DeSantis Says He Would Ban Irreversible Sex Change Operations

Florida Health Department claims 'gender-affirming treatments' at 'high risk of doing harm’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights in Education bill flanked by elementary school students during a news conference at Classical Preparatory school in Shady Hills, Fla., on March 28, 2022. Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that he’d be willing to ban sex change operations in a podcast interview on May 2, following a Florida health department statement that gender reassigning treatments are not recommended for children and adolescents.

“You can’t get a tattoo if you’re 12 years old. When they say ‘gender-affirming care,’ what they mean, a lot of times is, you are really, you’re castrating a young boy, you’re sterilizing a young girl, you’re doing mastectomies for these very young girls,” DeSantis said on The Truth With Lisa Boothe podcast, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report (pdf) that supported gender-affirming practices.