Florida

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Find Your State

Know the laws in your state that protect LGBT people and people living with HIV.

Lambda Legal Sues Florida School District Barring Transgender Student From Correct Bathroom

Drew is 16-year-old boy who is transgender, and will begin his junior year at Allen D. Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, FL. Learn More

Workplace

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Does state law protect employees in the private sector from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?

Does state law protect employees in the private sector from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and/or gender expression?

Does state law expressly protect employees of state and local governments from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?

Does state law expressly protect employees of state and local governments from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and/or gender expression?

All government employees are protected by the U.S. Constitution against irrational discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, some measure of protection already exists under Title VII based on gender, which has been held to include gender identity and expression.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and several courts have interpreted Title VII to protect LGBT employees. Lambda Legal maintains that the EEOC adjudications regarding Title VII’s coverage should supersede contrary authority that exists in some federal circuits.

HIV & Healthcare

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Does the state explicitly ban transgender exclusions in health insurance?

Does the state have laws that may be used to fight against health care discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity?

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Does Florida have an HIV criminalization law?

YES, Florida has a criminal law that punishes people with an HIV diagnosis specifically for nondisclosure of HIV status prior to sexual conduct. A violation of this statute is classified as a felony.

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Has there been at least one HIV-based criminal prosecution—brought under an HIV-specific criminal law or a general criminal law—in Florida in recent years?

YES, in recent years, there has been at least one criminal prosecution for HIV nondisclosure in Florida. In fact, Florida is considered aggressive in pursuing such prosecutions, because at least 5 such prosecutions have taken place over the last 5 years.

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Does Florida have laws that criminalize or enhance the penalties for biting, spitting and/or throwing bodily fluids or substances (such as urine or excrement) if a person has been diagnosed with HIV?

NO, Florida does not have laws that criminalize or enhance penalties for biting, spitting and/or throwing bodily fluids or substances (such as urine or excrement) if a person has been diagnosed with HIV, but that does not mean the state could not prosecute a person engaged in such activities under general criminal laws or argue for sentence enhancements based on the person’s HIV diagnosis.

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Does Florida have criminal laws addressing HIV+ sex workers and/or HIV+ patrons of sex workers?

YES, Florida also has laws that enhance punishments for HIV-positive people involved in commercial sexual transactions. It is difficult to obtain accurate data on how often these laws are utilized in Florida, but there is growing evidence that in general these types of laws targeting sex workers are used much more frequently than other types of HIV criminalization laws.

Does the state explicitly ban transgender exclusions in health insurance?

Does the state have laws that may be used to fight against health care discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity?

Parenting

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Who may adopt?

1.A husband and wife jointly.

2.An unmarried adult.

3.A spouse of the parent of the person to be adopted, if the parent consents.

4.A spouse of the parent of the person to be adopted, if the parent’s consent is excused by the court because good cause has been shown or because it would be in the child’s best interests.

Additionally, under Florida law, a homosexual person is allowed to be a foster parent. Fla. Dep't of Children & Families v. X.X.G., 45 So. 3d 79, 81 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2010).

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Second-parent adoptions:

Some granted in a limited number of jurisdictions.

Lambda Legal won a victory in 2014 upholding a second parent adoption in a Florida appeals court based on the circumstances of the particular case. See C.P. v. G.P., 148 So. 3d 769 (Fla. 2014)

Results likely vary by county and by judge. Anyone considering petitioning for a second-parent adoption should contact, or have their counsel contact, Lambda Legal for information and counsel.

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Joint Adoptions?

The statute allows a "husband and wife" who are adults to jointly adopt. Failure to treat married same-sex couples equally for the purposes of joint adoptions would violate the US Constitution. Please contact Lambda Legal if you feel this statute was applied in violation of your constitutional rights.