Florida House Considers Strengthening Free Speech Protections for Public Agencies

Florida Representative Ryan Chamberlin (R) has filed a bill that would protect free speech regarding sexual identity within Florida’s public institutions. 

Representative Chamberlin’s HB599 proposes to prohibit state agencies or contractors from compelling employees to refer to an individual by gender pronouns that contradicts his biological sex. 

The bill would also prohibit state agencies or contractors from punishing individuals who refuse to use pronouns opposite to the biological sex of the individual they are referring to. 

“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,” reads the legislation. 

Additionally, employees of state agencies or contractors would be disallowed from requesting others employ a personal title or pronouns if these do not correspond to his or her sex. 

The provisions of the bill also extend to non-profit organizations operating within Florida and would also protect speech emanating from deeply-held religious beliefs.

The use of gender pronouns contradicting biological sex has garnered much media and political attention in recent years. 

Last March, leaders in the House of Representatives held an inquiry into the practice’s impact on recruiting in the US military. 

Florida Representative Cory Mills, a former Army sergeant, claimed the ”woke ideology” the military was now supportive of, and has been promoting, was impacting recruitment.

As explained by The Floridian’s Editor Javier Manjarres, the U.S. Air Force became the first military department to allow the use of pronouns in 2022. 

According to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, the US military is currently facing the most challenging labor market since the inception of the all-volunteer force.