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) August 6, 2022
Ron DeSantis’s press secretary, Christina Pushaw, spoke out in support of the testimony and the board’s new standards, arguing that, despite appearances, they are more empathetic and affirming.
“Affirming” to me means accepting kids as they are, assuring them that there’s nothing wrong with their body. True affirmation means helping them accept their body as they grow up, through therapy & support, as with teens who have eating disorders or body dysmorphia generally.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 6, 2022
Florida Deputy Press Secretary echoed Pushaw’s sentiments.
We are talking about experimental and harmful procedures on children. The Florida Board of Medicine is right to review the evidence – which is what they are doing. https://t.co/uBKj8Xfewr
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 6, 2022
After public comment concluded, the board went forward with its restrictions, disallowing those under 18 from engaging in gender transition treatments due to their lack of “cognitive and emotional maturity.”
With the rule in place, those under 18 will no longer be able to receive hormone therapy, puberty blockers, or gender transition surgeries. Doctors who violate these new standards will risk having their medical licenses revoked.
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