What is going on in Florida & Missouri?

Hello everyone. I hope you had a great couple of weeks. I had a wonderful Pesach with my family and planned a 3-year old’s train-themed party. So if anyone needs ideas for a train-themed toddler’s birthday party, I got you covered!

A lot has been happening in these past two weeks, especially concerning the Republican attack on transgender rights and transgender communities. Today, I want to focus on recent events in Florida and Missouri and what nonprofits can do. If you are interested in learning more and receiving this newsletter weekly, like, share, and subscribe below to receive this newsletter every Wednesday. And if you have any questions, please let me know.

Don’t go to Florida:

Equality Florida,a LGBTQIA+ 501(c)(3) advocacy organization, has released a travel advisory for Florida, recommending transgender people not travel to the state. There are a lot of reasons for this, but it boils down to the fact that the Republican supermajority is creating an environment that is hostile towards LGBTQIA+ livelihood, and they are just getting started. A bill being considered now would allow medical providers to deny treatment to LGBTQIA+ individuals. DeSantis is also trying to push the “Don’t Say Gay” law to all grades, leading to a complete erasure of LGBTQIA+ people in school. This will impact more than just health class, it means that students will go through their whole education without seeing people who look like them or act like them.

As per the press release from Equity Florida (and from what I have been hearing through the grapevine), queer families are leaving Florida or looking for ways to get out of Florida. Others are avoiding Florida at all cost. High school students are looking to go to college outside of states like Florida due to their policies towards LGBTQIA+ people. 1 in 8 college freshman won’t be staying in Florida due to these anti-LGBTQIA+ policies. Indeed, this exodus from Florida is going to have negative long term impacts on Florida’s economy. As DeSantis is planning on running for President in 2024, it wouldn’t be surprising if he keeps on attacking the LGBTQIA+ community for political gain.

Lack of access to healthcare for trans individuals

While most attacks on transgender people has been focused on gender affirming care for youth, a new emergency regulation by the Attorney General of Missouri, Andrew Bailey, has basically eliminated care for ALL transgender individuals. At this point, it does seem that transgender people who have already gotten treatment will be grandfathered in. That said, transgender people receiving gender affirming care are being informed by doctors that they cannot continue prescribing treatment for fear of losing their medical license, or worse. Bailey has also set up a website for people to report doctors who are providing care to transgender individuals. Furthermore, Bailey is investigating hospitals in Missouri for records regarding providing gender affirming care to adults. Planned Parenthood in Missouri is suing after Bailey requested documentation of children who have been provided gender affirming care. If you are working with transgender people, and especially transgender children, you may be a target in this witch hunt.

While this new emergency regulation is unlikely to survive a court battle, this sends a message to trans individuals in Missouri: healthcare is not safe in this state. Local organizations, such as the Metrotrans Umbrella Group and Promo, as well national organizations such as the ACLU and Lambda Legal, plan on challenging this rule in court. Whether this rule will be held up in court is beyond my expertise. Even when these laws aren’t held up in court, they are still copied and pasted into other states. And the damage is already done when the court overturns them.

What does this mean for nonprofits?

Are your staff, clients, and their families safe? From bathrooms to access to medication and healthcare if anything happens, Florida and Missouri (among other states) are becoming increasingly unsafe. Not only that, all these attacks on transgender communities is having an intense impact on the mental health of transgender and nonbinary individuals, especially youth. This will be even worse if these states pass laws that force youth to be outed by teachers and other trusted officials. While we are focusing on these two states, some states are even worse for LGBTQIA+ individuals. According to the Movement Advancement Project, both Florida and Missouri were rated low in their policies for LGBTQIA+ communities; 9 other states were rated as negative.

In many states, beyond Florida and Missouri, transgender people are getting as much medication as possible and making plans if care becomes unavailable. Furthermore, what starts in Florida and Missouri doesn’t necessarily stay there; there will be copycat laws all across Republican states as they look for ways to persecute transgender individuals for being themselves.

I know there is usually an attempt to show both sides or debate these laws, but that assumes that people are passing these in good faith. I cannot emphasize this point: the cruelty is the point. These bills are being passed to erase LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities and are not being passed in good faith. Furthermore, nonprofits need to be careful to not unconsciously provide substance to an argument that attacks and harms LGBTQIA+ individuals. Note that some nonprofits actively discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people in multiple ways, including forcing them to be closeted or only allowing services after being forced into an anti-LGBTQIA+ sermon in some religious organizations.

As a nonprofit, you should consider putting out a statement of support for transgender people. Let transgender people know that you are a place where they can be safe. This includes speaking out against anti-trans laws. The reality is that transgender people and communities, and the queer community in general, is under attack and transgender people need to know where they are safe.

This week, we explored two specific examples of the political environment of Florida and Missouri. As more states pass these draconian legislation, it is imperative that nonprofits show their support to the LGBTQIA+ communities. Nonprofit employees should also explore their codes of ethics to help guide their actions. And contact your local LGBTQIA+ community center to find out what else you can do for your specific community. Feel free to ask me questions you have as well; as I always say, if you have a question others probably are wondering the same thing as well.