DeSantis signs flurry of anti-trans bills, including ban on gender-affirming care for minors
CBSN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed several anti-transgender bills Wednesday which ban gender-affirming care for minors, ban children from attending drag shows, and target how students learn about and engage with the LGBTQ+ community.
Senate Bill 254 outlaws gender transition surgeries and medication, such as puberty blockers, for minors. It also makes it a first-degree misdemeanor for physicians and health care workers to provide gender-affirming medication or conduct these surgeries, and gives state courts the ability to obtain a warrant to take physical custody of a child who is "being subjected to sex-reassignement prescriptions or procedures."
DeSantis also signed an expansion of the Parental Rights in Education bill, which prohibits the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill, initially signed into law in March 2022, applied to students in third grade and under. But with the expansion, it now applies to those in eighth grade and under.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were honored at a state dinner in Paris at the Presidential Elysee Palace on Saturday, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day two days prior and the strength of the countries' long alliance.
President Joe Biden said France was America's "first friend" at its founding and is one of its closest allies more than two centuries later as he was honored with a state visit Saturday by French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at showing off their partnership on global security issues and easing past trade tensions.
The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.