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CAMPAIGN 2024 - This year has been all downhill for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. His presidential aspirations are going up in smoke thanks to his complete lack of charisma and general campaign incompetence. His losing war against Disney is costing Florida taxpayers millions of dollars. Now a federal court all but called DeSantis a liar for the way he justified his ban on medical care for trans youth.
DeSantis repeatedly claimed that the law was necessary to prevent youth from being “mutilated.” In just one example, he went after one reporter who questioned him about it when he signed the bill last May.
“And when you talk to people and I know, like people in your industry will dress it up with a euphemism, and they’ll say it’s health care to cut off the private parts of a 14 or 15 year old,” DeSantis said. “That is not health care. That is mutilation.”
Tell that to U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle.
“When I’m analyzing the governor’s motivation, what should I make of these statements?” Hinkle asked at a hearing on the law. “This seems to be more than just hyperbole.”
Hinkle is presiding over a challenge to the law by three Florida families with trans children. He has issued a stay against the measure from taking effect while the law is being challenged. He has never been sympathetic to the state’s argument. In a decision striking down Florida’s ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, Hinkle wrote, “Gender identity is real.”
Hinkle acknowledged that he can’t fully know what’s going on in DeSantis’ head. He wondered if the plaintiffs could prove DeSantis supported the law “because he hates transgender people.” The attorney for the families said that the law is unconstitutional as written, so DeSantis’ motives aren’t the deciding factor.
Hinkle said that he thinks the law isn’t about preventing mutilation but about preventing trans youth from getting health care. That’s a pretty strong signal that DeSantis is about to get handed a defeat by the court.
It’s also another sign that DeSantis built his campaign around a losing idea. He’s been betting heavily on using his anti-trans credentials to deliver a strong showing in the Iowa presidential caucus. Meantime, with Nikki Haley on the ascendant and DeSantis’ campaign in disarray, things are looking shaky for him in Iowa. All things considered, Ron may be sorry to see 2023 end, because 2024 may be a lot worse.
(John Gallagher has been covering LGBTQ issues since 1991. He was formerly a senior news editor and correspondent at The Advocate. He is co-author of Perfect Enemies: The Religious Right, the Gay Movement, and the Politics of the 1990s. This article was first published in LGBTQ Nation.)
