Matt Bush, FISM News

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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) signed five bills Wednesday that, according to his website, were designed to “protect the innocence of Florida’s children.”

It is widely expected that DeSantis will launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks, and the timing of the signing of these bills seems to indicate some of the issues a “DeSantis for President” platform would highlight.

“Florida is proud to lead the way in standing up for our children,” the governor said of the bills. “As the world goes mad, Florida represents a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”

DeSantis signed the bills at an event in Tampa where the podium was adorned with the message, “Let Kids Be Kids.” That same message is at the top of an informational sheet that DeSantis released on his website with an explanation of each of the five bills he signed:

• SB 254 is a bill “outlawing permanent mutilation of minors.” This bill outlaws both surgeries that would permanently affect minors and experimental puberty blockers for minors. It also provides courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to step in and halt sex reassignment procedures for out-of-state children and requires adult patients to be made aware of the risks of surgeries and medications.
• HB 1069 protects students from having to declare their pronouns in school and expands the “parental rights in education bill” previously passed in Florida.
• HB 1438 “protects children from sexually explicit performances in all venues. This bill prohibits a person from knowingly admitting a minor to an adult performance.
• HB 1521 “ensures that Florida’s bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms are safe places for women. The bill requires educational institutions, detention facilities, correctional institutions, juvenile correctional facilities, and public buildings with a restroom or changing facility to designate separate facilities based on biological sex or to provide one-person unisex facilities.”
• HB 225 also reorganizes the FHSAA Board of Directors to 13 members, instead of the current 16 members. This bill also allows teams to provide brief opening remarks, including prayers, before high school athletic contests.

Many on the left do not agree with the leadership DeSantis has provided the state of Florida in LBGTQ issues.

“They have cloaked themselves in being the party of less government and parental rights, and what we’re seeing now is the total opposite,” said Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is gay.

According to the Associated Press, “Three Florida parents have asked a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order immediately blocking the new law’s enforcement. The families are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign.”

Planned Parenthood has already started canceling “gender-affirming” care appointments in the state as they begin to assess the legal ramifications of the new laws.

DeSantis has been clear on his stance on issues concerning men competing against women, children attending drag shows, gender transition procedures, state funds going to DEI groups in schools, and other similar issues. He has also put his money where his mouth is on these issues in the state.

“I feel very strongly as governor, but also just as a dad of a 6 or 5 and a 3-year-old that you know, we need to let our kids just be kids. And we have a very crazy age that we live in,” DeSantis said. “There’s a lot of nonsense that gets floated around. And what we’ve said in Florida is we are going to remain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”