Trans people turn to crowdfunding to leave Florida

(2 Jun 2023) ++MUSIC CLEARED FOR USE BY ASSOCIATED PRESS++ FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4437812 ASSOCIATED PRESS St. Petersburg, Florida – 5 May 2023 1. Cars drive through pride crosswalk ASSOCIATED PRESS Orlando, Florida – 27 May 2023 2. Sage Chelf sitting by lake ANNOTATION: Orlando, Florida. 3. Chelf looking at phone ANNOTATION: Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a law that restricts gender-affirming care in Florida for adults and bans it for minors. 4. Close up of crowdfunding website on phone ANNOTATION: Now, dozens of trans adults and their families have created crowdfunding campaigns to help them leave the state. ++COVERED++ 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sage Chelf, Orlando, Florida resident: “I always had in the back of my mind that I was trans.” 6. Chelf writing on pill bottle 7. Close up of pill bottles ANNOTATION: Sage Chelf began hormone replacement therapy in 2021. 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Sage Chelf, Orlando, Florida resident: “It felt like a new beginning. I could finally be myself. And when you finally feel like you can be yourself, you feel like you can start progressing in your life.” 9. Chelf holding nametag ANNOTATION: Thousands of trans people in Florida lost access to their providers and medication after the law banned nurse practitioners from providing care. ASSOCIATED PRESS Vermont (exact location unknown) – 26 May 2023 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Kate Steinle, FOLX Health: “It takes so long to actually find those affirming providers. And many of those providers in Florida and elsewhere across this country are NPs (nurse practitioners) or PAs (physician assistants), and this law makes it so that they no longer can provide care.” ASSOCIATED PRESS Orlando, Florida – 27 May 2023 11. Pill bottles ANNOTATION: Chelf still has testosterone blockers but is nearly out of estrogen. 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Sage Chelf, Orlando, Florida resident: “At this point, it has been a week since I've last taken my hormone medication. And what that has done really has– basically I'm void of emotion. I feel like a zombie right now because I don't have any hormones in my body.” 13. Wide of folding clothes ANNOTATION: Chelf hopes to move to Illinois soon. ANNOTATION: The state is one of several U.S. states that has moved to counteract a surge of anti-LGBTQ legislation in mostly Republican-led states. 14. Medium of packing backpack ANNOTATION: According to GoFundMe, people have given more than $200,000 since January to help trans people leave Florida. ANNOTATION: Chelf has received more than $3,000 in donations. ++PARTIALLY COVERED++ 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Sage Chelf, Orlando, Florida resident: “Even a small amount really does good, because when that comes in, you're kind of reminded, ‘Wow, this person actually went out of their way to help.’ Like, it's not even about the amount of money. It's the fact that they went out of their way to donate in the first place. I just really wish people would stop making it such a political thing, and just letting us live.” ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE: St. Petersburg Florida – 5 May 2023 16. U.S. and Florida flags waving ASSOCIATED PRESS St. Petersburg, Florida – 5 May 2023 17. Pride flags waving STORYLINE: Dozens of trans people in Florida have turned to crowdfunding appeals to help them leave the state after the passage of new legislation they see as hostile to the LGBTQ+ community, including a law that curtails access to gender-affirming care for adults and bans it for minors. =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/58fbc000ce804bee9af2d56b64bae6b5