LGBT rights in Florida
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Lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
, and
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
(
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
) people in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
are largely considered to be socially liberal compared to other states, and LGBT residents enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in ''
Lawrence v. Texas ''Lawrence v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that most sanctions of criminal punishment for consensual, adult non- procreative sexual activity (commonly referred to as so ...
'' on June 26, 2003, and
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
has been legal in the state since January 6, 2015. Discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations is outlawed following the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's ruling in ''
Bostock v. Clayton County ''Bostock v. Clayton County'', , is a landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case in which the Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects employees against discrimination because they are gay or transgender. T ...
''. In addition, several cities and counties, comprising about 55% of Florida's population, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. These include
Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
,
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
,
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
and
West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, among others.
Conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
is also banned in a number of cities in the state, mainly in
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
and the
Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...
.


Legality of same-sex sexual activity

After Florida became a
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
of the United States in 1821, the Territorial Legislature enacted laws against fornication, adultery, bigamy, and incest, as well as against "open lewdness, or ... any notorious act of public indecency, tending to debauch the morals of society." Florida's first specific sodomy law, which was enacted in 1868 and made sodomy a felony, read: "Whoever commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature, either with mankind or with beast, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding twenty years." In 1917, the Florida Legislature added a lesser crime, a second-degree misdemeanor: "Whoever commits any unnatural and lascivious act with another person shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by
imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
not exceeding six months." Florida courts interpreted the 1868 law to prohibit all sexual activity between two men or two women. It also prohibited
oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex per ...
and
anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. ...
between heterosexual partners. In 1971, the
Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...
, ruling in ''
Franklin v. State ''Franklin v. State'', 257 So. 2d 21 (Fla. 1971), was a case in which the Florida Supreme Court struck down Florida's sodomy law as being "unconstitutional for vagueness and uncertainty in its language, violating constitutional due process to the ...
'', struck down the "crime against nature" statute as unconstitutionally vague. The court retained the state's prohibition on sodomy by ruling that
anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...
and
oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex per ...
could still be prosecuted under the lesser charge of "lewd and lascivious" conduct.Turbe, Laura A. "Florida's Inconsistent Use of the Best Interests of the Child Standard," 33 Stetson L. Rev. 369 (2003–2004), accessed July 16, 2011, pp. 377–381.
See footnote 34, p. 374.
Florida further enacted a "psychopathic offender law" in 1955, under which those convicted of sodomy (labelled as "criminal sexual psychopathic persons") would be periodically examined to determine if they had "improved to a degree that
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
will not be a menace to others". The law was repealed in 1979. In 1960, the state Attorney General issued an opinion that Florida's sodomy statute did not apply to Indian reservations. The opinion stated that crimes committed between Native Americans or between Native Americans and non-Native Americans were a matter for tribal courts. This meant that if the particular reservation had no law against it, sodomy would be legal on the reservation. However, sodomy between non-Native Americans on the reservation would fall under the jurisdiction of state law and would be liable to prosecution. Same-sex sexual activity remained illegal in Florida until 2003, when the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
struck down all state sodomy laws in ''
Lawrence v. Texas ''Lawrence v. Texas'', 539 U.S. 558 (2003), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that most sanctions of criminal punishment for consensual, adult non- procreative sexual activity (commonly referred to as so ...
''. As of 2020, the state's sodomy law, though unenforceable, has not been repealed by the Florida Legislature. In October 2018, during a gay sex undercover sting operation by Florida law enforcement, a judge ruled that gay sex is not illegal in a public space so long as it is within a room. In September 2020, Hillsborough County officials arrested 11 men on misdemeanor charges. Each of the 11 men had gone to a local park and struck up a conversation with another man with both eventually agreeing to having consensual sex. They were arrested on misdemeanor charges that do not involve sex crimes. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office published the names and mugshots of all 11 men to local news outlets. Critics accused the Sheriff's Office of deliberately targeting gay men, asking if undercover deputies would have also arrested a man and a woman for meeting in public and agreeing to have sex.


Recognition of same-sex relationships

The state enacted legislation banning same-sex marriage in 1977. Since the passage of Florida Amendment 2 in November 2008 by a vote of 61.9% in favor and 38.1% opposed, both
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
and
civil unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
have been banned by the Florida Constitution. Amendment 2 added Article I Section 27 to the Florida Constitution, which says: A U.S. district court ruled on August 21, 2014, in '' Brenner v. Scott'', that Florida's same-sex marriage ban was in violation of the
Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
. As a result of that ruling, same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since the court's temporary injunction took effect on January 6, 2015. Judge
Robert Lewis Hinkle Robert Lewis Hinkle (born November 7, 1951) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Biography Born on November 7, 1951, in Apalachicola, Florida, Hinkle received a Bach ...
wrote: Nine counties, thirty cities, and one town in Florida offer
domestic partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...
benefits to same-sex couples. In March 2016, a bill passed the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
by a vote of 112–5 and the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
by a vote of 38–0 to repeal a 1868 ban on cohabitation between unmarried couples.
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...
signed the bill into law on April 6, 2016, and it went into effect on July 1, 2016.


Adoption and parenting

In 1977, partly due to the anti-gay
Save Our Children Save Our Children, Inc. was an American political coalition formed in 1977 in Miami, Florida, to overturn a recently legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexua ...
campaign led by
Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...
in Miami, the
Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...
passed a law specifically prohibiting homosexuals from adopting children; the statute survived several court challenges, and was upheld by the
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
in 2004 in '' Lofton v. Secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services''. In 2010, in the case of '' In re: Gill'', involving a same-sex couple raising two foster children whom they wanted to adopt, a state appeals court upheld the ruling by a lower court that the law violated
equal protection The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equa ...
rights of the couple and the children under the
Florida Constitution The Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the powers, duties, structure, and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state. The current Constitu ...
. The Governor and Attorney General declined to appeal the ruling further, ending Florida's 33-year-old ban on same-sex adoptions. The
Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...
undertook comprehensive adoption reform in 2015. The legislation repealed the 1977 ban on homosexual adoption. It passed the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
on a 68–50 vote on March 11. On April 15, the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
passed the bill on a 27–11 vote.
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 45th governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019. Scott ...
signed the bill into law on June 11, and it went into effect on July 1, 2015. Lesbian couples have access to
in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
. State law recognizes the non-genetic, non-gestational mother as a legal parent to a child born via donor insemination, but only if the parents are married. The Florida Department of Health began automatically recognizing the non-biological mother as a legal parent on May 5, 2016. The move came after three same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit against the state in July 2015 over its practice of treating married same-sex couples differently to married opposite-sex couples; the non-biological father is automatically recognized as a legal parent, but previously this was not the case for the non-biological mother. Additionally, gay male couples are permitted to undertake gestational and traditional
surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...
arrangements under the same terms and conditions as different-sex couples.


Discrimination protections

Since 2000, and amended in 2007, nursing homes and hospitals cannot discriminate on the basis of
sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
, but
gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
is not addressed. Florida statutes do not address discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in employment, housing or other areas. The counties of Alachua, Broward,
Duval Duval is a surname, literally translating from French language, French to English language, English as "of the valley". It derives from the Normans, Norman "Devall", which has both English and French ties. Variant spellings include: Davolls, Deav ...
, Hillsborough,
Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
,
Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
, Monroe,
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
,
Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...
, Palm Beach,
Pinellas Pinellas is the name of a peninsula located roughly halfway down the west coast of Florida. It forms the western boundary of Tampa Bay and comprises the bulk of Pinellas County. There is a city named Pinellas Park in south Pinellas. The peninsula ...
, and
Volusia Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...
, and the cities and towns of Atlantic Beach, Boynton Beach,
Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...
,
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
,
Fernandina Beach Fernandina may refer to: *Fernandina Beach, Florida **Original Town of Fernandina Historic Site *Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands *Fernandina (fruit), a citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae ...
,
Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, Gainesville,
Greenacres Greenacres can refer to: *Greenacres, California, a town in the Central Valley (United States) *Harold Lloyd Estate, 'Greenacres', the legendary 1920s Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills, California (United States) *Greenacres, Florida, town in th ...
, Gulfport, Haverhill,
Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
,
Juno Beach Juno or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the Second World War. The beach spanned from Courseulles, a village just east of the British beach Gold ...
,
Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
,
Lake Clarke Shores Lake Clarke Shores is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located in the east-central portion of the county, the town is situated just west of the south end of West Palm Beach, north and west of the north end of Lake Worth Beach, ...
, Lake Park, Lake Worth Beach, Largo, Leesburg, Mascotte,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
, Mount Dora,
North Palm Beach North Palm Beach is an incorporated village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami Metropolitan Area. The population was 13,162 at the 2020 census. The village won an award from the National Association of Home Bui ...
, North Port, Oakland Park,
Ocean Ridge A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a diverge ...
,
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
,
Pembroke Pines Pembroke Pines is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located 22 miles (35 km) north of Miami. The population of Pembroke Pines is 171,178 as of the 2020 census. It is a suburb of and the fourth-most populous c ...
, Riviera Beach,
Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
,
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
,
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
,
Tequesta The Tequesta (also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos) were a Native American tribe. At the time of first European contact they occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans a ...
,
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
,
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, Westlake, and
Wilton Manors Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,426. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166,488 people at the 2020 census. Histor ...
prohibit discrimination in private and public employment, housing and public accommodations on account of sexual orientation and gender identity. St. Augustine Beach has similar protections, but for employment and housing only.
Sarasota County Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
,
Cape Coral Cape Coral is a city located in Lee County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico. Founded in 1957 and developed as a planned community, the city's population has grown to 194,016 as of the 2020 Census, a rise of 26% from the 2010 Census ...
,
Neptune Beach Neptune Beach is a beachfront city east of Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of Duval County communities consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach ...
, and
Port St. Lucie Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous municipality in the county with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 census. It is located southeast of Orlando and north of Miami. The Port St. Lu ...
prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the public sector only, i.e. against county or city employees only. Likewise, Montverde prohibits public sector-discrimination but on the basis of sexual orientation only. The ''Florida Competitive Workforce Act'' would ban LGBT discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations statewide. First introduced in 2009, it received its first public hearing in 2016. It stalled in a 6–6 vote amid disputes over the inclusion of gender identity protections and restrooms. The bill is bipartisan and supported by a number of business groups. In January 2019, the
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is an executive department of the government of Florida. The Commissioner of Agriculture (directly elected by voters statewide for a four-year term, and a member of the Florida ...
added sexual orientation and gender identity to their discrimination workplace policy.


''Glenn v. Brumby''

In December 2011, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
(which covers
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
) ruled that Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman living in Georgia, had been unfairly terminated from her job at the Georgia Legislative Assembly due to her transgender status. Relying on '' Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins'' and other Title VII precedent, the court concluded that the plaintiff was discriminated against based on her sex because she was transitioning from male to female. The court stated that a person is considered transgender "precisely because of the perception that his or her behavior transgresses gender stereotypes." As a result, there is "congruence" between discriminating against transgender individuals and discrimination on the basis of "gender-based behavioral norms." "Because everyone is protected against discrimination based on sex stereotypes, such protections cannot be denied to transgender individuals", the court ruled. The court held that employment discrimination based on transgender status is tantamount to discrimination on the basis of sex, as defined by the ''
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
''.


''Bostock v. Clayton County''

On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in ''Bostock v. Clayton County'', consolidated with '' Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda'', and '' R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission'' that discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is discrimination on the basis of sex, and Title VII therefore protects LGBT employees from discrimination. LGBT advocacy groups in Florida hailed the decision, urging the state to pass legislation extending discrimination protections to housing, credit, health care and public accommodations. In February 2021, the Florida Commission on Human Relations, the state's civil rights enforcement agency, announced it will enforce the ''Bostock'' ruling. The agency announced it will investigate claims of discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. The
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
hailed the decision:


Hate crime law

Florida's
hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
law provides harsher legal penalties for crimes committed based on the victim(s)' sexual orientation, but not gender identity.


Transgender rights


Identity documents

Transgender people in Florida are allowed to change their legal gender on official documents, including birth certificates, driver's licenses and state IDs. The Bureau of Vital Statistics will issue an amended birth certificate with a corrected gender marker upon receipt of an "Application to Amend a Florida Birth Record", an "Affidavit of Amendment of Certificate of Live Birth" signed in front of a notary, a letter from a physician confirming "appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition", and the payment of the amendment fee. "Appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition" does not include the need to undergo
sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...
or sterilization. The Department of Highway Services and Motor Vehicles previously required evidence of sex reassignment surgery in order to change the gender marker on a Florida ID and driver's license. In 2011, the Department changed its requirements. In order to update a name and/or gender on a Florida ID or driver's license, the applicant must submit a court order for a name change and/or a signed original statement on office letterhead from the attending physician stating that the applicant is undergoing "appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition". In January 2022, it was reported that for the first time within Florida's history a
birth certificate A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuin ...
has "sex-unknown" listed for an individual, instead of either just male or female.


Public bathrooms

In August 2020, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a high school in
Ponte Vedra Beach Ponte Vedra Beach is a wealthy unincorporated seaside community and suburb of Jacksonville, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located southeast of downtown Jacksonville and north of St. Augustine, it is part of the Jackso ...
violated the law by refusing to allow transgender student Andrew Adams to use the restroom consistent with his gender identity. In October 2022, the Florida Education Board unanimously approved new guidelines and rules regarding how transgender people can use school bathrooms. In January 2023, the
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
formally upheld the ban on transgender individuals within bathrooms in Florida.


Athletics

On June 1, 2021,
Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...
signed a bill excluding transgender girls and women (which the bill defines as "students of the male sex", based on
sex assigned at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...
) from participating in sports designated for female students. The bill had been passed by the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
on April 14, then was shelved in the
Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
on April 20; on April 28, the
Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...
passed a "revived last minute bill" with last-minute legislative "procedural maneuvers". A
lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
is pending in both state and federal courts into the transgender sports ban within Florida, immediately right after the Governor's signature into law on June 1. The
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
kicked off the campaign to try and stop the law from going into effect (called "nullification") on midnight July 1.


Healthcare


Youth

Since November 2022, minors cannot receive any gender-affirming healthcare in Florida. The rule was approved on November 4 by the Florida Board of Medicine (all 14 of whom were appointed to the position by Governor DeSantis, and eight of whom had contributed financially to DeSantis’ election campaign) and the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine. On April 20, 2022, the
Florida Department of Health The Florida Department of Health is responsible for protecting the public health and safety of the residents and visitors of the state of Florida. It is a cabinet-level agency of the state government, headed by a state surgeon general who reports ...
, headed by Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, suggested guidelines that transgender youth under 18 should not be treated with puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or gender confirming surgeries (although surgery for minors is uncommon), excluding treatment for
intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
minors. His memo further stated that social transition "should not be a treatment option for children or adolescents." Most major medical organizations, including the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and international bodies such as
The Endocrine Society The Endocrine Society is a professional, international medical organization in the field of endocrinology and metabolism, founded in 1916 as The Association for the Study of Internal Secretions. The official name of the organization was changed ...
, opposed the guidelines. Ladapo's subsequent press release stated:
"The federal government's medical establishment releasing guidance failing at the most basic level of academic rigor shows that this was never about health care, it was about injecting political ideology into the health of our children. Children experiencing gender dysphoria should be supported by family and seek counseling, not pushed into an irreversible decision before they reach 18", citing a study which claimed to have found high rates of desistance among transgender youth, which has been widely criticized by the psychiatric community for using "a large cohort of children who did not actually meet the criteria for gender dysphoria, meaning they were not transgender".
Other scientists cited in Ladapo's memo said their studies were willfully misrepresented and that their original data instead showed that "hormone blockers and hormone replacement therapy could help alleviate gender dysphoria and make transgender youth feel more at home in their own bodies". Ladapo's guidelines were also heavily criticized by organizations such as
GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...
,
The Trevor Project The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...
, the
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
, and the
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
. The LGBT media advocacy organization GLAAD argued that the memo was "playing politics with ransgender children'slives", stating that "All major medical associations support gender-affirming care for trans youth. Denying kids live-saving, medically necessary, gender-affirming care is downright dangerous." The HHS agency's Office for Civil Rights pledged to defend anyone who was denied medical treatment because of gender status, stating: "Parents or caregivers who believe their child has been denied health care, including gender affirming care, on the basis of that child’s gender identity, may file a complaint with OCR." In August 2022, Florida, citing state-issued guidance against gender affirming care ("widely debunked", according to the UK's ''Independent''), began a rule change process to institute bans on social transition and gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth and a requirement for any adult seeking gender-affirming care to receive approval from the Florida Board of Medicine at least 24 hours in advance. On October 28, 2022, Florida's Board of Medicine passed a motion to ban all gender-affirming healthcare for minors, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries. The motion mandates all transgender youth to detransition until they turn 18. At one point during the hearing, in response to one protester yelling that trans children would be harmed as a result, board member Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah answered "That's okay", before voting on the issue. Some who had been at the meeting said that the board had put all the speakers in favor of the ban, many of whom were from outside of the state or outside of the country, first in line to speak, before cutting off public comment once they ran out and pro-trans Floridians began speaking at the meeting. Some protesters staged a
die-in A die-in, sometimes known as a lie-in, is a form of protest in which participants simulate being dead. Die-ins are actions that have been used by a variety of protest groups on topics such as animal rights, anti-war, against traffic violence, hum ...
where the meeting was held. On October 31, 2022, the Florida Medical Board implemented the new rule that requiring a 24 hour waiting period for adults before they can undergo sexual reassignment surgery and to ban minors from any gender-affirming healthcare. On November 4, 2022, the new rule was approved by the Florida Board of Medicine and the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine. DeSantis and other Republicans have characterized gender-affirming care "as medically unproven and potentially dangerous in the long term, ndas another political battle against liberal ideologies." Many medical groups, doctors, and mental health specialists have said that treatment for transgender youth is safe and effective, although there is a lack of long-term research on gender-affirming care.


State Medicaid

In June 2022, the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration, the agency responsible for overseeing the state's
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
service, released a report in which it declared transgender hormone therapy to be "experimental and investigational". The report was criticized by a group of scientists, including four from
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, who called the report unscientific, flawed, and politically motivated, finding that the report ignored accepted scientific studies and consensus regarding gender dysphoria, had its writers chosen from those with ties to anti-LGBTQ groups specifically for their bias, cited sources with no scientific merit - including a student blog post and a letter to the editor, and that if the state used the same standard it used in the report to evaluate other treatments, it would no longer allow Medicaid to pay for drugs that lower cholesterol. The response to the report also stated that "medical treatment for gender dysphoria does meet generally accepted professional medical standards and is not experimental or investigational". Effective from August 21, 2022, state Medicaid regulations ban coverage on sexual reassignment surgery, hormone replacement therapy, puberty blockers and "any other transgender healthcare initiatives" for all individuals, regardless of age. On October 12, 2022, a federal judge denied a request to block enforcement of the regulation during an ongoing lawsuit.


Parental Rights in Education Act

In March 2022, the
Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...
passed the Parental Rights in Education Act, often referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill by its opponents.
Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...
signed the bill into law on March 28, 2022 - effective from July 1. The law prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten to grade 3 in Florida public school districts, or instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in a manner that is not "age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students" in any grade. The
preamble A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subj ...
of the law also mentions "classroom discussion" of these topics, dividing legal scholars if that would be included within the scope of the law. It also allows parents and teachers to sue any school district if they believe this policy is violated, with school districts covering the cost of the lawsuit. The law additionally prevents school districts from withholding information about a child's "mental, emotional, or physical well-being" from their parents unless educators believe there is a risk of "abuse, abandonment, or neglect." It additionally requires schools to create a procedure for parents to opt-out of counseling and physical health services for their children offered by the school. Schools must also seek the permission of parents before administering mental-health screeners to children from kindergarten to grade 3. Due to the "Don't Say Gay" nickname, some commentators and social media users thought the bill banned mentioning the word "gay" in school classrooms, though the bill does not actually mention the word "gay" or explicitly prohibit its use. A
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
poll showed voters are divided – 49% strongly or somewhat disapproved of the legislation and 40% strongly or somewhat approved. In contrast, a Public Opinion Strategies poll found that 61% support the legislation while 26% oppose it, 70% of parents support the legislation while 24% oppose it, and 51% of Democrats support the legislation while 29% oppose it. Supporters of the bill state that discussions about sexuality and gender identity should be handled by a child's parents and not by their schools; DeSantis' Press Secretary
Christina Pushaw Christina Maria Cody Pushaw (born September 3, 1990) is an American political aide, serving as rapid response director for the 2024 presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis. She is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and education Pusha ...
has called HB 1557 an "Anti- Grooming Bill". Opponents of the bill state that it could further stigmatize LGBT students and that schools should be a place where LGBT topics are discussed. Some conservatives, such as political commentator Matt Walsh, argue that the bill does not go far enough. There are concerns among some legal scholars that the proposed legislation within Florida could violate the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...
, and could be potentially unconstitutional.
Walkout In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace and withholding labor as an act of protest. A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an ...
s by students were held in schools across Florida in response to the bill. The bill has the potential to negatively affect the $97 billion
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
industries within Florida. Employees at
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
also planned walkouts over the bill, which culminated in a large protest. After DeSantis signed the bill, Disney released a statement that its goal is for the law to be repealed or struck down. Disney also paused their contributions to Florida political campaigns as they assessed their "approach to advocacy, including political giving in Florida." Prompted by Desantis, the Florida Legislature passed a bill in April that could limit Disney's ability to self-govern and impose tax penalties; the move was considered by many to be retaliation to Disney's actions following HB 1557's passage. On March 31, a lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of Equality Florida and
Family Equality Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
, which sought to block the bill on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. The lawsuit alleged that the bill violates the constitutionally protected rights of free speech, equal protection and due process of students and families, and argued that the bill was an effort to "control young minds" which prevented students from living "their true identities in school". In October 2022, a federal judge dismissed and rejected the challenge to the legislation effective since July 1. The
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
and the
Center for Countering Digital Hate The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is a British non-profit organisation with offices in London and Washington, DC. It campaigns for big tech firms to stop providing services to individuals who may promote hate and misinformation, ...
recorded a 406% increase in the use of tweets associating the LGBTQ community with being "groomers", "pedophiles", and "predators" following the passage of the law.


Gay and trans panic defense

The gay and trans panic defense remains legal in Florida. In March 2021, a bill to repeal it passed the Criminal Justice committee in the Senate by a vote of 6–2. The bill died in the Judiciary committee. The gay panic defense is a legal strategy in which defendants accused of violent offenses claim that unwanted same-sex sexual advances provoked them into reacting by way of self-defense.


Conversion therapy

On September 3, 2015, State Representative David Richardson filed a bill to ban the use of
conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
on LGBT minors. The bill was introduced to the Florida Legislature on January 12, 2016. However, it died in a House subcommittee on March 11, 2016. A similar bill died in 2017. Since July 2016, the Florida Department of Children and Families has prohibited facility staff from attempting to change or discourage a child's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. According to an Orlando Political Observer-Gravis Marketing poll conducted in April 2017, 71% of Floridians supported banning conversion therapy for minors, 11% were against banning it and 18% were uncertain.


Local bans

As of February 2020, several cities and counties in Florida have passed their own bans on conversion therapy on minors, namely
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
,
Wilton Manors Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,426. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166,488 people at the 2020 census. Histor ...
,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
North Bay Village North Bay Village is a city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 8,159. North Bay Village is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . o ...
,
West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
,
Bay Harbor Islands Bay Harbor Islands is a town in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,922 at the 2020 census. It is separated from the mainland by Biscayne Bay. History Bay Harbor Islands was founded by Shepard Broad on April 28, 1947. ...
, Lake Worth, El Portal,
Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, Boynton Beach,
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
,
Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...
, Riviera Beach,
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
,
Greenacres Greenacres can refer to: *Greenacres, California, a town in the Central Valley (United States) *Harold Lloyd Estate, 'Greenacres', the legendary 1920s Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills, California (United States) *Greenacres, Florida, town in th ...
,
Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...
, Oakland Park,
Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...
, Gainesville,
Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...
,
Alachua County Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...
,
Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, and
Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
. Conversion therapy bans have also been proposed or pending in other cities, for example in
Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
, and
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. On January 31, 2019, a federal judge granted a temporary injunction against part of the
Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
ordinance. The judge stopped the city from enforcing its ban on talk therapy, while a lawsuit, ''Vazzo v. City of Tampa'', was allowed to proceed. Other forms of therapy, such as electroshock therapy, are still explicitly banned. The city filed a motion to dismiss. In November 2020, the
11th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
voted 2–1 to declare ordinances banning conversion therapy on minors in Boca Raton and surrounding Palm Beach County a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. The
American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is an American professional association of pediatricians, headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It maintains its Department of Federal Affairs office in Washington, D.C. Background The Academy was founded ...
and the
American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...
are fully opposed to this pseudoscientific practice. This decision caused a circuit split; the
Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...
and
Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District o ...
courts of appeals have upheld conversion therapy bans as constitutional.


Living conditions

Faced initially with high
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
, LGBT groups began slowly to raise awareness of their cause and movement. Several organizations and associations were established over the years, including SAVE Dade in 1993,
The Pride Center at Equality Park The Pride Center at Equality Park is an LGBTQ+ community center in Wilton Manors, Florida, that serves Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Fort Lauderdale. The center provides information, news, and events that affect South Florida's LGBT ...
in 1993 and
Equality Florida Equality Florida is a political advocacy group that advocates for civil rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) residents of the U.S. state of Florida. Equality Florida consists of two organizations - Equ ...
in 1997, among others. The
Miami metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...
is famous internationally for its LGBT culture, scene and nightlife, with numerous bars, clubs, cafés and events catering to the LGBT community, leading Miami to be called a "gay mecca". The cities of
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
(especially the neighborhood of
South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...
) and
Wilton Manors Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,426. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166,488 people at the 2020 census. Histor ...
particularly are often referred to as
gay villages ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
. As is
Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, which elected one of the first openly gay mayors in the country; Richard A. Heyman served as mayor from 1983 to 1985 and again from 1987 to 1989. There is also a fairly large LGBT community in
Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
. LGBT events include Miami Beach Pride, which drew an estimated 150,000 participants and spectators in 2019, PrideFest Key West, the OutShine Film Festival, Pride Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach Pride, held annually in late March in Lake Worth, among others. Outside of Southern Florida, events include Come Out with Pride in
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
, St. Pete Pride in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the
Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is a movie screening event that takes place each October in Tampa, Florida. The primary venue is the Tampa Theatre, but several other cinemas in or near the downtown area and in St. Petersburg si ...
,
River City Pride River City Pride, also known as Jacksonville Pride, is an annual weekend-long pride parade and festival in Jacksonville, Florida. The event celebrates the local lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT ' is an initialism that stand ...
in
Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
,
Gay Days at Walt Disney World Disney World Gay Days is a loosely organized event where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, their families, friends and supporters go to Walt Disney World on a week long event each year. It is held on the first Saturday ...
, Memorial Day Pensacola Beach Pride, and Tallahassee Pridefest. On June 12, 2016, a
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...
occurred at an Orlando gay nightclub, Pulse, the deadliest incident in the
history of violence against LGBT people in the United States The history of violence against LGBT people in the United States is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender individuals ( LGBT), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of A ...
. However, media reported that the shooting resulted in no legislative advances in LGBT rights, with the
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...
continuing to oppose legislation which would protect LGBT people from discrimination. In June 2021, the
Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
vetoed A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto pow ...
an "item-lined budget bill" - that legally provides
mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
,
counseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. This is a list of co ...
and compensation, directly towards victims of the June 2016 Pulse nightclub Orlando shootings within
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. That month, the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...
passed, and Biden signed, a law creating a national memorial at the site of the shooting.


Public opinion

A 2017
Public Religion Research Institute The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is an American nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization that conducts public opinion polls on a variety of topics, specializing in the quantitative and qualitative study of political ...
(PRRI) poll found that 61% of Florida residents supported same-sex marriage, while 30% were opposed. 9% were undecided. Additionally, 71% supported an anti-discrimination law covering sexual orientation and gender identity. 22% were against. The PRRI also found that 62% were against allowing public businesses to refuse to serve LGBT people due to religious beliefs, while 31% supported such religiously-based refusals.


Summary table


See also

*
Law of Florida The law of Florida consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The ''Florida Statutes'' form the general statutory law of Florida. Sources The Constitution of Florida i ...
*
LGBT culture in Miami Miami has one of the largest and most prominent LGBTQ communities in the United States. Miami has had a gay nightlife scene as early as the 1930s. Miami has a current status as a gay mecca that attracts more than 1 million LGBT visitors a year. T ...
*
LGBT history in Florida This article concerns LGBT history in Florida. 1800–1970 After Florida became a territory of the United States in 1821, the Territorial Legislature enacted laws against fornication, adultery, bigamy, and incest, as well as against "open lewdness ...
*
LGBT rights in the United States Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States are among the most socially, culturally, and legally permissive and advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence on the issue changing significantly si ...
*
Politics of Florida Politics of Florida reflect a state that has experienced conflict between its liberal southern region and its traditionally conservative northern region. Politics often revolve around budgeting and how ...
* SAVE Dade *
Florida Legislative Investigation Committee The Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (commonly known as the Johns Committee) was established by the Florida Legislature in 1956, during the era of the Second Red Scare and the Lavender Scare. Like the more famous anti-Communist investi ...
, also called the Johns Committee, which tried to eliminate homosexuals from universities and state employment in Florida, 1956–1965 * ''
Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida ''Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida'', also known as the Purple Pamphlet, was an anti-homosexual propaganda pamphlet published in January 1964 by the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (FLIC) of the Florida Legislature led by S ...
'', anti-gay pamphlet published by the Johns Committee in 1964, notorious at the time because of its lewd photographs of men engaged in sexual activity *Palm Beach County Human Rights Council


Notes


References

{{LGBT rights in the United States LGBT rights in Florida