Lawmakers prepare to codify restrictions on sex transition procedures for minors

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – House lawmakers listened to a panel of experts and advocates discuss gender dysphoria and procedures being performed or prescribed on minors.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne, chaired the committee meeting and said the panel was a “predicate for what’s to come.” 

“I say these panels are oftentimes a predicate for what’s to come. That’s exactly what today was. And I promise you, you will like the bill, it’s coming,” Fine said, but did not elaborate on the bill.

Six experts and advocates spoke on the panel including Chair of Florida Board of Medicine Dr. Scot Ackerman, Dr. Stephen Levine, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Oxford Michael Biggs, Dr. Michael Laidlaw, Advocate Chloe Cole, and David Leatherwood, a board member of Gays Against Groomers, a coalition of gay people who oppose sexualizing of children.

Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old, detransitioned after taking medications and underwent surgery to transition to a boy as a younger teen. She said the treatments came following her therapists’ “only approach” to affirm her identity or else face committing suicide.

The decision later came with regret. 

“All of this was a huge failure on the part of my medical practitioners. Mom and dad and I were lied to, weren’t given any other option, or informed fully of the potential consequences of medical transition,” Cole said. “And my parents did sign off, but it was under the false pretense that my life depended on it. And I, a 13-year-old, was expected to know the consequences.”

Leatherwood said people are creating irreversible damage on medical patients before kids reach puberty. 

“The LGBT community is being used like a Trojan horse by extremists in a death cult to ruin the future generation of our country by destroying their bodies, creating irreversible damage and lifelong medical patients before these kids even reach puberty,” Leatherwood said. 

Following the meeting, Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, D-St. Petersburg, called the meeting the “latest attack” of “vicious actions” to erase the Trans community in Florida. 

“It should not be controversial in the Florida Legislature to leave medical decisions to patients, parents, and their doctors. Nearly 30 of the leading medical groups across the country recognize the medical necessity of treatments for gender dysphoria and endorse these treatments. Florida’s parents should have the right to follow the evidence-based science to provide the best care for their child,” Rayner-Goolsby said. 

Ackerman said that although society has many different opposing opinions, the “chief point of agreement” amongst all the experts is that there’s a lack of high quality research on the subject of gender dysphoria, and the treatment of gender dysphoria.

Biggs referred to a study done by the Genuine Clinic in London where they administered GNRHA, which is a substance that keeps the testicles and ovaries from producing sex hormones by blocking other hormones that are needed to make them, to 44 teenagers.

Laidlaw said his campaign “forced” them to publish their research and revealed that “puberty suppression didn’t improve psychological functioning, and didn’t reduce gender dysphoria.”

Laidlaw went through some of the medical consequences of puberty blockers such as putting young people “way out of balance.”

He said based on studies and his own experience as an endocrinologist, females are at higher risk of polycystic ovarian syndrome and endocrine tumors after being put on puberty blockers.

Females and males have an increased risk of myocardial infarction and death due to cardiovascular disease. He also named many other medical consequences and permanent changes such as sexual dysfunction, hirsutism, deepening of the voice and infertility.

“How can we prove the gender identity? Can you find it on a scan like a CT scan, or a brain biopsy or genetic testing? The answer is none of the above. There is no definite physical evidence of a gender identity. And therefore, many kids will grow out of this, will be harmed if they undergo the treatments. I’ll describe a bit of basic biology, there’s only two human sexes,” Laidlaw said.

Laidlaw discussed high testosterone doses and the psychological effects that have been studied and said the studies found major mood syndromes such as mania or major depression and psychotic symptoms in those who receive the high doses of testosterone.

“It’s a problem for the body and a problem for the mind to have these hormones so grossly out of the normal range,” Laidlaw said.

Laidlaw also went into the medical consequences of sex change surgeries such as losing sense of sensation on the nipples, women no longer being able to breastfeed after undergoing mastectomies, significant scars that can widen and cause pain and more.

Rep. Alex Rizo, R-FL, asked Ackerman how permanent puberty suppression is and if it’s reversible.

Ackerman used Lupron as an example, which is a testosterone blocking drug. He said that Lupron demineralizes the bones, causes osteoporosis, which is irreversible and also causes early onset dementia and Alzheimer’s. He said other experts have said adolescents who are taking puberty blockers have similar irreversible side effects.

“So those same we heard from other experts, that in the adolescence, that they’re saying there are similar irreversible side effects of this hormone blocking drugs, they’re not to be taken lightly,” Ackerman said.