In mid-May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a flurry of bills targeting LGBTQ+ people in all aspects of public life, including banning gender-affirming care for trans youth and adult Medicaid recipients, restricting drag performances, criminalizing trans people for using bathrooms that align with their gender, and barring educators from teaching students about gender and sexuality.

About two weeks after signing these laws the culmination of the governors three-year legislative and administrative attack on transgender people, immigrants and people of color DeSantis announced his Republican presidential campaign and his desire to model the rest of the country after Florida.

Some trans people who have the means have left the state because of the new laws. But many who have stayed say theyre living through a catalyzing moment for organized resistance, and theyre fighting back through everyday acts of defiance. HuffPost spoke with six trans organizers across the state who have been fighting back against DeSantis in myriad ways, from community education to art to personal resistance even while some organizers have had their own access to gender-affirming care threatened.

Ive never believed more in the grit of trans people than I do right now, said Billy Branca, a 29-year-old LGBTQ+ advocate in St. Petersburg. I think that in trying to erase us, Ron DeSantis accidentally created the most powerful resistance that he could ever imagine because were angry and were connecting and were caring for each other.

Roadblocks To Health Care

For the last few months, Branca and a group of trans organizers have researched and compiled a list of clinics that are still offering services to trans youth.

Branca said the group wanted to create an inclusive and up-to-date how-to for trans youth and adults desperate to find appointments before it is too late. The guide also includes mental health resources, scholarships to cover health care and practical information like which pharmacies are trans-friendly and what are the estimated costs for hormones. More than 130 people have reached out to access the guide since they began distributing it last month. (Branca asked that HuffPost not link to the guide, as another popular online trans resource became the target of a harassment campaign last year after being covered by the media.)

Were democratizing access, Branca said. Moving hurdles out of the way and creating a situation where you just have to call and make the appointment instead of collecting a ton of information on your own is also a form of resistance because we are working as a community to clear obstacles to keep our loved ones alive.

In Miami, Corinne Mariposa draws from her own experiences as a 40-year-old trans woman to educate her cisgender neighbors. For the last two weeks, she has set up a booth at a farmers market with a sign that reads, Ask a trans woman, inviting people to ask her about what its like for trans adults who are losing access to gender-affirming care.

Theres so much misinformation going around, and if we dont control the narrative, its definitely going to get controlled for us by some insane people, she said.