‘They Wanna Castrate These Young Boys’: DeSantis Says Doctors Should Be Sued For Sex Change Surgeries

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for medical professionals who perform sex change surgeries on children to be sued during a Wednesday speech.

Doctors are performing double mastectomies on young girls and castrating boys despite the fact that most cases of gender dysphoria are resolved on their own when children grow up, DeSantis said. His administration has discouraged child sex changes in official guidance, while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is encouraging these medical interventions.

“[They] talk about these young kids getting ‘gender-affirming care.’ They don’t tell you what that is,” DeSantis said. “They’re actually giving very young girls double mastectomies; they want to castrate these young boys. That’s wrong.”

“You don’t disfigure 10, 12, 13-year-old kids based on gender dysphoria. 80% of it resolves anyways by the time they get older,” DeSantis said. “I think these doctors need to get sued for what’s happening.”

The DeSantis administration has pushed back against recommendations from the Biden administration endorsing “gender-affirming care” for children, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries. The Florida Department of Health advises against social and medical transitions for children experiencing gender dysphoria.

DeSantis also introduced Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who has helped lead the charge to push back against childhood sex changes in Florida.