Governor Ron DeSantis has nixed all funding for "Woke" initiatives throughout Florida, specifically transgender studies and procedures, since taking office in 2019. Still, a new report appears to show that his administration may have inadvertently funded transgender monkey testing at the University of Florida and the Scripps Research Institute.
According to a report by researchers at the university, first reported on by investigative reporter Laura Loomer and exposed by the nonprofit government watchdog group, White Coat Waste, the research was also funded through a grant at the University of Miami "through the State of Florida Funding Initiative (M.A.M) sponsored by the State of Florida, University of Florida, and the Scripps Research Institute."
"The study was further supported by a pilot award by the HIV/AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases Institute (HEIDI) at the University of Miami through the State of Florida Funding Initiative (M.A.M.) sponsored by the State of Florida, Department of Health (award contract #CODVD to M," stated the research report.
Loomer's reporting caught the attention of State Rep. Meg "MAGA Meg" Weinberger (R), an animal rescue philanthropist, who called for Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo to investigate the alleged funding.
"Florida taxpayers shouldn't fund cruel transgender experiments on monkeys. @FLSurgeonGen must investigate how our Department of Health dollars were used for these inhumane tests and commit to ending this wasteful spending immediately. Our tax dollars should protect animals, not torture them," stated Rep. Weinberger on "X."
Rep. Weinberger attached a letter she and other members of the Republican-led State House of Representatives, including Congressman Brian Mast, that expressed concerns of state taxpayer dollars being allocated for the transgender monkey research.,
In response to Weinberger's post, Gov. DeSantis' Deputy Chief of Staff, Brock Juarez, appears to have taken a jab at Weinberger and the assertion that Florida's Department of Health funded this kind of research since DeSantis took office in 2019.
"The Florida Department of Health never funded research like this during this administration. The funding you reference has ONLY been given to institutions for HIV/AIDS research. And, somewhat ironically, originated from a member project in the Florida House. As the world is well aware, Florida led the way in opposing the woke left ideology on transgenderism. Florida does not—and never would—waste taxpayer dollars on anything as ridiculous as transgender experiments on animals. Going forward, we hope you will call our office to avoid inaccurate social media posts," stated Juarez.
The DeSantis executive office reaffirmed to The Floridian that no such funding for transgender monkey research has been paid out through any state-funded grant.
In addition, a representative for the University of Miami also told The Floridian that funding to the university was part of an ongoing appropriations process dating back to 2007 that only allocated funds for HIV/AIDS research.
Did researchers use the state funds allocated for HIV/AIDS research for the testing on monkeys?
This may be the case. It appears that researchers monkeyed it up.
Loomer points to Mauricio De Aguiar Martins, Ph.D. a University of Florida associate professor affiliated with Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, and "one of the co-authors of the transgender monkey study who is credited in the paper with conceiving of and designing the experiment and obtaining the funding."
The WCW outlined that Martins received "two HIV/AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases Institute (HEIDI) pilot awards" from the state of Florida from 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. Martin's research was also funded directly by Dr. Anthony Fauci's National Institute of Health (NIH).
WCW dug into the grants mentioned in the paper and found that the State of Florida awarded two HIV/AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases Institute (HEIDI) pilot awards to Martins from 2021-2022 and again in 2022-2023.
Justin Goodman, Senior Vice President at nonprofit government watchdog White Coat Waste, praised Rep. Weinberger efforts of full transparency and accountability, asserting that the state funds were "misspent and wasted."
“White Coat Waste’s recent investigation exposed how Florida state funds were misspent and wasted on disturbing and cruel experiments to create transgender lab monkeys. We applaud Florida State Rep. Meg Weinberger for leading the charge to investigate how this happened and ensure Florida state taxpayers aren’t forced to bankroll this bizarre monkey business ever again," stated Goodman in response to the Floridian's request for comment.
We are learning that the DeSantis administration will be meeting with Weinberger today, and that the Department of Health will be releasing a formal response.
