Bills Propose Protections Against Implications of Gender Ideology for Children

Vulnerable Child Protection Act 

SB 254 (Yarborough) and HB 1421 (Fine) would prohibit physicians from performing gender transition procedures on minors and require physicians to obtain informed written consent before performing such procedures on adults. The legislation would require that a physician’s license be revoked if he or she violates any of the sections of the bill. It would also prohibit insurance companies from providing coverage for gender transition procedures for minors under a health insurance policy. 
SB 254 passed the Health Policy Committee on Monday with an 8-3 vote. FCCB staff indicated support for the bill. HB 1421 has yet to be heard by its first committee of reference. 

Child Protection in Public Schools 

SB 1320 (Yarborough) and comparable bills HB 1223 (Anderson) and HB 1069 (McClain) would define “sex” to mean biological sex for all of the Florida Education Code and prohibit an employee, contractor, or student of a public school from being required to refer to a person using personal titles or pronouns that do not correspond with that person’s sex. The bills would prohibit classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in grades PreK-8 and also provide parents with greater transparency and the ability to restrict the type of books or instructional content their child can access. 
On Tuesday, HB 1223 was approved by the Choice and Innovation Subcommittee by a 14-4 vote. HB 1069 was found favorable by the Education Quality Subcommittee by a 13-5 vote on Wednesday. FCCB supported both bills.