Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Policy
April 21, 2022 12:36 PM

Florida advises against gender-affirming medical or social care for transgender kids

Orion Rummler, The 19th News
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    LGBTQ healthcare_i_i.jpg
    Getty Images/IStockphoto

    The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday advised healthcare professionals against performing certain gender-affirming care treatments or helping trans minors navigate socially transitioning. Those nonenforceable guidelines break with recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Even if the guidelines are not legally binding, they are significant: Experts told The 19th that singling out socially transitioning rather than just medically transitioning pushes Florida’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care beyond many other states’.

    The guidelines were laid out in a news release from Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. In addition to the guidance surrounding social transitioning, they specifically recommended against offering hormone therapies and puberty blockers — both recommended by the foremost medical associations on trans health and backed by the American Medical Association — or gender-affirming surgeries, which are not recommended or typically administered for patients under 18.

    Kellan Baker, executive director and chief learning officer of D.C.-based LGBTQ+ healthcare provider Whitman-Walker Institute, said the guidelines against social transitioning — using a new name, new pronouns, or changing outfits or hairstyles to better match gender expression or identity — are ultimately advising physicians to misgender trans youth and deny their identity when working with their families.

    Social transitioning is often a key step for young trans people experiencing gender dysphoria, Baker said. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health recommends that families work with mental health professionals on how to best navigate a social transition for their child. Clinics like the University of Florida Health Youth Gender Program offer services to support trans youth’s medical and social transitions.

    “It’s listening to the young person and doing what they need to feel safe and supported,” Baker said. Asking trans youth to be closeted when they wish to socially transition could greatly hurt their mental health and lead to kids feeling like they need to hide who they are, he said.

    Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division


    Brandon Wolf, press secretary for Equality Florida, said over text that the guidelines singling out social transitions are “a dangerous escalation” beyond what other states have attempted via anti-trans legislation.

    “DeSantis has asserted that government not only knows better than parents and doctors what care to provide to children, but that government knows better than parents what clothes their kids should wear, what name they should be given, and what pronouns they should be referred to with,” he said.

    Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for the Florida Department of Health, said in an email that the department’s guidelines are not enforced by the state. The guidelines are intended to inform healthcare practitioners, patients and families, he said.

    Related Articles
    The doctor at the statehouse: how medical associations fought against anti-transgender youth bills
    Beyond the Byline: Transgender community faces healthcare access hurdles
    Stepping up to handle the mental health needs of Gen Z

    Florida’s health agency cites a peer-reviewed 2020 analysis of German children with gender dysphoria as evidence for its recommendation against allowing transgender youth to socially transition. The study found that peer and family support should be provided instead of encouraging a trans child to socially transition, since the authors could not prove a direct link between socially transitioning and improved mental health. By contrast, pediatricians who work with trans youth say the reversible and affirming practice helps lessen depression and anxiety.

    Liz Jaques, who lives in Orange Park, Florida, is helping her 13-year-old son, AJ, socially transition alongside his medical transition. She sees it as a very important part of supporting him.

    “How can you support the child and then tell them, when we leave the house, you have to look this way or dress this way and use this name?” she said.

    Jaques is worried about whether her son’s pediatrician will follow the new guidelines against providing hormones and puberty blockers, potentially denying her son care he is currently receiving. She’s also worried about what the guidelines could mean for his mental health.

    Anthony Michael Kreis, who teaches constitutional law and employment discrimination at the Georgia State University College of Law, said though the guidelines are unenforceable, they do signal a hostility toward trans children that might lay the groundwork for further action by the state — similar to Texas’ attorney general issuing a directive that gender-affirming care is child abuse. (There is now an ongoing legal battle over that directive.)

    “I think it’s important to know that nothing has really changed in the last few hours, but it might signal something much more dangerous, creeping ahead,” he said. “The focus on social-based trans care is something we really haven’t seen any state target,” he said.

    Sam Ames, director of advocacy and government affairs at LGBTQ+ suicide prevention organization the Trevor Project, said in a news release that Florida Health is ignoring evidence in their 2021 peer-reviewed study that found receiving gender-affirming care is linked to lower odds of depression and attempting suicide for minors.

    “Gender-affirming care can save lives,” they said.

    Redfern, with the Florida Department of Health, said that the agency had no comment when asked for the agency’s response to LGBTQ+ and civil rights organizations condemning the guidelines as harmful to trans youth.

    Not a Modern Healthcare subscriber? Sign up today.

    In announcing its guidelines Wednesday, Florida’s health department framed its position on gender-affirming care as opposing the Biden administration.

    Last month, the federal HHS Office for Civil Rights released a statement saying that parents who believe their child has been denied gender-affirming healthcare should file a complaint with the office — and that healthcare providers who believe they are being unlawfully restricted from providing that care on the basis of a patient’s gender identity should also file a complaint.

    When asked for comment on the Florida health department’s newly released guidelines, an HHS spokesperson pointed to a statement Wednesday by Sarah Lovenheim, HHS assistant secretary for public affairs.

    “For anyone who needs to hear this, we’ve said it before: We are committed to protecting young Americans who are targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and supporting their parents, caretakers and families,” Lovenheim said.

    Originally published by The 19th

    Related Article
    Nation's largest pediatric hospital stops therapies after Texas order on gender-confirming care
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Abortion-telehealth.png
    With Roe v. Wade overturned, telehealth providers brace for impact
    money-loss_i.png
    Home health agencies could see $810M pay cut next year
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare Alert: Sign up for this breaking news email to be kept in the loop as urgent healthcare business news unfolds.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing