Florida’s New Anti-Trans Law Would Require Kids To ‘Prove’ Gender By Undergoing Invasive Examinations

Trans children continue to face so many setbacks and so much discrimination in America. It seems like every day, a new law is being passed to make their lives harder than they already are and it’s incredibly depressing. Following in the footsteps of Mississippi and Arkansas, Florida has reportedly introduced a new bill that would require child athletes to potentially undergo invasive examinations of their genitals to confirm that they’re on the right team. Yes, really.

  1. The Florida’s House of Representatives reportedly passed the bill. According to Advocate, the bill thankfully died on the Senate floor after making it past the House of Representatives. The law, known as Senate Bill 2012, was thought to be on its way to being fully passed by the Republican majority, which would have been horrific for young trans girls and women.
  2. The bill only failed for monetary reasons. There was no concern for the young girls and women who would have been affected and even traumatized by this legislation. Instead, the Republicans ended up abandoning the idea for now because they realized that the National Collegiate Athletic Association would pull all their events from Florida, of which there are nearly 50, and the state would lose out on roughly $75 million revenue. Great to see they’ve got their priorities straight!
  3. Yes, they really think that any random adult should be able to look at a child’s genitals. According to the bill, if they believe a trans student is lying about their gender, this allows “the school or institution to request a certain health examination and consent form or other statement from the student’s health care provider to verify the student’s biological sex under certain circumstances.” The bill however added that the child wouldn’t have to “disrobe publicly.” Well, that’s nice of them.
  4. Trans kids have it hard enough – why are we making it worse on them? Given that the stats for suicide among trans youth are depressingly high (though any amount is too many), the fact that states and officials are actively working to make their lives more miserable and exclusive is absolutely disgusting. We should be rallying around these kids as we would ALL children regardless of their gender identity. It costs nothing to not only teach tolerance and acceptance but to live by it as well. One day we’ll get there, I hope.

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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