Florida's Pronoun Ban Would Expand Under New Republican Bill

A new bill filed in Florida is seeking to place restrictions on local and state government agencies on the use of personal pronouns.

House Bill 599, filed by state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, a Republican, on Tuesday would also restrict workplace training or instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Similar to parts of a law that Florida Republicans passed earlier this year for schools, the bill would restrict people who work for government agencies from using pronouns that do not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is trailing former President Donald Trump in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has made anti-LGBTQ+ legislation a large part of his agency.

Earlier this year, he signed bills that ban gender-affirming care for minors, force people to use certain bathrooms and restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools.

According to the new bill, it is the "policy of the state that a person's sex is an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's sex."

If passed, it would prevent local and state government agencies from requiring employees and contractors to refer to another person "using that person's preferred personal title or pronouns if such personal title or pronouns do not correspond to that person's sex."

An employee or a contractor may not be asked by an employer "to provide his or her preferred personal title or pronouns or be penalized or subjected to adverse personnel action for not providing his or her preferred personal title or pronouns," the bill states.

The bill also states that it is "unlawful employment practice for an employer to take adverse personnel action against an employee or a contractor because of the employee's or contractor's deeply held religious or biology-based beliefs, including a belief in traditional or Biblical views of sexuality and marriage, or the employee's or contractor's disagreement with gender ideology, whether those views are expressed by the employee or contractor at or away from the worksite."

The bill would also bar nonprofit organizations or employers who receive funding from the state from requiring employees to take part in "any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression."

An employee or contractor aggrieved by a violation can file complaints to the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

If House Bill 599 is passed, it would go into effect on July 1, 2024. The next legislative session in Florida starts January 9.

Parts of Chamberlin's bill are almost identical to the language used in the legislation that prevents teachers and students from being required to use pronouns that don't correspond with someone's sex, WLRN reported.

Florida Democrats immediately slammed the proposed legislation.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani called it "bigoted, unnecessary and highly unconstitutional."

"Florida Republicans just filed legislation that would essentially ban gender pronouns in PRIVATE businesses and prohibit trainings about pronouns in nonprofits too," Eskamani wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding that it would "basically ban" LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Florida.

Newsweek has contacted Chamberlin and Eskamani for comment via social media.