Florida courts can take “emergency” custody of children of transgender parents or siblings, even if they live in another state

  • Florida Senate Bill 254 would grant courts emergency custody of children who receive gender-affirming care.
  • The bill, introduced Friday, would also allow courts to modify out-of-state custody agreements.
  • The bill would give officials powers under the law protecting children from domestic violence.

A proposed bill moving through the Florida State Senate would give the state “emergency jurisdiction” over children who receive or are “at risk” of receiving gender-affirming care, or if their parents receive it themselves.

Senate Bill 254, introduced Friday by State Senator Clay Yarborough, would give the court emergency custody powers under the same law that protects them from domestic violence and abuse.

The state may assume temporary custody of children if “in an emergency, it is necessary to protect a child because the child, sibling or parent of the child” “is at risk or subject to gender reassignment orders or procedures,” the proposed text of the bill says.

The proposed bill defines sex reassignment prescriptions or procedures as hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries or procedures that “confirm a person’s perception of their sex if that perception is inconsistent with the person’s sex” at birth.

The court would also be given “jurisdiction to set aside, suspend, or modify an out-of-state court’s decision on child custody in order to protect the child from the risk of being subjected to sex reassignment orders or procedures,” according to the bill’s proposed text. “The court must quash, suspend or modify a child custody decision to the extent necessary to protect the child from the granting of such orders or procedures.”

Representatives for Yarborough, who sponsored the bill, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Alejandra Caraballo, Clinical Instructor at the Cyberlegal Clinic at Harvard Law School and former staff lawyer for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Foundation, tweeted that the proposed law would allow the “legal abduction” of trans children and is part of a “total war against trans people in the state of Florida”.

— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) March 3, 2023

“The bill goes one step further by violating interstate comity by allowing courts to overrule other courts’ child custody decisions only if the child is transgender. This gives a green light to transphobic family members to participate in state-sponsored kidnapping,” Caraballo said, adding, “A transphobic parent can kidnap their transgender child in violation of custody agreements and hide in Florida and receive the protection of Florida law under that. despite the fact that he is likely to commit a felony kidnapping in his home state.”

Caraballo did not immediately respond to an Insider request for comment.

Florida House Representatives Randy Fine and Ralph Massullo proposed a separate bill Friday that, if passed, would make it illegal for doctors to provide medical assistance to minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, local news outlet Click Orlando reported.

Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked government agencies, including hospitals and universities, to provide a breakdown of medical data on patients who received gender-affirming care at their facilities. Public university students left the campus in protest.

The state has seen a rise in anti-LGBT bills and laws in recent years, including DeSantis’ controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which restricts how teachers can give guidance about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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