Ron DeSantis Responds to Question on Having Gay or Trans Child

Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, well known for his anti-LGBTQ+ policies, says that if one of his children turns out to be gay or transgender, that’s a personal matter between him and his wife.

In an interview with Time at the Iowa State Fair, published Wednesday, DeSantis also defended the anti-LGBTQ+ laws he has signed, such as the infamous “don’t say gay” law and the ban on gender-affirming procedures for trans youth.

DeSantis is making his presidential campaign about his personal life to a degree. He sees education policy, for instance, “through the lens of a dad,” he told the publication. He and his wife, Casey, have daughters aged 6 and 3, and a son aged 5. But “DeSantis’s attempt to personalize these issues has limits,” Time reports.

“When I ask how he’ll respond if one of his children turns out to be gay or trans, his eyes flash momentarily, and he swiftly shuts down the question,” Time’s Molly Ball writes. “‘Well, my children are my children,’ DeSantis says. ‘We’ll leave that — we’ll leave that between my wife and I.’”

On the “don’t say gay” measure, which bans public school instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity and is part of a larger law aimed at increasing parental involvement in education, he said, “Kids should be kids — there shouldn’t be an agenda. I didn’t feel like there was an agenda when I was growing up.”

“Framing it all as a crusade for ‘parents’ rights’ is a neat trick politically, highlighting a throwback, traditionalist view of what used to be termed ‘family values,’ but with a very 2023 culture-war spin,” Time notes.

He said the trans care ban is needed because doctors are bullying parents in pursuit of profit. “As a parent right now, I can’t take my 6-year-old daughter and get her a tattoo, even if I want to do that. You don’t have the right to do things that are going to be destructive to kids. I think that some of these parents are being told by physicians who are making a lot of money off this that you have to do this, otherwise your kid can end up doing something like commit suicide. I think that they get bullied into thinking this is the right decision.” Most of the law’s provisions are blocked by a court ruling while a lawsuit against it proceeds.

DeSantis went on to tiptoe around the many criminal charges that have been brought against Donald Trump, who was once an ally of DeSantis but is highly critical of him now that they’re rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis said that if Trump is convicted, a presidential pardon would be in order.

“When I’m president, we need a fresh start,” DeSantis said. “Just like Ford pardoned Nixon, we are going to move on from the Trump controversies.” He also said the U.S. Department of Justice is “highly political” and that Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed “flimsy charges” against Trump. Smith has brought charges regarding the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and possession of classified documents.

“These are novel applications of the law, to conduct that has not traditionally been criminalized,” he said. “And I think that's why it's been viewed — at least in my judgment, and by people that think like me — very, very skeptically. Also, why all of a sudden are they doing this now? January 6 happened how many years ago, and I don’t know what the agenda is behind that.”

Pictured: Casey and Ron DeSantis