TALLAHASSEE — Transgender people would be forced to put their birth sex on their Florida driver’s licenses under a bill that gained a House committee approval on Monday, the latest effort by state Republicans to target the LGBTQ community.
The bill also would require health plans that cover treatments such as hormone-replacement therapy and surgeries for people with gender dysphoria also to cover the cost of “de-transitioning.”
The House Select Committee on Health Innovation approved the bill (HB 1639) along party lines, despite opposition from transgender people and their allies.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles currently identifies a person’s “gender” on licenses. The bill would require licenses to reflect a person’s sex, based on “the person’s sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth.”
“Here we are yet again. I thought we had moved past this, in light of real issues that Floridians have, but yet here we are again, targeting 0.66 percent of human beings that live in the state of Florida,” said Rep. Michelle Rayner, D-St. Petersburg. “We can’t keep picking and choosing who we are going to give freedoms for.”
Bill sponsor Doug Bankson, R-Apopka, did not use the word “transgender” throughout nearly two hours of discussion on the bill. He argued, however, that there is “not a lot of history behind” gender transitioning, although such medical treatment has been available for decades.
Bankson said the proposed changes are aimed at establishing a standard for government documents.
“This is not to suppress people’s right for personal expression. This is not to force one belief upon another,” he said,
But Justine Torres, a transgender woman from Tampa, called the measure a clear instance of discrimination.
“I want to identify that this is discrimination on the basis of one’s sex and it’s purely out of animus for members of the transgender community,” she said. “I want to note that eliminating people’s ability to get identity documentation that reflects their affirmed sex exposes them to potential dangers.”
With the 60-day legislative session entering its third week Monday, a Senate version of the bill had not been filed.
The proposal comes after lawmakers in the past approved measures banning treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers for trans children and making it more difficult for trans adults to access care for gender dysphoria. A law passed last year also prohibits schoolchildren and teachers from using pronouns that do not align with their sex assigned at birth.
Lawmakers, at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ behest, also approved a measure aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows. A federal judge blocked that law from taking effect, but the state has appealed.
Kimberly Cox, a Pasco County woman whose child is transgender, pleaded with the panel to vote against the measure under review Monday.
“Honestly, I’m scared, scared for my child, because this is likely to force them back into a lifestyle of depression and anxiety and self-harm. I’m scared for all the people in the LGBTQ community and I’m scared what’s going to happen when you force them back into that closet,” said Cox, part of the Women’s Voices for Southwest Florida group. “It’s bad enough that they’re bullied at school and that they’re bullied in these public spaces. Now the biggest fear is the bullies that are creating these laws.”
This story came from reporting by News Service of Florida.
