Text of FL H 641 (2026)

HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 1 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S A bill to be entitled 1 An act relating to gender identity employment 2 practices; providing a short title; creating s. 3 110.1051, F.S.; providing definitions; specifying an 4 employment policy of this state relating to a person's 5 sex; providing applicability; prohibiting employees 6 and contractors of certain employers from being 7 required to use certain pronouns or requiring such 8 employers to use a pronoun that does not correspond to 9 the employee's or contractor's sex; prohibiting 10 certain forms from offering specified options relating 11 to an applicant's sex; prohibiting adverse personnel 12 action on the basis of gender ideology; providing 13 administrative and civil remedies; providing 14 reasonable attorney fees and costs; authorizing the 15 Department of Management Services to adopt rules; 16 amending s. 760.10, F.S.; providing it is an unlawful 17 employment practice for certain employers to require 18 certain training, instruction, or activity as a 19 condition of employment; reenacting s. 760.11(1) and 20 (15), F.S., relating to administrative and civil 21 remedies, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 22 760.10, F.S., in references thereto; providing an 23 effective date. 24 25 HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 2 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Freedom of 28 Conscience in the Workplace Act." 29 Section 2. Section 110.1051, Florida Statutes, is created 30 to read: 31 110.1051 Personal pronouns.— 32 (1) As used in this section, the term: 33 (a) "Adverse personnel action" means the discharge, 34 suspension, transfer, demotion, or lack of promotion of an 35 employee or a contractor; the withholding of bonuses; the 36 withholding of promotional opportunities; the reduction in 37 salary or benefits; or any other adverse action taken against an 38 employee or a contractor within the terms and conditions of 39 employment by an employer. 40 (b) "Contractor" means an individual, partnership, 41 corporation, or business entity that enters or attempts to enter 42 into a contract for services with an employer. 43 (c) "Employee" means an individual employed by, or 44 attempting to be employed by, an employer. 45 (d) "Employer" means the state or any county, 46 municipality, or special district or any subdivision or agency 47 thereof. 48 (e) "Gender identity" means a fully internal and 49 subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality 50 HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 3 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S and sex, and existing on an infinite continuum that does not 51 provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be 52 recognized as a replacement for sex. 53 (f) "Gender ideology" means the false belief that replaces 54 the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of 55 self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that 56 males can identify as and become women and vice versa, and 57 requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim 58 as true. The term includes the idea that there is a vast 59 spectrum of genders that are disconnected from a person's sex. 60 Gender ideology is internally inconsistent in that it diminishes 61 sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless 62 maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the 63 wrong sexed body. 64 (g) "Sex" means the classification of a person as either 65 female or male based on the organization of the body of such 66 person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the 67 person's sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and 68 internal and external genitalia present at birth. 69 (2) It is the policy of this state that a person's sex is 70 an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to 71 a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's 72 sex. This section does not apply to individuals born with a 73 genetically or biochemically verifiable disorder of sex 74 development, including, but not limited to, 46,XX disorder of 75 HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 4 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S sex development; 46,XY disorder of sex development; sex 76 chromosome disorder of sex development; XX or XY sex reversal; 77 and ovotesticular disorder. 78 (3) An employee or a contractor may not be required, as a 79 condition of employment or to avoid adverse personnel action, to 80 refer to another person using that person's preferred pronouns 81 if such pronouns do not correspond to that person's sex. 82 (4) An employee or a contractor may not require an 83 employer to use his or her preferred pronouns if such preferred 84 pronouns do not correspond to the employee's or contractor's 85 sex. 86 (5) A job application or other related employment form 87 that requires an applicant to mark his or her sex may only 88 inquire if the applicant is male or female and may not provide a 89 nonbinary or other option. 90 (6)(a) It is an unlawful employment practice for an 91 employer to take adverse personnel action against an employee or 92 a contractor because of the employee's or contractor's deeply 93 held religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology-based 94 beliefs against gender ideology, whether those views are 95 expressed by the employee or contractor at or away from the 96 worksite. 97 (b) An employee or a contractor aggrieved by a violation 98 of this subsection may avail himself or herself to the 99 administrative and civil remedies provided in s. 760.11. The 100 HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 5 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the 101 prevailing party. 102 (7) The Department of Management Services may adopt rules 103 to administer this section. 104 Section 3. Subsections (10) and (11) of section 760.10, 105 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (11) and (12), 106 respectively, and a new subsection (10) is added to that 107 section, to read: 108 760.10 Unlawful employment practices.— 109 (10) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer 110 who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition 111 of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on 112 sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. 113 Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 114 made by this act to section 760.10, Florida Statutes, in a 115 reference thereto, subsections (1) and (15) of section 760.11, 116 Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read: 117 760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.— 118 (1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01- 119 760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days 120 of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment 121 agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee, 122 or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the 123 person responsible for the violation and describing the 124 violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may 125 HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 6 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the 126 alleged violation naming the person responsible for the 127 violation and describing the violation. The commission, a 128 commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file 129 such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with 130 the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face 131 of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the 132 commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission, 133 a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal 134 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of 135 government of the state which is a fair-employment-practice 136 agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the 137 complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the 138 complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the 139 complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this 140 section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment 141 Opportunity Commission, the fair-employment-practice agency, or 142 the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain 143 statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief 144 sought. The commission may require additional information to be 145 in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of the complaint 146 being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the 147 complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation. 148 The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an 149 answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complaint 150 HB 641 2026 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb641-00 Page 7 of 7 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed 151 to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both 152 the complaint and the answer shall be verified. 153 (15) In any civil action or administrative proceeding 154 brought pursuant to this section, a finding that a person 155 employed by the state or any governmental entity or agency has 156 violated s. 760.10 shall as a matter of law constitute just or 157 substantial cause for such person's discharge. 158 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 159