Public employers and private contractors that receive state funds couldn’t require workers to use pronouns that don’t align with a person’s sex assigned at birth. That’s under a bill moving forward in the Florida House and Senate.
Opponents worry the bill would lead to transgender people being misgendered or harassed in the workplace. Quinn Diaz, who works with the group Equality Florida, was one of dozens to speak against the proposal during a committee hearing Wednesday.
“No law lets someone demean a coworker because of race or religion. It should be no different because the person's transgender. Expecting employees to treat coworkers with basic respect is a standard condition of employment, not government compelled speech,” they said.
Seminole Republican Representative Rachel Plakon said her bill is focused on protecting freedom for people to follow their beliefs.
“It allows individual employees to identify themselves as whatever pronouns they wish and still allows other employees to refer to them by those same pronouns if they want to. What it prohibits is employers enforcing speech codes and ideological viewpoints on employees that violate their religious conscience and free speech rights,” she said.
The bill would also block state-funded employers from mandating training on sexual orientation or gender identity.