BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Members of the community in Brevard County are stepping in, in response to a state law they say is making it difficult for LGBTQ students to get resources they need. This is part of our ongoing conversation about the Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. 

The law’s impact reaches far beyond students who are in grades K-3. We are discovering it is affecting all students, and now, church leaders and mental health counselors in Brevard County say they are stepping in to help LGBTQ+ students who feel they can no longer have trusted conversations at school.

James Kilby, with the Unitarian Church of Brevard, says his church is a place of solace for everyone.

“I think if you’re coming at it from an inclusive level right, that’s the right way and if you can find something to include everybody, then you’re going to succeed and that’s definitely what we’re trying to do here,” Kilby said.

Especially for students in Brevard County Public Schools. The Parental Rights in Education law, he says, is having a lasting impact on them. Kilby feels his church is a safe place for families in need of guidance… specifically for LGBTQ students feeling singled out.

“My concern is, it’s hard enough to navigate high school as a teenager. But if you have things like LGBTQ on top of that, and you don’t have that support system in the public-school systems, we’re going to have a lot of mental health problems,” Kilby said.

This community of students is feeling an impact nationwide: a survey of mental health conducted by the Trevor Project shows 45 percent of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. 

“… They’re confused, and they feel frustrated, and they feel as though their hands are tied. That when it comes to supporting certain students, they don’t know what to do, and that’s sad,” Kilby said.

And the reach of this legislation may go even further. House Bill 1223, which is making its way through the state legislature right now, would expand the reach of the Parental Rights in Education law through the 8th grade. 

It even goes further: if passed, the bill will bar teachers and school employees from using students’ preferred pronouns, unless they “correspond” with their “biological sex” at birth. 

Representative Randy Fine of Brevard County is a co-sponsor of this new bill.

“We believe in biology. There are boys, and there are girls, and that’s biology. You don’t get to choose what you are; you are what you are,” Fine said.

Fine is also pushing legislation that would block minors from getting treatments for gender reassignment. He believes such treatment can cause medical and mental harm to youth.

“Research shows that someone who goes through this is 19 times as likely to commit suicides within 10 years of getting these transitions,” Fine said.

Our Watchdog team asked Rep. Fine’s office about this research, requesting documents that show these statistics or speak to what he is alleging. 

A day later, Rep. Fine’s office sent over the findings of a study conducted in Sweden. The study, completed back in 2011, took a deep, long-term look at over 300 people who had sex reassignment surgery from 1973 to 2003.

That study found that although death rates were higher for those who had sex reassignment procedures, those procedures helped to alleviate gender dysphoria. 

And the study’s researchers made it clear: the study’s results do not imply causality. The study’s results do not at all prove people had higher death rates because they had sex reassignment surgery. 

In fact, “things might have been even worse without sex reassignment,” the study’s conclusion reads. 

Researchers also pointed out, the study’s results reflect the outcome of psychiatric and somatic treatment that was available in Sweden during the 1970s and 1980s. 

“Since then, treatment has evolved with improved sex reassignment surgery, refined hormonal treatment, and more attention to psychosocial care that might have improved the outcome,” the study reads. 

The study recommends more attention be paid to providing ongoing care for patients, after and beyond the transition process itself. Importantly, the study only evaluated adults, not children. 

Licensed mental health therapist Teresa Horldt says while she is taking on more LGBTQ students as clients from Brevard County Public Schools, that’s mainly because of confusion from new laws affecting LGBTQ+ youth.

“We need clarity from, you know, the law itself, for how it’s supposed to be implemented,” Horldt said.

She says within the last year; she is taking on younger clients from Brevard County Schools who are LGBTQ+ and in search of someone to talk with. 

“I’ve noticed a lot more anxiety [and] depression with this population, because they are feeling very unwelcomed and uncared about, because they don’t have the same resources. They don’t feel comfortable going to talk to someone,” Horldt said.

That’s inside the school building. But out in the community, Kilby says students can turn to them and those who they trust most. 

Kilby says he’s here, along with congregation members, to be a calming voice when students are weathering life’s storms. He says the best way to help them is to listen and let them in.

“You know, the more inclusive we are, the more accepting we are of each other’s differences, the more we embrace diversity. The stronger we are as a community,” Kilby said.

Misgendering somebody, or refusing to use pronouns reflecting that person’s gender identity, can lead to negative effects for young people, according to health care providers.

“To misgender somebody is kind of giving them a constant distraction,” said Joseph Knoll, founder and CEO of SPEKTRUM Health. 

“Imagine being an adolescent that’s trying to prepare for a test, or trying to write a paper for an assignment for school, but they’re not being referred to the correct way. People are using the wrong pronouns, using the wrong name,” Knoll said. “It creates a huge distraction. It causes a lot of anxiety, and it can make them feel very depressed.”

Knoll, a nurse practitioner, said anxiety and depression can take a huge toll on somebody’s ability to focus and concentrate in an academic setting. But for a transgender person, gender-affirming care can often eliminate some of that depression or anxiety.

“Once we affirm their gender and we get them on treatment and they start to see some changes, it’s not at all uncommon for things like depression and anxiety to almost completely resolve,” Knoll said.

Although some state lawmakers have expressed fear and outrage about the idea of children receiving surgical interventions, like mastectomies or breast implantations, as part of their gender-affirming care, Knoll said the reality is, that type of treatment for transgender people under the age of 18 is “very rare.”

“The other side talks a lot about gender-affirming surgeries, and gives this idea that it’s happening all day every day, and it’s not,” Knoll said. “When we’re talking about adolescents, it’s usually less invasive surgeries such as hormones, puberty pausers, puberty blockers, stuff like that.”

Knoll estimates only between 3% to 5% of SPEKTRUM Health’s minor patient population report they want to pursue some kind of surgical intervention.

But before starting a young person on any kind of treatment, Knoll says, it’s critical to first ensure they fully understand and feel comfortable living in their gender identity.

“Affirming someone socially is an important step in them understanding their gender identity,” Knoll said. “It’s one of the things that we as clinicians want them to do first, before they start any kind of invasive treatment of any kind. We want to make sure that they have experienced and interacted with their peers and friends and family in their authentic gender.”

But for many young LGBTQ+ Floridians who don’t feel safe being themselves, that social affirmation process is becoming increasingly more difficult. If HB 1223 were to pass, making it a crime for public school teachers and employees to use somebody’s preferred pronouns, some say social affirmation could become nearly impossible. 

That could pose grave mental health concerns for LGBTQ+ youth, according to Kroll and many other medical experts, including the American Medical Association. 

“I think that a lot of people are anxious and worried when they recognize something about themselves that the world may not like,” Knoll said. 

HB 1223 is still making its way through the Florida legislature. Right now, it is currently being discussed in the education and employment committee. 

Disclaimer: SPEKTRUM Health is a separate company, not associated in any way with Spectrum Networks.