Florida GOP proposes sex affidavits and ‘grooming’ bans in slate of anti-LGBTQ bills

Florida’s legislative session started only this week, and Republican lawmakers have already introduced more bills targeting LGBTQ people than there have been days in the new year.

Some of the bills — including one that would change the state’s definition of sex and another that would criminalize “lewd or lascivious grooming” — are among the most extreme of the hundreds filed in state Legislatures so far this year. Another bill proposes prohibiting government employees from being required to use their colleagues’ requested pronouns and yet another aims to protect children from “harmful material” online, though harmful material is so vague that advocates worry it could include LGBTQ content.

Additionally a measure proposed by the Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur would declare nearly all published accusations of anti-LGBTQ bias to be “defamation per se.” The bill would bar journalists from defending such accusations by citing their subject’s “constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs” or scientific beliefs, and those successfully sued would be liable for damages of at least $35,000.

“Florida has, for years, been an innovator of new assaults on freedom and equality, and this year’s slate of bills is no different,” said Brandon Wolf, a spokesperson for LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign who survived the Orlando, Florida, Pulse nightclub mass shooting. This session, we’ll see escalating attacks on education, medical freedom, and the fundamental right of transgender people to exist as their authentic selves.”

Among the most extreme bills is a sweeping measure, introduced by Republican Rep. Dean Black, that would require Floridians to sign an affidavit certifying that their driver’s license or