How Ron DeSantis accidentally created a powerful resistance in Florida

In mid-May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed a series of bills into law targeting LGBTQ+ people in all aspects of public life, including a ban on gender-affirming care for recipients. Medicaid for trans youth and adults, restricting drag performances, criminalizing trans people for using bathrooms that align with their gender, and prohibiting educators from teaching students about gender and sexuality.

About two weeks after signing these laws, the culmination of the governor’s three-year legislative and administrative assault on transgender people, immigrants, and people of color, DeSantis announced his Republican presidential campaign and his desire to model the rest of the country after Florida. .

Some trans people who have means have left the state because of the new laws. But many of those who have stayed say they are experiencing a catalytic moment for organized resistance, and they are fighting back through daily acts of defiance. HuffPost spoke to six trans organizers across the state who have been fighting DeSantis in myriad ways, from community education to art to personal resistance, even as some organizers have seen their own access to gender-affirming care threatened.

“I have never believed more in the value of trans people than I do right now,” said Billy Branca, a 29-year-old LGBTQ+ advocate in St. Petersburg. “I think by trying to erase us, Ron DeSantis accidentally created the most powerful resistance he could ever imagine because we’re angry and we’re connecting and we’re looking out for each other.”

Over the past few months, Branca and a group of trans organizers have researched and compiled a list of clinics that still serve trans youth.

Branca said the group wanted to create an inclusive and up-to-date “how-to” for trans youth and adults desperate to find dates before it’s too late. The guide also includes mental health resources, medical care scholarships and practical information like which pharmacies are trans-friendly and what are the estimated costs of hormones. More than 130 people have reached out to access the guide since it began distribution last month. (Branca asked that HuffPost not link to the guide, as another popular online trans resource became the target of a bullying campaign last year after being covered by the media.)

“We are democratizing access,” Branca said. “Removing obstacles and creating a situation where you just have to call and make an appointment instead of collecting a ton of information on your own…it’s also a form of resistance because we’re working as a community to remove obstacles to keeping our selves dear ones alive”.

In Miami, Corinne Mariposa draws on her own experiences as a 40-year-old trans woman to educate her cisgender neighbors. For the past two weeks, she’s set up a booth at a farmers’ market with a sign that reads, “Ask a trans woman,” inviting people to ask her what it’s like for trans adults who are losing access to affirming care. of genre. .

“There is so much misinformation going around, and if we don’t control the narrative, it will definitely be controlled for us by some crazy people,” he said.

Mariposa said that the day after DeSantis signed SB 254, which ended gender-affirming care for trans youth and adults receiving Medicaid, she met with her nurse practitioner, who told her they could no longer prescribe estrogen for her. . Under new state regulations, only physicians or osteopathic physicians will be able to prescribe hormone therapy. About 80% of trans adults in Florida receive care from nurse practitioners. (The law may be ruled unconstitutional after a federal judge recently issued a preliminary injunctionwhich for now applies to only three families in the state).

“We cried in the hallway because they said they couldn’t see me again,” Mariposa said. “It was the toughest breakup of two people who didn’t want to be apart.”

Even if Mariposa can find a doctor, she currently won’t be able to access hormone pills. Providers cannot write prescriptions until patients sign in person a newly required informed consent form, which the medical board has yet to create. Mariposa only has hormone medication for two weeks.

“It seems like there’s a time bomb going off,” Mariposa said of the current levels of community stress. “But we are tough toughs. We will come together in big and beautiful ways, and it’s already happening.”

For some, that resilience seems to simply continue to express itself and be visibly trans in public.

Sage Rosenberg, a nonbinary transmasculine performer who goes by the drag name King Femme, said they worry about their safety every day and that a new law will be passed that attacks a part of their identity. But they said that the joy and strength of her community helps them get on stage.

“It’s absolutely terrifying to go to a Pride event right now, but it’s something where I don’t know if there’s anything else that can bring me as much joy and healing,” Rosenberg said. “YOIt’s hard to focus on celebrating when your community has such a bright red target on your back.”

Similarly, Vyn Suazion, a trans man and drag performer who lives in Tarpon Springs, said leaving his house every morning is “a huge red flag.” He lives on the border of a county once owned by the Ku Klux Klan and said people threw eggs at his car, which has a bumper sticker that says “Equality Florida.”

But Suazion, who serves on the board of her local chapter of PFLAG, an educational support group for LGBTQ people and their families, said she’s also seen signs of positive change in her community.

“I live in a neighborhood where I am surrounded by people from the right-wing party. At the same time, they have taken the opportunity to find out who I am. I am grateful to say that I am protected in my space by people who have different political views than mine,” said Suazion. “They agree that what is happening to the LGBTQ community is unconstitutional, and I think education is what is changing the game.”

Brandon Wolf, the press secretary for Florida’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said one of the most important lessons of the last two terms of DeSantis’s governorship has been how the erosion of queer and trans civil liberties threatens civil rights. and liberties for all.

“I think part of the strategy of the right is to force people to play mole with every imaginable problem,” Wolf said. “Every imaginable community is under constant attack. They are laying siege to our communities and expect us to get so overwhelmed trying to put out each individual fire that we can’t figure out who set it all on fire.”

But he said he’s been heartened by the acts of community resistance he’s seen: record turnout numbers at Pride events in Sarasota and Tallahassee, student-led walkouts and several LGBTQ+ people running for public office in the state. He sees the ongoing fight in Florida as crucial to coalition building in underserved communities across the country, especially in light of DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign.

“What happens in Florida very often drives the conversation across the country,” he said. “If we allow Ron DeSantis to be elected president of the United States, the book bans will come his way. He is also going to try to criminalize health care for his children…. that is his model of what he believes this country should be.”

But many Floridians are trying to prevent that from happening.

Last week, Alex S, a software developer who runs an online trans resource called The Umbrella Guide, drove two hours from his Orlando home to Tampa to attend a Medical Board meeting where the group discussed what should included in the consent form to receive hormones. The form may not be available until July. Alex, who asked not to be identified by his full name because he is concerned for his safety, said he was surprised by the hundreds of trans people and allies who showed up to make their voices heard at the meeting. board.

“I wasn’t very optimistic until I started getting involved. It’s easy to sit at home and read about all the terrible things that are happening and all the comments that say you need to get out of Florida now,” said the lifelong Floridian. “Don’t give up on Florida…we’re still here. I mean, just existing and being yourself right now and not falling into despair is resistance in my eyes.”