“As caregivers, we believe elected leaders should protect everyone’s well-being and rights.  But in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is again actively weaponizing state agencies in dangerous and authoritarian ways for his own cynical political gain.”

 

“This latest threat -- to suspend licenses of medical professionals provide life-saving care to transgender kids -- is essentially saying that the state government, not families, should decide

who a child should want to be, or even what haircut and clothing they should wear. Families and medical professionals know that when transgender youth are affirmed by people around them, rates of depression and suicide drop significantly. The governor’s decision coldly puts these vulnerable kids and their families at much greater risk of tragedy and pain.”

 

“The nation’s leading health organizations support gender-affirming care for trans and gender non-conforming people, including the American Academy of Pediatrics; American Medical

Association; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; Endocrine Society; Pediatric Endocrine Society; and more.  My fellow front-line caregivers agree.  We’ve witnessed first-hand the devastating physical and mental aftermath families suffer when their children become depressed or suicidal. It’s deeply mean-spirited and wrong to make them face this heartbreak for a cheap political statement.”

 

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Kenzi Stewart is a caregiver at a Southwest Florida hospital and a member of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest union of healthcare workers in Florida.

Media contact:
Ed Gilhuly
305-807-6906/egilhuly@leftcom.com