DeSantis bans children from going to drag shows and receiving gender transition procedures
Jeremiah Poff
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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a slew of bills Wednesday that placed new restrictions on children attending drag shows, prohibits minors from receiving gender transition procedures, and requires individuals to use bathroom facilities in public buildings corresponding to their biological sex.
DeSantis plugged the five bills he signed as efforts to “protect the innocence of Florida’s children.” The bills included HB 1069, which expanded the prohibition on classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity from the 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act to all elementary and middle school grades. The 2022 law, which was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics, previously prohibited instruction in those topics through third grade.
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“Florida is proud to lead the way in standing up for our children,” the governor said of the bills. “As the world goes mad, Florida represents a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”
The latest crop of bills signed into law by DeSantis comes as he is widely expected to launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks. The governor has touted Florida as a blueprint of conservative governance and has made education reform and protecting children a central part of his agenda.
SB 254 was one of the bills signed by DeSantis on Wednesday. The new law will prohibit minors from receiving gender transition surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers, and will open up a path for patients who received such procedures as children to sue doctors who performed them.
“You have a movement amongst, I would say rogue elements of the medical establishment, to do things that are basically the mutilation of minors,” DeSantis said at a press conference where he signed the bills. “They’re trying to do sex change operations on minors, giving them things like puberty blockers and doing things that are irreversible to them. And that is not based on science, that is not based on evidence.”
The governor also signed a bill that allows home-schooled and private school students to participate in public school sports programs. Another bill would impose fines and suspend the liquor licenses of hotels and restaurants that allow children to attend drag shows.
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The legislative package earned praise from conservative activists. In a statement following the signing, Terry Schilling, the president of the American Principles Project, said that the bills signed Wednesday once again showed Florida as a leading “pro-family” policy state.
“Gov. DeSantis and state lawmakers were among the earliest to act to remove gender ideology from schools, and Florida’s Department of Health has been a rare voice of sanity amid the activist-captured medical establishment,” Schilling said. “It’s no wonder families have been flocking to the Sunshine State in droves. Today, Gov. DeSantis has once again shown why he is one of the staunchest allies of the pro-family movement. We thank him and state legislators for their commitment to safeguarding Florida kids, and we urge other states to follow Florida’s outstanding, pro-family example.”