Sarasota Memorial Hospital is sending training to all hospital employees that claims a person can be a different gender than the one "assigned to them at birth". Screenshots of the "LGBTQ+ Inclusion Healthcare" training with Sarasota Memorial Hospital's logo on it were provided to the Floridian by a source within the Hospital.
"Sarasota Memorial Health Care System recently required its employees to complete LGBTQ DEI training," said the employee speaking anonymously. "I was surprised to see this come across my computer in light of the controversy that generally surrounds it."
According to the section on "Gender Identity", the concept of what defines a male or female is nebulous and not necessarily related to biological traits. Gender Identity is defined by the guide as "A person's innermost concept of self as male, female a blend of both or neither." According to the guide, gender is more of an individual choice. "A person's gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth," the guide states.
"A man will never bear a child or have a functioning womb. A woman will never have sperm. Never. Didn't our doctors and our nurses learn anatomy? This could not be more basic science," said Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Employee Stephen Marland at the March meeting of the Hospital Board.
Marland says the training was given to all employees in January.
"I'm not against any individual. I'm addressing the agenda and the forces behind it," said Marland. "This is a highly political and cultural division in our society and Sarasota Memorial has jumped into the political and cultural fray here by sending this out."
Marland asked the Hospital Board why LGBTQ+ group warrants different treatment than other marginalized groups.
"There are so many groups of people who are different from each other, so why this group?" Marland asked the Board. "There are so many people who believe differently and different religions. Why is this group special? Why is SMH provoking us with this divisive type of training?"
“A man will never bear a child or have a functioning womb.”
A woman will never have sperm. Never!”
This couldn’t be more basic science.”
Sarasota Memorial Hospital employee Stephen Marland wants to know why @SMHCS is sending out divisive training saying gender is a choice. pic.twitter.com/tmRSrqNgke
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) April 17, 2023
Marland, a Server Analyst with Sarasota Memorial Hospital said any training that does not explicitly state that it is mandatory is optional, but most people believe it is mandatory when they see it.
The training starts with a section called "LGBTQ+ Terminology" which includes the traditional terms "Gay" and "Lesbian" but also the terms "Cisgender" and "Asexual". Cisgender is a term often used to degrade straight people and paint them as an oppressive class. Training on the terms "queer", "transgender", "nonbinary", "gender identity" and "gender expression" are also part of the course.
"I, and I know some of my fellow colleagues, were offended at having to complete this training. I am sure we are not alone. Not to mention that, again, with Sarasota being on the conservative side, is that really what taxpayers - and patients! - really want their tax dollars being spent on?" said another hospital employee who spoke to the Floridian on the basis of anonymity.
"Is LGBTQ plus the rest - it changes daily practically - really the best use of employee time given that we have employee shortages in certain areas?" the employee states. "We are a very busy hospital system and in general really don't need our employer to tell us to be nice to each other and force certain "values" or beliefs on us."
Sarasota Memorial Hospital made worldwide headlines when family physician Dr. John Littell was expelled from a Hospital Board Meeting after he testified to the effectiveness of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19. The Hospital denied this as the reason he was removed.
BREAKING! Dr. John Littell KICKED OUT of Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board Meeting after testifying to the effectiveness of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19! pic.twitter.com/agwqvaJrtY
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) February 21, 2023
The guide goes on to suggest being an "ally" to LGBTQ+ people and to "use the pronoun that someone asks you to use."
The guide goes on to instruct hospital staff to acknowledge and apologize for any "missteps" and even encourages Tweeting about it.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis calls Florida the State where "Woke Goes to Die."
"Because WOKE wages a war on truth, we must wage a war on WOKE," DeSantis proclaimed at an address at Liberty University last week. "It is wrong for teachers in schools to tell a second grader they may have been born in the wrong body or that their gender is a choice. It is also wrong for physicians to pump minors full of puberty blockers or to perform sex change operations on them. We fight the WOKE in the Legislature. We fight the WOKE in the Corporations. We never, ever surrender to the WOKE mob."
Thank you, @LibertyU, for having me.
Students at Liberty understand that truth is enduring.
You can try to cover it up, hide it, or distort it. But as time goes by, the deceit and the lies fade away, and what is true remains.
The truth will set you free.
Because woke… pic.twitter.com/kL8ySETw5q
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) April 16, 2023
The Stop WOKE Act signed into Florida Law by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022, prohibits workplace training in which "an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex or national origin" unless it is given in "an objective manner without endorsement of the concepts."
Under the Stop WOKE Act, the "LGBTQ+ Inclusion Healthcare" training at Sarasota Memorial Hospital could be challenged in court.
However, U.S. district judge Mark Walker declared parts of the law relating to workplace diversity training unconstitutional in August 2022 and issued an injunction. DeSantis Spokesman Jeremy Redfern confirmed to The Floridian that Walker's decision continues to be appealed by DeSantis's legal team.
The Floridian reached out to Sarasota Memorial Hospital for comment but has not heard back at the publishing of this article.
