LGBTQ+ rights group rips Ron DeSantis for 'putting a handful of extremists in charge' of agenda

Florida’s top LGBTQ organization is blasting GOP Governor Ron DeSantis after his Dept. of Health issued a statement labeled “guidance” Wednesday in opposition to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ fact sheet on gender-affirming care for transgender and nonbinary people, including children and adolescents.

“Once again, the DeSantis Administration seeks to replace science and the safety of young people with political propaganda,” Equality Florida said in a statement. “The Florida Department of Health has released non-binding guidance opposing science-backed health care resources for parents of transgender children.”

“This guidance demonizes life-saving, medically-necessary care, and asserts that the government, not parents, knows best when it comes to health care for our children. And, once again, DeSantis wants the government to intrude into doctors’ offices to pander to extremists in service to his political ambitions. Parents should be deciding, in partnership with their child’s doctor, based on science, not politics, what is best for their children.”

“Governor DeSantis’ runaway agenda of banning books, muzzling teachers, censoring history, and pushing government control is putting a handful of extremists in charge of every aspect of the lives of Floridians and is making the state less safe for LGBTQ families, especially transgender children.”

Earlier Wednesday, in its statement, the Florida Dept. of Health went as far back as 2015 to find a study, in Europe, to support its claims opposing gender-affirming care for children.

The Biden administration’s fact sheet importantly warns: “The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 52 percent of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.” The Florida Dept. of Health’s guidance does not even mention the risk of suicide.

The Florida Dept. of Health is run by DeSantis’ hand-picked Surgeon General, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has been discredited by his own supervisor from his time as a physician in California, by his apparently false claims about his background, and by his appearance in an anti-vaxx video alongside a physician commonly referred to as the “Demon Sperm Doctor.”