SARASOTA – Suncoast LGBTQ+ community and their allies react to the lawsuit against Florida’s ban on transgender girl athletes.
“People just don’t understand that trans people are just like them,” said Entertainer and Activist, Berry Ayers.
On the final day of Pride month, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the State Florida after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law banning transgender female athletes from participating in sports.
“The trans youth population is already going through their own personal struggles and for the State of Florida or anywhere to try to take that away from those kids is just something we can’t support,” said Executive Director of ALSO Youth, Mickey Stone.
HRC claims the law violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity offered by a recipient of federal financial assistance.
“Especially with the young trans community, their already fighting within themselves and now you are giving them something else they have to fight in the schools where they already don’t feel safe, and they already don’t feel heard and now you’re taking that away from them,” said Stone.
The Suncoast showed their support on the first day of Pride month with a ‘Protect trans kids rally’
“If they’re not allowed to express themselves that is truthful to who they are as human beings, that’s what leads to the high, high ridiculously high, 70 percent suicidal rate within at least one attempt within the LGBTQ youth community,” said Ayers.
Mickey Stone says the best thing we can do is get out and vote to support our youth
“We have to get out there and vote for the candidate that supports these things, that’s a place where we haven’t been so far, but it’s where we need to go,” said Stone.
“We have to protect them, just like any kid, it’s just about protecting our youth,” said Ayers.
The HRC announced it has future plans for litigation in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
