Florida Governor and potential presidential nominee Ron DeSantis is carrying on and ramping up his anti-trans rhetoric. Where before the governor was content to rail against trans athletes and lie about instruction in Florida schools, he's now calling for doctors who help transgender youth to be sued.
“You don’t disfigure 10, 12, 13 year-old kids based on gender dysphoria, 80% of it resolves anyways by the time they get older,” DeSantis said in a recent press conference. “I think these doctors need to get sued for what’s happening.”
The statement was a mischaracterization of the facts on several levels. Recent studies have found that the number of people who regret gender-affirming surgery is nearly non-existent. A wealth of studies have shown that gender-affirming treatments increases positive mental health outcomes dramatically.
Beyond that, the Florida GOP is seeking out a problem where it doesn't exist. The majority of medical associations do not recommend surgery for trans youth under the age of 16. Hormonal treatments are not recommended for children before they are already experiencing puberty and surgery is rarely called for in minors. It's almost guaranteed that a pediatrician has thought harder about the welfare of children than the average Republican politician.
Doctors who provide appropriate care for trans youth are being used throughout Sunshine State to gin up electoral support for bigots. Recently, a Floridian school board candidate called for the lynching for doctors who treat for trans youths. DeSantis himself has pushed his administration to strip medical coverage for trans healthcare.
