Ron DeSantis demands universities give information about students’ gender-affirming care

overnor Ron DeSantis speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, 22 July 2022
Photo: Gage Skidmore – Wikimedia Commons

The DeSantis administration in Florida has requested information on people who receive gender-affirming healthcare at Florida universities.

On January 11, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) budget director, Chris Spencer, sent a survey to the board of trustee chairs at 12 state universities.

“Our office has learned that several state universities provide services to persons suffering from gender dysphoria,” Spencer wrote. “On behalf of the Governor, I hereby request that you respond to the enclosed inquiries related to such services.”

The survey reportedly asks for data on the number of individuals who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or received treatment in campus clinics. It asks universities to provide the number of students or individuals who received gender-affirming treatments, including surgical procedures, over the last five years and where the treatment was sought, as well as a breakdown by age of people prescribed hormones or hormone antagonists, or who underwent surgical procedures.

The survey instructs universities to protect students’ identities when providing the information.

The memo, which was released on Wednesday, did not say what DeSantis plans to do with the information. Spencer wrote that completing the survey was part of their obligation to govern institutional resources and protect the public interest.

As Politico notes, DeSantis’s budget requests are to be released in February.

“We can see cuts in funding for universities to treat students with this condition, and I think an all-out elimination of services is…

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