House Bill 1233, a new bill introduced by the Florida House on January 4, aims to define the terms “man” and “woman” based on the biological sex that is assigned at birth.
Rep. Dean Black is the sponsor of the bill, which seeks to legally determine a person’s gender based on the information on their birth certificate.
“There are two sexes: male and female,” Black said in a media release, “since the beginning of time and for all time to come.” “These are immutable, unchanging facts in the eyes of the law. Therefore, with the introduction of this bill, we have provided an answer to the age-old question of ‘What is a woman?'”
The bill also “replaces references to the term ‘gender’ with the term ‘sex'” and additionally, the bill stated that it would prohibit the issuing of unique or alternative driver’s licenses or ID cards that list a person’s sex as inconsistent with what they were assigned at birth, as well as the criteria for applying for disability identification cards.
“This is another egregious attempt to deny the existence of transgender Floridians, violating their rights and dignity,” Rep. Anna V. Eskamani said in a Facebook post addressing the new bill. “It’s ugly, unnecessary, and we’ll do everything we can to stop it.”
The statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Equality Florida also voiced opposition to the bill on social media.
Equality Florida accused the bill in a Facebook post of “requiring the surveillance and outing of transgender Floridians by public health, criminal, and financial data tracking agencies,” as well as attempting to withdraw transgender protections in housing, employment, public spaces, and “in bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters.”
The bill also mandates that insurers provide coverage for mental health services and treatments that affirm the sex assigned at birth when “a person’s belief that his or her gender is inconsistent with their baby,” in all laws after July 1.
Equality Florida stated that this section of the bill refers to the “widely discredited, false, and dangerous practice” of conversion therapy in a post to their organization’s Facebook profile.
“This legislation is based on a dangerous ideology that denies the existence or needs of trans people,” said Jon Harris Maurer, director of Equality Florida Public Policy. “It is a blatant attempt to drive trans Floridians and their families out of the state and make them societal refugees. We are ready to fight.”
On January 16 and 17, LGBTQ+ officials from Central Florida can participate in Equality Florida’s Pride At The Capitol campaign in Tallahassee in an effort to “show up, make our voices heard, and hold politicians accountable for their actions.” Visit EQFL.org/PATC for more details on attending.
