Discover Your Rights:
A Guide to Navigating Current Transgender Issues in Florida.

Essential Information

This guide serves to help educate you on the recent legal happenings in Florida regarding the transgender community. With this knowledge, we hope you will feel more secure in navigating these new challenges. Understanding the scope of these attacks on the community can be disheartening.

This guide also serves as a reminder that you are not alone. People in and outside this community are fighting for the progress, safety, and protection of the transgender community.

Unlocking the key terms

Gender

Gender

An individual’s identity based on social and cultural expectations. Gender identity does not have to coincide with one’s sex present at birth.

Sex

Sex

An individual’s biological and physical characteristics, such as organs, hormones, and reproductive organs present at birth.

Transgender

Transgender

A person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth.

Third-person pronouns

Third-person pronouns

A type of personal pronoun used to refer to a person, such as he/him/his, she/her/hers, or they/them/theirs.

Gender Dysphoria

Gender Dysphoria

The feeling of distress due to conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity.

Gender-Affirming Care

Gender-Affirming Care

 A range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity. This support may look like hormone replacement therapy, speech therapy, or primary care.

Discrimination in Healthcare

Discrimination in Healthcare

Negative actions or lack of consideration given to an individual or group due to a preconceived and unjustified opinion.

Bill

Bill

A proposal for a new law that is voted on after discussion.

What You Need to Know

Bills and laws targeting transgender individuals have recently been passed. Understanding the scope of these bills allows individuals to learn how to stay safe, ensure their rights are upheld, and guarantee that their identity is protected.

This bill, otherwise known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, was signed into law in 2022. It initially prohibited teachers from instructing on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through the third grade, but has now been extended to all grades.

 Also called the “Don’t Say They” bill, is an extension of the previously mentioned “Don’t Say Gay” bill and was signed into law in May of 2022. This bill states that employees and students are not required to use a person’s pronouns if they don’t align with the pronouns coinciding with their assigned sex.

The “Safety in Private Spaces Act” / “The Bathroom Ban” requires bathrooms, other than single-stall bathrooms, to be separated by sex assigned at birth. Transgender individuals must be provided a single-stall bathroom as they may not enter a restroom designated for the sex opposite of their sex at birth. Additionally, this bill prohibits gender-inclusive restrooms and changing rooms in schools, prisons, detention centers, and government buildings.

This “License to Discriminate in Healthcare” bill allows healthcare providers and insurance companies to refuse services to anyone based on religious, ethical, or moral beliefs. The bill passed despite the fear that it may be used directly to discriminate against queer individuals, especially transgender individuals.

Understanding the Impact

2023 Anti-Trans Bill Tracker

Translegislation.com

Impact of Gender-Affirming Care Bans on Transgender Individuals in Florida

93%

Feel less safe as transgender individuals.

81%

Feel that bans would make them move or try to move to a different state.

80%

Believe bans worsen harmful stereotypes about LGBTQ+ people.

80%

Report that these bans impact their overall health or that of their loved ones.

Resources

Moving Forward

Trans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860 – A peer-support hotline run by trans people to provide trans people with emotional or financial support and other resources.

LGBT National Hotline: (888) 843-4564 – A confidential, safe space to discuss any issues regarding gender identity or sexual orientation.

Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988 – A direct connection to confidential and free 24/7 support for individuals facing emotional distress or in a suicidal crisis.