#We're anti-death penalty in this house

[twilight-deviant]

A reminder the internet needs:

Telling someone to kill themselves is never acceptable.

There is no asterisk here. There is no "unless they're..." There is no "as a joke." There are no exceptions. Full stop.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Hey trans Florida folks - things suck, but I want to make sure y'all have more info so you can better gauge the urgency and expected risk for a new bill.

This is another long post, but please read because a lot of folks are in a huge panic at some misleading info.

You've probably seen this by now:

This is misleading. Be incredibly concerned at the path we're on because it is bad, even plan to leave the state (I am), but drag isn't punishable by the death penalty:

From the Twitter screencap: "Florida has now: 1) made drag in public illegal as a 'sex crime against children'."

Misleading. SB 1438 censors drag in front of minors w/vague, subjective language and threatens misdemeanors, fines, and license revocation for violations. This is meant to scare businesses, and even cities. We are already seeing Pride parades canceled in Florida in response:

From the Twitter screencap: "2) made sexual crimes against children punishable by death"

Too broad. Sexual battery against a child is being made into a capital felony (aka, punishable by death) in the currently proposed SB1342 .

The bill says:

"A person 18 years of age or older who commits sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a capital felony".

If we want a definition of "sexual battery" itself, we can jump to Florida statues at:

https://m.flsenate.gov/statutes/794.011

"Sexual battery” means oral, anal, or female genital penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or female genital penetration of another by any other object; however, sexual battery does not include an act done for a bona fide medical purpose."

Also of note in this statute:

"Serious personal injury” means great bodily harm or pain, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement."

I am not a lawyer, but to me, this looks like less of an attack against trans people for existing (via conflation with anti-drag bills), and more a way to target those providing gender affirming care -- healthcare providers or even a child's affirming guardians.

Many states are already trying to set up "aiding and abetting" laws (from the anti-abortion playbook) to punish anyone offering any kind of gender affirming care (from general therapy to vocal coaching) to a trans kid.

Florida might be hoping someone applies the "injures the sexual organs of" component of SB1342 to gender-affirming puberty blockers. Yeah, it's a stretch, but I would not be surprised to see someone try it.

Because we are already seeing the HHS committee consider sending subpoenas to gender-affirming clinics:

"House Speaker Paul Renner said he wants the House to examine how the organizations adopted their recommendations. He questioned whether the guidelines were the result of scientific analysis or whether “the integrity of the medical profession has been compromised by a radical gender ideology that stands to cause permanent physical and mental harm to children and adolescents.”

Emphasis mine. Again, I am not a lawyer, but I would not be surprised to see someone try to hold a gender-affirming clinic accountable for "sexual battery" against a child.

All these separate actions paint a grim picture.

Back to our Twitter screencap: "3) Began allowing death penaltymsentencing at at 8-4 vote instead of a unanimous vote"

Yes, true. This one is scary all on its own because it makes it that much easier for the DeSantis administration to target political enemies.

Everyone should be terrified of this:

Back to making child sexual battery a capital felony & SB1342:

Could we eventually see bills proposed that further broaden - via deliberately vague language or otherwise -what kind of "sex crimes" are punishable by death, thus fully targeting trans people?

For sure, we will absolutely see fascists try to get away with whatever they can and I hope we see more resistance against what is happening now to prevent the escalation towards genocide.

But this specific bill isn't targeting drag and it's important we understand the current threat landscape so we can plan accordingly.

Like. I'm still working on my own plan to flee Florida asap (I am a trans man) but I don't feel at risk of the death penalty just yet, so my "leave asap" is "sell the house in a month" instead of "grab the bugout bag and get in the car NOW".

It is very, very important to understand the threats we face so we don't make rash decisions that could have permanent consequences for already vulnerable people. We need to plan and act on plans with haste, but afford ourselves every opportunity to make decisions with as much accurate information as possible.

What's the status of SB1342?

As I type this, still with the senate, but check for updates at the link below. If passed, it would enact October 1, 2023.

In closing

Again, be careful, be safe, be informed. I am not a legal expert; I'm just a little guy, but the risk landscape has enough threats trans people need to respond to without us thinking drag is currently eligible for the death penalty.

Every trans person in the United States, not just Florida, should be watching what is going on across the country and noting how all these bills connect and escalate. And what could become blueprints at the federal level.

Keep hope, but plan for contingencies that could threaten your job, your housing, your liberty, and possibly even your life. Watch the news, watch your local bills, and do your best at figuring out when you need to break that emergency glass.

My biggest advice to be better informed is to learn where your state posts bills and look them up when they hit the news:

Get used to reading bills and noting when they would take effect

Learn how to follow a bill on its way into law - the stages are usually through various committees, then both the House and Senate can file amendments and ultimately vote in separate sessions to approve, then the governor signs it into law

Understand that a lot of reporting on bills can make it sound like it has passed into law, when it might still just be in a committee.

Not all bills pass, and when they do, not all pass as originally proposed. (This can work for or against us.)

Follow trans political commentators like Erin or Alejandra for more context

Again, it all sucks right now and I don't want to underscore the danger so many transgender Americans are already in (and lord knows I am very lucky to be able to leave Florida). But knowing what we're up against is one of the few defenses we have right now.

I have more advice for trans Floridians here.

[culmaer]

I'm happy for South Africans to offer advice btw. I know it's kinda gauche to talk about political opinions with this level of specificity but I don't care at this point. this is what stands out to me about the various parties :

African National Congress — even ignoring their record of corruption, failures in service delivery and broken promises, it's unhealthy in a democracy for the same party to win this many consecutive terms

Democratic Alliance — pro-Israel, pro-Capitalism. want to scrap the minimum wage and give corporations more tax breaks, all of which I cannot support. and every prominent politician of colour in the party, or aligned with the party, over the last decade has eventually resigned (Lindiwe Mazibuko, Patricia de Lille, Mamphela Ramphele, Herman Mashaba, Mmusi Maimane, etc). which is a red flag

Economic Freedom Fighters — leftist policies on paper are great, but the party is volatile and entirely subject to the whims of Julius Malema personally. we've just seen this yet again with the whole Naledi Chirwa thing. and bear in mind they're probably not going to win outright and their record in coalitions at the local level is not stellar. (also, can't ignore their physical brawls in parliament. like, disruptions as protest is one thing, but actual violence in the House is another. conservatives love bringing this up so I'm annoyed that it is actually a real critique). also, left wing policies are great and the ultimate goal, but realistically they will destabilise the economy in the immediate and short term and I don't see how they plan to mitigate those effects on the lives of the poor (we're already in a cost of living crisis). is it worth it for the long-term benefits ? (assuming things go well... they may not. like, Floyd Shivambu, the second in command, was implicated in the VBS Bank scandal so it's not like we can rule out corruption)

Vryheidsfront plus — right-wing Afrikaner nationalism with a dash of christianity. no thanks

Inkatha Freedom Party — what do they even stand for aside from vague conservativism, Zulu nationalism and free-market liberalism ? also a pass

Mkhonto weSizwe — fuck Jacob Zuma

Build One South Africa — marketed as Mmusi Maimane's new party but really it's just a loose coalition of independent candidates. and they don't seem to have a coherent strategy. as far as I can tell, their plan is basically 'the Market will sort it out'

Action SA — capitalist, anti-unions, would scrap minimum wage and BEE/affirmative action (now this is a tricky point to evaluate. I concede that BEE has been exploited limiting its efficacy, so it is in need of reform. but scrapping the policy entirely seems like a bad move given the nation's poverty statistics ? the proposed replacement is a slightly higher corporate tax and redistributing that money to poor people of colour. but in light of the social grant fraud scandal... idk). additionally, they support the mass deportation of "illegal" immigrants, using unpaid prison labour and introducing capital punishment (the death penalty) for more serious crimes. so even taking the BEE thing as a net neutral, it's still a "no" from me.

Patriotic Alliance — pro-Israel, anti-secularism, very pro-Christian, wants to bring in capital punishment (the death penalty), committed to deporting "illegal" foreigners, yet a capitalist fiscal policy to attract foreign investment. leader Gayton McKenzie is a gangster-turned-businessman and there have been *allegations* of ties to gangs and criminal sources of funding

African Christian Democratic Party — right-wing, christian and anti-LGBT+

Good Party — are they even running nationally ? I thought they were a provincial party in the Western Cape. their manifesto is full of lofty promises (and make prominent mention of environmentalism and social justice/LGBT+ rights, which is appealing) but it's scant on any real implementation details, so are those promises worth anything ? they seem to be advocating for more,, I guess grass-roots policies at the local level. which would theoretically work in the cities, but many small, rural districts and municipalities throughout the country are literally bankrupt and so just leaving them to sort themselves out doesn't strike me as sufficient and effective policy for a National government. left-leaning vibes, but I would say actually fairly centrist in terms of economics. definitely not anti-capitalist

Independants — we don't have the transferable vote here, so is it a waste to vote for small candidates and parties who probably won't win a seat in the National Assembly ?

it's one week to the elections and I have no idea whom to vote for. I've always been able to decide on a "least bad" option in previous years, but this time... I may just spoil my ballot honestly I have no idea. I still think it's important to vote and obviously not voting is not a valid form of protest, but like genuinely and sincerely which party is a viable option ?