Transgender youth detained during protest at Florida legislature

Transgender and nonbinary children were temporarily detained by Capitol Police following a raucous protest of pending anti-trans legislation at the Florida House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Video posted on TikTok shows a group of adults facing officers at a security checkpoint in the building while chanting “Let the parents in!” It appears they were demanding to get to their children who they claimed were being detained inside.

“You are legally required to have the parents involved in this process,” one woman can be heard telling an officer. “So, let them in. You are legally required. They are minors. Let them go.” As the woman is speaking, the video shows a man who appears to be wearing the badge of the Florida House of Representatives Office of the Sergeant at Arms closing a door.

Another TikTok video shows two men wearing suits standing in front of a door marked “House of Representatives” as adults chant, “Let them go.”

“The parents are here,” an individual narrates in the video. “They are withholding them from the parents illegally.” Another person can be heard yelling: “Kidnappers! Kidnappers!”

Andres Malave, a spokesperson for the Florida House Majority Office, confirmed to Raw Story that young protesters were temporarily detained in the gallery and that one person was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace of a lawful assembly. Malave said protesters who were detained were also issued trespass orders banning them from the Capitol grounds for one year.

The officers detained the protesters after they allegedly rained down underwear from the balcony gallery on lawmakers seated below. The garments were scrawled with messages like “Fascism has no place in Florida. Stop trans genocide.”

The protest took place as lawmakers were debating several anti-trans bills, including measures preventing transgender people from using the bathroom that accords with their gender identity, imposing penalties on businesses that expose children to “adult live performance,” and banning gender-affirming care. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida describes the latter measure as “threatening medical providers with criminal sentences for helping transgender youth access life-saving healthcare.”

The three bills passed the Florida House on Wednesday and are headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk for his signature.

Malave told Raw Story he didn’t know how long the children were detained in the gallery.

“Until the officers conducted their investigation, they did what they had to do,” Malave said.

Malave said that, based on his observations, parents or guardians were allowed to their children, contradicting the accounts of some of the adults shown in the TikTok videos who claimed they were shut out.

“Supposed parents and guardians were given an opportunity to identify their kids and be there,” Malave said. “I saw at least one guardian who was escorted in when she was identified as a parent.”

Malave disputed the description of the officers as “kidnappers.”

“I’m not even going to entertain that question,” he told Raw Story. “You’re accusing the Florida House of Representatives of kidnapping? You’re reading some random tweets that are hyper-charged from a protest. A series of individuals disrupted the business of the House of Representatives. Actions have consequences. Nobody singled them out. As such, they were detained accordingly.”