Dark Days in the Sunshine State: Report Back from the Florida Board of Medicine Hearing

By Maria Franzblau

After hours of testimony, it took only about fifteen minutes for Florida’s Board of Medicine to begin the process of revoking trans children’s right to healthcare. The decision by the Florida Board of Medicine must be understood as part of the wider, far-right offensive on bodily autonomy; the right of a person to control their own body and their own life, whether that be their choice to terminate a pregnancy, to live as your own gender identity, or to get the healthcare you need.

On Friday, August 5th, 2022, the Florida Board of Medicine voted to accept a new rule to ban gender-affirming healthcare and social transitioning for transgender children. Pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis in complete contradiction with all mainstream recommendations on treatment of gender dysphoria, the ban will not go into effect immediately – the Board only voted today to begin the rule-changing process – but will almost certainly lead to further restrictions on life saving treatments like hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers, which are already out of reach for many.

This vote was taken at a public hearing of the Board of Medicine in Fort Lauderdale. I attended this hearing, alongside other Y/DSA members from across our state and a wide array of advocacy groups. The following is a firsthand account of the day’s events and their significance in the fight for bodily autonomy.

The Board of Medicine: An “apolitical” body?

On Friday morning, over a hundred people began streaming into the conference hall where the Board of Medicine meeting was taking place. A sizable minority were anti-trans attendees from far-right groups like Moms for Liberty and the Christian Family Coalition, dressed in suits and dresses and wearing large, euphemistic stickers which read “Let Kids Be Kids.” Most, however, were trans people and their allies, bearing pride flags and signs and mostly wearing shorts and t-shorts. A tension settled over the room as attendees waited anxiously for the meeting to begin.

At 1:00 PM the moment came. The chairman of the Board, Dr. David Diamond, announced they had reached the agenda item on the State’s proposal to ban gender-affirming care for minors, and urged the attendees to conduct themselves in a civil – and, one can assume, quiet  manner. He reassured the audience that the Board, appointed mostly by Governor DeSantis, was “vociferously apolitical,” and would reach a decision in an unbiased fashion. Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo was present, and gave opening remarks, incorrectly claiming that there is “no evidence” to justify the use of hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers in minors, and that these treatments are “irreversible” and “high-risk.” 

Three hours of intense public testimony followed. The speakers against the proposed ban included transgender adults who had been able to live fulfilling lives thanks to gender-affirming healthcare, parents who could speak to the benefits this care had on their trans children, and medical experts who could attest to the safety and scientific rigor of this treatment. State Representative Anna Eskamani of Orlando was the only elected official to speak, driving three hours south to attend the meeting and arguing that the proposed ban was a political maneuver by Governor DeSantis rather than a legitimate medical suggestion. People who spoke out against the ban, particularly trans people, were repeatedly interrupted by the Board, who bemoaned a “lack of data” on gender-affirming healthcare and peppered speakers with intrusive questions about their treatment.

A trans woman stood up and walked to the podium to speak out against the ban, saying “You say you want to protect kids? You protect kids, you do not put them in the streets!”

The speakers for the ban, despite peddling in lies and conspiracy theories, did not receive the same scrutiny from the Board. Their expert witness was Dr. Quentin Van Meter, president of the anti-LGBTQ hate group the American College of Pediatricians. Van Meter repeated the debunked claim that the increase in young people identifying as trans is caused by the “social contagion” of youth being exposed to “gender ideology” through the internet, rather than increased social acceptance. Speakers from the public repeated claims that gender-affirming care constitutes “bodily mutilation” and that children couldn’t possibly understand their own gender identity. The anti-trans attendees, with the help of the Board of Medicine, successfully muddied the waters around the overwhelming medical consensus that gender-affirming healthcare is safe and effective.

Suddenly, the Board ended public comment without explanation an hour earlier than expected. They moved to deliberate, as Board member after Board member spoke in favor of accepting the proposed rule. Within minutes, the Board moved to a vote. A trans woman stood up and walked to the podium to speak out against the ban, saying “You say you want to protect kids? You protect kids, you do not put them in the streets!” As attendees cheered her act of defiance, she was quickly escorted away by police. In the midst of this chaos, with no further delay, the Board quickly called the vote and approved DeSantis’ proposed rule, with all but one of the fifteen-person body voting in favor of the ban. The crowd erupted with chants of “shame!” and “bullshit!” before we were all ushered out of the building by security.

After hours of testimony, it took only about fifteen minutes for the Board to revoke trans children’s right to healthcare. This “apolitical” body’s decision looked like a foregone conclusion from the start.

An Attack on Bodily Autonomy

The decision by the Florida Board of Medicine must be understood as part of the wider, far-right offensive on bodily autonomy; the right of a person to control their own body and their own life, whether that be their choice to terminate a pregnancy, to live as your own gender identity, or to get the healthcare you need. Just this year, Republicans have passed record numbers of anti-trans laws and restrictions on abortion while the unelected Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v Wade. 

In attacking the rights of women and LGBTQ people, Republican lawmakers are using oppressed groups as scapegoats.

Governor Ron DeSantis has been particularly cruel in his attacks on oppressed groups. DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law this year, restricting teachers from discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity with students. He signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” to ban transgender women from playing in scholastic sports. He has denounced and filed complaints against a Miami restaurant for hosting a kid-friendly “drag brunch,” stoking fears that queer people are “grooming” children. He has also signed into law a ban on abortion after 15 weeks, violating Floridians’ right to privacy guaranteed in our state constitution.

In attacking the rights of women and LGBTQ people, Republican lawmakers are using oppressed groups as scapegoats. DeSantis, who was brought into office with heavy support from big business to stop a progressive challenger, will never address rising costs of living by imposing rent control on landlords or protecting workers’ right to unionize. He can, however, use state power to hurt people and deny them care. In doing so, DeSantis appeals to the most committed and radicalized members of the far-right base: a precarious middle class of homeowners and small business owners who fear both threats from above, like the growing power of monopolies to drive them out of business, and from below, in working people’s movements against racism and income inequality. Middle and upper-middle class people, who form the base of groups like Moms for Liberty, can be mobilized to attack the most vulnerable in society while simultaneously condemning the “elite” and “woke” corporations. This force is also augmented by a section of the white and hispanic working class which vote for Republicans. This is caused by a general lack of class consciousness, organization, or leadership of the working class – aided by racism and anti-communist sentiment – which leads many workers to take the side of the bourgeoisie and “punch down” at other oppressed people.

While the Republicans’ brazen attacks on bodily autonomy have galvanized their extremist base, they remain unpopular with the vast majority of people. Much of DeSantis’ agenda has had to be pushed through corrupt, anti-democratic procedures. For instance, the day before the Board of Medicine hearing DeSantis announced he was suspending Tampa’s progressive prosecutor from office after he pledged not to enforce anti-abortion or anti-trans laws, replacing him with a conservative lackey.

These actions are designed to undermine our basic democratic rights – the right of the individual to control their body, the right to education, the right of the public to influence policy.

Under capitalism, ordinary people are forced to relinquish our bodily autonomy, as we are forced to sell our bodies performing labor for the profit of big business. This includes reproductive labor which raises the next generation of workers – childcare, healthcare, education – which is often performed by unpaid or underpaid women. As socialists, we fight for a truly democratic system in which working people control our own bodies, lives, and government. Therefore, the fight for socialism must also be a fight for bodily autonomy, abortion rights, and trans liberation.

A Path Forward

Winning abortion rights, bodily autonomy, and trans liberation will require a mass movement in the streets which can make it untenable for the state to maintain these oppressive laws.  DSA and YDSA have the numbers to advocate and start such battles, but in order to succeed, we need the influence and resources of a broader alliance. 

However, the mainstream feminist organizations like Planned Parenthood and the National Organization of Women have thus far relied on legal challenges and electing Democrats to accomplish their goals. While there are promising signs, such as the Women’s March calling for a “Weekend of Action”, and Planned Parenthood organizing public protests, actually forcing a reverse course would require an immense, sustained campaign that forces the representatives of the ruling class into action. 

Socialist leadership offers theories of radical action based in a working class movement, but at present, those socialists who do hold federal power have not fully stepped into leadership roles, and many DSA chapters with ambitious programs have little connection to a mass base. Therefore, socialists should seek to work in a broad coalition with feminist and labor groups on a United Front basis, maintaining our political independence and raising criticism of liberal leadership where necessary, while earnestly fighting together wherever possible for abortion and trans rights.

In recent weeks, there have been considerable strides towards the goal of a mass movement.

• The Women’s March has called for a national weekend of action October 7th-9th, including a March on Washington on October 8th.
• At the 2022 YDSA Convention in Minneapolis, members of Reform and Revolution proposed  Resolution 14 for YDSA to organize a national day of action for abortion rights and trans liberation that passed.
• Reproductive rights organizers in Kansas won a major victory by soundly defeating a ballot measure to remove protections for abortion rights.

Developments like these open up opportunities for socialists to begin pushing more loudly for mass political action, and make clear a mass groundswell of public support for those actions. YDSA’s newly elected leaders of the National Coordinating Committee (YDSA´s equivalent to DSA´s NPC) should work hand-in-hand with chapters to implement R14, and the organization should even consider planning our Day of Action to coincide with the one planned by the Women’s March. DSA chapters should also join this Day of Action and reach out to their local YDSAs to offer help in implementing it. At the local level, we should reach out to labor unions, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to get them to endorse the October 8th March on Washington and to charter buses to transport protestors to the capital.

Y/DSA chapters can meet this political moment and use it to build power. We should be making preparations for a Day of Action in October, organizing and participating in popular protests against anti-abortion and anti-trans laws, and recruiting new members. In chapters where there is already impressive work being done on bodily autonomy, such as Tampa DSA’s efforts to make Tampa a sanctuary city for abortion rights and Florida Gulf Coast University YDSAs campaign to get a crisis pregnancy center off campus, new members can easily be plugged into existing work. Further, in the wake of the victory in Kansas, we should begin calling publicly for the major feminist organizations to invest their considerable resources in launching a ballot initiative campaign to put codifying abortion rights on the ballot in 2024 in Florida, and pledge ourselves in support of such an initiative.

The public is ready to fight for reproductive rights and trans liberation – but to win, we need a mass movement. If DSA can organize to lead that fight, we can help turn back the reactionary tide in Florida and beyond.