Trans or trans-community friends: How worried are you about a possible Desantis presidency?

[Anonymous]

I am trying to get a grip on what we might expect in what seems like the unlikely event of a Desantis presidency.

Are you worried about this right now? Are you planning or preparing in specific ways?

I say this as a cis person who is in a family with a trans person, and who has many trans friends.

[Anonymous]

Trans woman here. I don't think DeSantis has a very good chance of being the candidate in 2024. I think it's going to be Biden vs Trump. Not that a second Trump term would be good for trans people but he's pretty incompetent and really bad at getting things done. Besides his tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, most of what he did was via reversable executive orders and agency decisions. He didn't get much done legislatively. I seriously doubt a second term would bring him much more in terms of legislative victories unless he gets some kind of overwhelming majority in both houses which is pretty unlikely.

I'm more worried going forward because DeSantis is so young and is likely to run multiple times. At least for now, I don't think his behavior with Disney and some of the other things he's doing in FL is as popular nationally as he seems to think it is. The Disney fight really strikes me as him taking something personally (that they were not for don't say gay). Most politicians would have ignored them or told them to stay in their lane and left it at that. Restrictions to trans healthcare, especially to adults, and the bathroom bills are things that make trans people's lives harder but I just don't think win him votes overall. He doesn't seem to understand that politicians throw their base a little red meat now and then to get elected while still trying to stay in the good graces of corporations and the wealthy to fund their campaigns and keep them in power. I don't know if this made sense, I hope so.

TLDR: Yes I'm worried that he could become President. I don't think he has a great chance of it - at least for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get a grip on what we might expect in what seems like the unlikely event of a Desantis presidency.

Are you worried about this right now? Are you planning or preparing in specific ways?

I say this as a cis person who is in a family with a trans person, and who has many trans friends.

I have trans friends in Florida. They have other worries, not this one. Actually they appreciate, like cis friends, that schools were open during most of the pandemic.

Talk to actual trans people living in Florida, don't blindly believe anything you watch in the sensationalist, politized media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get a grip on what we might expect in what seems like the unlikely event of a Desantis presidency.

Are you worried about this right now? Are you planning or preparing in specific ways?

I say this as a cis person who is in a family with a trans person, and who has many trans friends.

I have trans friends in Florida. They have other worries, not this one. Actually they appreciate, like cis friends, that schools were open during most of the pandemic.

Talk to actual trans people living in Florida, don't blindly believe anything you watch in the sensationalist, politized media.

I’m the trans woman that posted.

I have a trans friend in FL and she hates DeSantis. Her care is provided by a nurse practitioner like most trans people in the state and because of the changes, she cannot receive hormones from her provider. She’s about to get bottom surgery and won’t have any way to produce hormones in her body. They need to stop regulating trans healthcare for adults and claiming it’s all about protecting the children.

[Anonymous]

DeSantis is fighting Disney--the largest employer in his state. This will not help him in a general election. May even hurt in the primary as Republicans don't like to fight business interests.

[Anonymous]

I am not too afraid of a DeSantis presidency specifically because of my trans child, who is not receiving medical treatment for it. But yes, it is a concern. Even him running and spreading transphobia will have a negative impact.

After trump won, I am never going to assume we are safe from one particular candidate. It's unlikely and I won't stress about something before it happens but I'm not going to pretend there are no risks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get a grip on what we might expect in what seems like the unlikely event of a Desantis presidency.

Are you worried about this right now? Are you planning or preparing in specific ways?

I say this as a cis person who is in a family with a trans person, and who has many trans friends.

I have trans friends in Florida. They have other worries, not this one. Actually they appreciate, like cis friends, that schools were open during most of the pandemic.

Talk to actual trans people living in Florida, don't blindly believe anything you watch in the sensationalist, politized media.

Well, I don't know any trans people in Florida. What I've seen from trans people's experience in Florida, when provided with anecdotes, is that one (adult) is having trouble obtaining hormones (because of the recent restrictions), and then there was another story about a trans teen feeling so much happier having moved to Connecticut from Florida. I think those were WaPo and NPR. I don't consider either of those sources sensationalist, politicized media.

[Anonymous]

sorry, it was AP, not WaPo: https://apnews.com/article/florida-transgender-health-care-adults-e7ae55eec634923e6593a4c0685969b2

Here's the NPR piece: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/05/11/1172589936/as-conservative-states-target-trans-rights-a-florida-teen-flees-for-a-better-lif

[Anonymous]

OP--I promise you do not need to worry about this. Trump is the real threat.

[Anonymous]

I’m worried about a Trump or DeSantis presidency. Why aren’t you worried about Trump, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to get a grip on what we might expect in what seems like the unlikely event of a Desantis presidency.

Are you worried about this right now? Are you planning or preparing in specific ways?

I say this as a cis person who is in a family with a trans person, and who has many trans friends.

I have trans friends in Florida. They have other worries, not this one. Actually they appreciate, like cis friends, that schools were open during most of the pandemic.

Talk to actual trans people living in Florida, don't blindly believe anything you watch in the sensationalist, politized media.

I’m the trans woman that posted.

I have a trans friend in FL and she hates DeSantis. Her care is provided by a nurse practitioner like most trans people in the state and because of the changes, she cannot receive hormones from her provider. She’s about to get bottom surgery and won’t have any way to produce hormones in her body. They need to stop regulating trans healthcare for adults and claiming it’s all about protecting the children.

I live in Florida and trans people I know here are also worried and angry. (I am worried and angry, too = but that's beside the point.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m worried about a Trump or DeSantis presidency. Why aren’t you worried about Trump, OP?

Because we’ve already seen a trump presidency. And while it sucked for a lot of reasons, he still wasn’t interested in taking actions against trans peoples ability to access gender affirming care at the federal level.

Dasantis on the other hand seems to be able to enact policies, if only for a short period of time before they are ruled unconstitutional. Also he just seems way more he’ll bent on the trans panic than trump ever was.

[Anonymous]

DeSantis has the Republican FL Legislature.

Keep that in mind when thinking about 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DeSantis has the Republican FL Legislature.

Keep that in mind when thinking about 2024.

But no one else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trans woman here. I don't think DeSantis has a very good chance of being the candidate in 2024. I think it's going to be Biden vs Trump. Not that a second Trump term would be good for trans people but he's pretty incompetent and really bad at getting things done. Besides his tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, most of what he did was via reversable executive orders and agency decisions. He didn't get much done legislatively. I seriously doubt a second term would bring him much more in terms of legislative victories unless he gets some kind of overwhelming majority in both houses which is pretty unlikely.

I'm more worried going forward because DeSantis is so young and is likely to run multiple times. At least for now, I don't think his behavior with Disney and some of the other things he's doing in FL is as popular nationally as he seems to think it is. The Disney fight really strikes me as him taking something personally (that they were not for don't say gay). Most politicians would have ignored them or told them to stay in their lane and left it at that. Restrictions to trans healthcare, especially to adults, and the bathroom bills are things that make trans people's lives harder but I just don't think win him votes overall. He doesn't seem to understand that politicians throw their base a little red meat now and then to get elected while still trying to stay in the good graces of corporations and the wealthy to fund their campaigns and keep them in power. I don't know if this made sense, I hope so.

TLDR: Yes I'm worried that he could become President. I don't think he has a great chance of it - at least for a while.

Someone who finally knows what they are talking about! Great post. Thank you.