A measure to impose state regulations on pronoun use for public-sector employees and contractors was approved in its first committee stops in both the Florida Senate and House this week.
The “Freedom of Conscience in the Workplace Act” (SB 1642/HB 641) says that state and local government employers and contractors can’t take disciplinary action against an employee or contractor because of their “deeply held religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology-based beliefs against gender ideology.”
It bans as a condition of employment for an employer to require any training, instruction, or any other activity regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. And it says that job applications and similar employment forms cannot provide a nonbinary option on questions of a person’s gender.
The GOP bill sponsors — Stan McClain, R-Ocala, in the Senate and Rachel Plakon, R-Lake Mary in the House — say the measure is simply an extension of 2023 legislation establishing that school employees can’t ask students for their preferred pronouns and restricting school staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they “do not correspond” with their sex.
Critics say it’s addressing a problem that doesn’t exist, but proponents cite the experience of John Labriola, a former communications specialist with the Miami-Dade County Commission. He initially was suspended from work for three days without pay and ordered to attend training regarding the county’s anti-discrimination policies. After he failed to attend that training, he was fired from his job.
“We ask you to please extend the protections that were already put in place for school districts that protects school teachers, employees, and students from the gender ideology pronoun mandates,” Labriola told the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee Monday. “This bill targets nobody. It simply ensures that government employment is not conditioned on compelled speech.”
Labriola, now a lobbyist for the Christian Family Coalition Florida, sued Miami-Dade County after he was fired, alleging violation of his First Amendment rights.
A federal district court granted summary judgment to the county on all counts. Labriola appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, where a three-judge panel also upheld Miami-Dade County’s decision.
Quoting a portion of a Labriola social media post that resulted in his termination, Rep. RaShon Young, D-Orlando, said Thursday in the House Government Operations Subcommittee that “no employer should be forced by the state to retain someone whose words undermine the integrity and safety and mission of their workplace.
“Inflammatory, nasty language should not be protected by the state,” he said. “It is disrespectful to the work that we are called to do up here, to come and settle personal vendettas on behalf of someone.”
“This tells employers receiving state funds they can’t even train their employees of basic respect or harassment prevention of the LGBT people mentioned,” added Rep. Darryl Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale.
“We’ve got better things to do”
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis travelled to the Capitol to speak before the Senate committee on Monday. He said that “it’s getting a little tiresome to constantly hear the drumbeat against the LGBT community.”
Trantalis, who is gay, said public officials in his city are dealing with problems like affordability, stormwater, and housing — the issues he said voters care about.
“But to hear the constant drumbeat of trying to demonize and marginalize communities that are struggling in their own personal lives, to be told that they’re somehow inadequate or insecure, or unwilling to be part of mainstream society because folks that are at the legislative level are trying to continue to find ways to marginalize them and exclude them to what they are entitled to in everyday life, it’s not fair. We’ve got better things to do.”
Rep. Fabián Basabe, D-Miami Beach, said he agreed with Democratic lawmakers that his constituents think more about rent, traffic, and whether their kids are safe than they do about fighting about language. However, he said, the bill is not about anyone’s identity and doesn’t disrespect anyone.
“What this bill is really about is a boundary that helps workplaces function,” he said. “In a free society, government can require professional conduct. Professionalism is required. Respect is required. Equal treatment is required. But government-compelled personal expression is not.”
“Employees shouldn’t be forced to choose between their conscience and their jobs, and taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund discrimination against people,” Sen. McClain said.
The bills passed their committees on a party-line votes, with all Democrats opposed. They both have two more committee stops before reaching the floors of their respective chambers. A similar proposal died in committee during the 2025 legislative session.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
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