TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new bill has been filed in both the Florida House and Senate that would place restrictions on government agencies regarding the use of preferred personal pronouns.
What You Need To Know
- A new bill was filed that aims to increase restrictions on pronoun use
- It's an expansion of a similar bill that only dealt with teachers and other school staff
- The proposed bill would impact government agencies and non-profits that get money from the state
The original bill, HB 599, was filed by Rep. Ryan Chamberlin in November. A companion Senate bill was filed Jan. 4 by State Senator Jonathan Martin.
The bill, if passed and signed, would create an official state policy regarding the use of pronouns, as well as bar employees or contractors of state agencies from adverse action if they refuse to use a person’s preferred pronouns.
Additionally, the measure could also make it unlawful for “certain employers to require certain training, instruction, or activity as a condition of employment,” according to the text of the bill. Those certain employers would include nonprofit organizations and employers that get state money.
Ashley Brundage is a Leadership Development Expert as well as a passionate advocate for the transgender community. She says it’s important to educate people on the trans community.
“We should be present, we should be visible, we should be talking about the issues,” Brundage said.
Brundage follows transgender related legislation coming out of Tallahassee and says House Bill 599 is a waste of time and just another way to target the trans community.
“All of these things are culminating into one concentrated effort to copy-and-paste bills from across the state and it’s really based on fear mongering,” Brundage said.
In 2021, Brundage was awarded the Spirit of Community Award honoring her DEI work in Florida. She also has a letter signed by Governor DeSantis thanking her for all she has done.
“I mean, if we were going to create a bill, we should have done the exact opposite to where you just treat people with respect, the way that they want to be addressed,” she said.
The bill will be debated in the upcoming legislative session.
Spectrum News reached out to bill sponsor Rep. Ryan Chamberlin multiple times for comment, but did not receive a response.
The proposed legislation would act as an extension of a similar restriction on teachers and school officials that was passed into law last year.
That bill, titled CS 1069, was a larger overhaul of the education system, but also included language that would forbid any requirements for school employees to use or provide requested pronouns if those pronouns were different than a person’s sex.
After the law was passed, three Florida teachers filed a suit in Federal court alleging that the provision is discriminatory on the basis of sex, and violates their rights to free speech.