Florida LGBTQ group uses 'trans' child to lash out against DeSantis' fight for parental rights

In response to Florida's recent passage of the Parental Rights in Education bill, along with the Surgeon General's release of guidance that both social and medical gender transition for children is not recommended, Equality Florida put out a video celebrating trans children in the state.

The video opens with a 10-year-old child who was born male and is being raised as a girl. "What do you wish more people knew about you?"

"That I'm not only trans, I'm a very good friend, and I'm sassy, kind and thoughtful," Dempsey says.

"Dempsey came out officially as transgender," says Jaime, Dempsey's mother, "when she was 5-years-old. But she was gender non-conforming as young as two. So she just couldn't verbalize it until she was five."

"I'm Dempsey," says the child in a cutaway, "I'm 10-years-old, and I use she/her pronouns."

"We just knew we had a special kid," says Jaime. "She was just so young, she didn't always have the capability to vocalize what she was feeling. But we just followed her lead and let her express herself and we just kind of rolled with it."

Dempsey then describes the process of playing pretend, and dress-up, which Jaime says was Dempsey's non-verbalized approach. Dempsey describes wearing pants as a hat to simulate long hair.

"Because I love long hair, so," Dempsey said.

"Living in Florida isn't always easy," Jaime said, "because when you are visible, you essentially make yourself a target for these lawmakers. I would say to the GOP that we're just a normal family."

"We're just like everyone else. And we all have our challenges. But when you're making laws regarding an entire group of people, you really should stop and listen to the people who these laws are going to affect," Jaime said. "It alienates my child's right, to one, her privacy, to two, her existence."

Equality Florida states that "Governor Ron DeSantis and GOP Leadership are passing laws meant to stigmatize and isolate trans youth."

A photo shows Dempsey proudly holding up a birth certificate with a new name and sex on it, the gender and name that were chosen after "coming out" as trans.

"It's just who you're born as, it's, you're made like that," Dempsey says. "It can get kind of overwhelming. It's who I am, not who you are. And I really don't understand why people are trying to do that to kids."

Equality Florida shows a baby pink and baby blue heart mural, saying "Transgender and nonbinary youth deserve love and support, not cruel attacks because of who they are."

Along with the video, Equality Florida posted a comment, saying:

"Happy Mother’s Day from Equality Florida!" They wrote. "Kids everywhere are being raised by LGBTQ moms and today is their day to shine. Another family we would like to celebrate is Dempsey and Jaime. As the mother of a Transgender daughter, Jaime recognizes the difficulties of being visible in Florida and fights for Dempsey’s right to live her life freely. In the comments below, share a family photo and tell us why it’s important that schools protect every student and respect every family!"

Florida passed the Parental Rights in Education bill in an attempt to prevent activist teachers from indoctrinating young students into gender identity and from broaching discussions about adult sexual lifestyles. The White House said that it's "cruel" to prevent doctors from prescribing life-altering drugs or performing genital mutilation surgeries on children.

Florida's Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo issued guidance suggesting that children would be better off being encouraged to be comfortable in their own bodies.