The Crying Shame

The Crying Shame

In May, 2023 a dear friend called me in a panic. She had received a letter from her APRN’s office notifying her that after 8 years of treatment they would no longer be able to provide hormone medical therapy due to the passage of Governor DeSantis’ Florida Senate Bill 254.

WHAT???

My friend is an adult MTF transgender woman. Didn’t this Bill only affect people UNDER age 18?  The short answer is NO.  It affects adults too. I know because I downloaded the Bill and read it. Then read it again. Printed out the 10-page document and while slowly reading it for the 3^rd time began highlighting it - just to make sure there wasn’t something I had misunderstood.

Bottom line? We have been hoodwinked. In criminal terms it’s called ‘bait and switch’. Even today, the media mentions Bill 254 as a law that affects minors. But this is misleading, a lie, and frankly insulting.

Here is the verbiage that was kept quiet from Americans. By the Bills own admission it was added at a later date:

“…such  [sex-reassignment] prescriptions and procedures for patients older than 18 years of age be prescribed, administered, or performed…providing that only a physician may prescribe, administer, or perform such prescriptions and procedures.” 

 In my friends case this means the APRN who had prescribed her hormone medical therapy could no longer treat her.  What a slap in the face to APRNs and yet another ridiculous hoop my friend has to jump through.

Futhermore if you have a state group health insurance program Bill 524 has prohibited, “…use of state funds for sex-reassignment prescriptions and procedures…”

Are state laws allowed to ignore the Supreme Court? On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark 6-3 decision affirming that the prohibition on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 extends to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In the mid-1960’s I witnessed the inhumane treatment of Blacks in my home town. A bigoted swimming pool owner would not just turn away Blacks from his property but would lock them up in a chicken coop; call the police; and have them hauled off to jail.

How close are we to this today? Dangerously close.

For the first time in my life I can see how Nazism took hold – it starts with the declaration of a master race that finds fault in those that are ‘different’ from them. Then convinces society that those people are detestable. Sound familiar?

Bill 254 states “at a later date exceptions will be announced.”  Really?  So here is an incomplete Bill passed into Law without regard for adults with exemptible medical issues.  This is incomprehensible. Reckless.

Laws that turn us against each other on personal issues restrict our freedom. And sadly the seeds of these ideas gain traction from the few who manage to get the ear of media to amplify their voice. Laws like this cause a deterioration of society which now focuses more on our differences than similarities. I guarantee you we are more alike as seen from Gods Hill.

But God loves variety. Just look at all the examples in the world. Why did God do this? For our pleasure – not to provoke hate towards one another.  Would you walk into a room and pick out the most outrageously ‘different’ person and say hello to them?  Christ would…and did!

The more research I did the more horrified I was.  Did you know that 40% of transgender people have attempted suicide? Unacceptable. (Feel free to fact-check this).

The Solution:

Racism is fear-based. We have developed a built-in warning system that tells us to shun those who look different, dress different, and talk differently than us. The solution to racism is education.

Hate starts at home.

Parents, teach your children to love and accept those that are different than them. We are more alike as seen from Gods hill. 

Otherwise what’s next? The chicken coop?  An underground railroad?

Joey Daddario (Author)