Transgender Youth Forcibly Separated from Parents During Protest at Florida House of Representatives

In yet another attack on the transgender community, the Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill that will allow the state to remove transgender minors from their legal custodial parent or guardian.

If this bill officially becomes law, it will give legal precedent to the court to assume custody of any child who is “subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to” gender-affirming care to include hormone blockers and hormone replacement therapy.” The language of this bill insinuates that the state would consider providing access to gender-affirming care as a “form of physical harm” and therefore constitutes child abuse.

As Florida lawmakers were in the process of passing this bill, reports out of Florida indicate that several trans children allegedly were actively separated from their parents at the House of Representatives during what was described as a “defiant protest” against the anti-trans laws currently being enacted. Footage circulating on social media shows a live broadcast from a local transgender activist in Florida. In the broadcast, you can hear parents and advocates for transgender rights chanting “let them go” and “kidnappers” as men stood guard at the House of Representatives gallery. Allegedly transgender and nonbinary youth as young as 12 were withheld from their parents for over an hour as they were locked inside the gallery.

@captured.star Florida jouse of representatives today #humanrights #lgbt #transrights #transkids #governmentoverreach ♬ original sound – Captured Star

The narrator of the live broadcast can be heard in the background of the footage, “The parents are here, they are withholding them from the parents illegally.”

The reasons for this detainment are still being investigated fully, and purportedly the kids have since been returned to their families.

Even though these families have been reunited, many are now actively planning on seeking refuge in states with trans protection laws in place. But even those who do successfully relocate could potentially face extradition back to Florida if they are caught seeking gender-affirming care in other states. The potential ramifications of this bill are particularly concerning, considering the actions at the House of Representatives yesterday.

Aside from legalizing the removal of transgender children from their families, this bill also makes medical license renewal contingent on the provider attesting to the Department of Health that they will neither provide gender-affirming care to patients nor refer them to outside providers. Doctors who do not comply with these regulations could be charged with a felony and have their licenses revoked.

Those who support this bill have openly admitted that their goal is to completely erase the entire LGBTQIA community from existence. SB 254 was passed in the Florida House of Representatives by a vote of 82-31 and will likely be signed into law by Gov. DeSantis, who has openly vocalized support for the measure.

Featured Image Charlotte Piper