ORLANDO, Fla. — Organizations in Central Florida are raising money to help people in the area access transgender care.

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A new state law has restricted and in some cases blocked that access for transgender members of out community.

“There’s an overwhelming amount of need and requests,” said Lamia Moukaddam with the LGBT+ Center in Orlando. “What we are going to do is disperse the funds to people in need in Florida to help them pay for that, and also to transgender youth and their families to be able to get out of Florida to access care.”

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Funds have now raised almost $50,000 to date.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB254, which bans doctors from giving children transgender treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries. There is an exception for children who are already receiving treatments.

The law also requires adults who want those treatments to sign a consent form, which the state is working on right now.

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Meanwhile, a state rule banned Medicaid reimbursements to health care providers for transgender treatments.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. He made it virtually impossible for transgender people to access care,” Moukaddam said.

A federal judge struck down the Medicaid rule, but the state is likely to appeal the ruling.

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Video: ‘Kicked out of public life’: Transgender Floridians say new laws are forcing them to leave the state In a month, 19-year-old Aaron said there will be no public restroom he’ll feel comfortable using in the state of Florida. (Sabrina Maggiore, WFTV.com)

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