Statement from Denise Spivak, CEO of CenterLink, The Community of LGBTQ Centers, a Florida-based nonprofit, on Governor DeSantis signing several pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation into law:
“These extreme and blatantly anti-LGBTQ bills fly in the face of American values and will only serve to hurt Floridians, endanger our youth, damage our economy, and make the state synonymous with hate. If Governor DeSantis truly cared about all the people of Florida he wouldn't have signed any of these discriminatory bills.”
- SB 254 GAC Ban: criminalizes all GAC for minors and grandfathers current minors in. Criminalizes the vast majority of adult care. It also legalizes the kidnapping of trans youth by unaffirming parents by granting emergency jurisdiction for trans youth “at risk” of receiving GAC.
- HB 1521 trans bathroom ban: criminalizes trans people using the bathroom if asked to leave. Does not apply to private businesses but does apply to government owned buildings such as airports, convention centers, stadiums, state parks, beaches etc. Places could face revocation of operating licenses for not enforcing or lawsuits by the state AG. Applies to all educational facilities including state colleges and private universities
- HB 1069 Don’t Say Gay expansion: Expands Don’t Say Gay to 8th grade and to all private schools. The prior law was already expanded to 12th grade via administrative rules by the Florida Department of Education.
- SB 1438 Drag/Pride Permit Ban: this bans drag through vague and obscure language that bans “adult oriented performances.” Notably, this provides criminal penalties for any public official that approves a permit for an event that features drag. This will likely result in cancellations and refusals to approve pride event permits. Additionally, this empowers the state to use administrative agencies to target venues as DeSantis has already done.