Leading up to the Republican gubernatorial primary in Florida, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds released an attack advertisement targeting his Democratic rival, David Jolly, over transgender-related policies.
The commercial, funded by the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC, features brief excerpts of Jolly discussing issues related to the transgender community, such as Florida’s restrictions on rainbow street art and student participation in school sports.
On-screen text in the ad claims that Jolly advocates for “gender changing surgeries on kids,” accompanied by audio of Jolly stating, “We embraced it, the medical pathways, the gender-affirming care.”
This messaging mirrors comments Donalds made to patrons at a restaurant in Doral last July, where he asserted that Jolly believes “it’s okay to change the gender of young kids.”
However, Jolly never made such a claim. The advertisement takes his words out of context from a podcast interview recorded in 2025.
Upon closer examination, Jolly was actually recounting a conversation involving someone else when he mentioned gender-affirming care—a broad phrase that encompasses far more than surgical procedures.
When questioned by journalists regarding medical care for transgender youth, Jolly has maintained that medical decisions should be left to families and their physicians. Furthermore, providing gender-affirming surgeries to young children is not a standard medical practice.
In response to inquiries, Jolly’s campaign did not provide a comment regarding the ad or his stance on surgical care for minors.
Although Jolly shared an anecdote about healthcare for a young person undergoing a gender transition, public records contain no instances of him specifically discussing surgical procedures for children. The Donalds campaign similarly failed to provide any evidence when asked.
“I do not know what further statement you need when he says it pretty plainly himself,” stated Donalds spokesperson Skylar Swanson.
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The Context Behind Jolly’s Remarks
The soundbite of Jolly addressing gender-affirming care originates from a September 2025 interview on “For St. Pete’s Sake,” an LGBTQ+-focused podcast hosted by members of the Pinellas County Stonewall Democrats. During the segment, Jolly described a phone call he received a few years prior from a grandfather concerned about his high school-aged transgender grandchild.
According to Jolly, the grandfather shared that the teenager was struggling with suicidal ideation and contemplating running away from home. Jolly recounted the man saying, “As a family we embraced it, we sought the right pathways, the medical pathways, the gender-affirming care, for this grandchild.”
Jolly noted that the conversation took place while state lawmakers were debating SB 254, a bill that classified the provision of gender-affirming medical care to minors as a third-degree felony. Per Jolly’s account, the grandfather expressed fear that their doctor could face arrest and the parents could lose custody under the proposed legislation.
The legislation was enacted in May 2023, imposing criminal penalties on medical professionals and granting courts emergency jurisdiction over child custody disputes involving minors receiving such care.
Jolly’s Stance on Minor Healthcare
Gender-affirming care encompasses a wide array of supportive measures for an individual’s gender identity, ranging from using preferred names and pronouns to medical interventions. Established medical guidelines indicate that treatments for adolescents may include puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and, in rare instances, surgical options for older teens, all of which require parental consent.
When asked by Politico in July regarding his position on healthcare for transgender minors, Jolly replied, “I simply subscribe to the old-school Republican position that government should stay out of your life, out of your doctor’s office, and out of your bedroom. The last person you need sitting on the foot of your bed during hard family conversations is Byron Donalds.”
Later in August, Jolly addressed a crowd in The Villages, accusing Donalds of manufacturing a culture war and emphasizing his belief that “local communities should be able to celebrate their own and that government should stay out of your medical decisions.” His campaign subsequently published the clip under the title, “My response to Byron Donalds.”
Our Ruling
An advertisement from a Donalds political action committee claimed that Jolly stated he supports “gender-changing surgeries on kids,” using a heavily edited video clip of him discussing gender-affirming care.
The footage was manipulated to create the false impression that Jolly was personally advocating for surgeries for children. In reality, the unedited video reveals that he was quoting another individual and made no mention of surgery.
When questioned about healthcare for transgender youth, Jolly has consistently stated that medical choices should be left to families and their doctors. Gender-affirming care generally involves non-surgical measures like pronoun changes, while medical treatments are typically reserved for adolescents and adults. Surgical interventions for minors are restricted exclusively to older teenagers in rare circumstances and with parental permission, never young children.
We rate the claim False.
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PolitiFact News Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.