Miami, May 4 (EFE).- A controversial bill that requires people to access public bathrooms aligned with their birth sex, not their gender identity, was approved by the Florida Senate and the House He goes down and now goes, for his signature, to the table of the state governor, Republican Ron DeSantis.
The upper House, with a Republican majority, approved bill HB 1521 with 26 votes in favor and 11 against, as did the House of Representatives shortly after (80-36), a measure that has the approval of DeSantis .
The bill was harshly criticized by Democrats, who argued that the rule would subject transgender people to “harassment” by prohibiting them from using the public restroom that corresponds to the gender with which they identify.
“Where is the dignity? Where is the respect for another human being”, said the Democratic representative Marie Woodson, according to local media, about a law that is also questioned due to the problems that its implementation entails.
The bill passed Wednesday would apply to the use of restrooms in public schools, colleges, universities, state and local government buildings, as well as prisons.
In the general conclusion, the legislators said that “women and men should be provided with bathrooms and locker rooms for their exclusive use, according to their sex,” in order to “maintain public safety, decency, decorum, and privacy”.
People who access bathrooms designated for the “opposite sex” could face trespassing charges if they fail to comply.
The bill includes exceptions in the case of bathroom use by children under 12 years of age, senior citizens and people with disabilities.
This Thursday the Senate and the Florida House also gave the green light to another controversial proposal (SB 254) that outlaws gender-affirming treatments for minors, a decision in line with the opposition shown by DeSantis against these therapies.
The regulations would prohibit minors under the age of 18 from undergoing sex reassignment surgery, receiving hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria or being treated with puberty blockers.
The move was heavily criticized today by Planned Parenthood, the largest network of reproductive services clinics in the US, because, the organization says, “it will cause extreme harm to minors in Florida by making it illegal for a provider to prescribe puberty”.
With the passage of this bill, “politicians in Florida are putting the lives and well-being of transgender” and non-binary people at risk, “especially if they are young,” Laura Goodhue, director of the law, said in a statement. executive of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates.
Last March, a measure issued by the Florida Medical Board went into effect that prohibits minors from receiving hormones or gender change treatments, a restriction that excludes children and adolescents who had already initiated gender affirmation guidelines. .
Under the new state medical rule, minors experiencing gender dysphoria can no longer make changes to their bodies to transition.
The ban is in line with the criteria of DeSantis, who has expressed his rejection of “gender-affirming” treatments on multiple occasions, and with the recent resolution of the Florida Legislature.
“With this ban, Florida lawmakers continue their goal of eliminating LGBTQ+ rights and gender equality. The fight for reproductive freedom also means fighting so that transgender and non-binary people can live without fear,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
