Earlier this week, a federal judge allowed Florida to enforce its ban on gender-affirming surgeries for minors while a lawsuit challenging the ban proceeds through the courts. This decision is a significant win for those who believe in protecting children from what they see as harmful practices promoted by the transgender movement. On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) confronted a reporter who suggested that the ruling negatively impacts patients.
“So I wanna talk about the trans care ban ruling, and opponents are saying that that’s gonna strain the health care system and harm patients,” the reporter asked. “What’s your response to that, governor?”
“It is the mutilation of minors that is harming people,” DeSantis responded, choosing not to mince words. “It is wrong to do this. You do not take some 14-year-olds and pump them with hormone blockers and … try to change their sex with an operation.”
“It’s wrong,” he continued. “People that have gone through that, there’s so much lasting damage that has happened.”
DeSantis further strengthened his position by referencing examples from Europe, where even liberal countries like Sweden and the United Kingdom have reversed their stance on these procedures.
“They have pulled the plug on this,” DeSantis said, noting that these nations have recognized the harm and the lack of scientific support for such procedures.
He also highlighted the financial motivations behind these surgeries, accusing the medical industry of profiting at the expense of vulnerable children. “There’s a lot of people that make money on these surgeries. That’s why it’s going on,” he pointed out.
DeSantis didn’t shy away from drawing parallels between the push for gender-affirming surgeries and the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He criticized the medical establishment for promoting “junk science” and refusing to acknowledge mistakes. “The science is junk, but we also saw some of the nonsense they were spewing during COVID,” he noted, emphasizing the dangers of politicizing medical decisions.
The governor also expressed concerns about potential federal overreach under a future Harris administration, which he fears could “wield the administrative state against states that have done things like we did to protect minors from mutilation procedures.” DeSantis made it clear that he is deeply committed to shielding children from what he considers dangerous and unethical surgeries.
“We’re not gonna be a cottage industry for the mutilation of minors. That is not happening on my watch,” DeSantis stated emphatically. “That is not happening on my watch.”
He also questioned the logic of allowing minors to undergo such life-altering procedures.
“How is it, how would we possibly say as a state that you cannot have a tattoo at age 14, you would not be able to go sit at a bar and drink beer at age 16—even with your parent, you wouldn’t be able to do that—but somehow, you could have these mutilation procedures where they’re trying to change your body parts and try to change your sex at age 15 or 14?”
In a time when many leaders are influenced by radical ideologies, DeSantis’s firm stance on protecting the most vulnerable is exactly the kind of leadership many believe is needed. Florida’s actions serve as a model for other states, ensuring that children are protected from what some view as harmful and unproven medical practices. Many are eagerly anticipating his potential run for president.
DeSantis also expressed pride in Florida’s leadership in protecting minors from these procedures, despite opposition from the federal government. He anticipates that a potential Harris administration might pressure states like Florida that have enacted such protections, especially in areas like women’s sports, where he argues that fairness is being compromised by allowing men who identify as women to compete against biological women, thus robbing them of opportunities.
DeSantis spoke for nearly eight minutes, delivering a detailed and forceful critique of the transgender movement. The entire exchange is definitely worth watching.
