THE BILL ITSELF
CS/SB 1642
Gender Identity Employment Practices
Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 1642 By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability; and Senator McClain 585-02427-26 20261642c1
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A bill to be entitled
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An act relating to gender identity employment
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practices; providing a short title; creating s.
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112.0456, F.S.; defining terms; specifying an
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employment policy of this state relating to a person’s
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sex; providing applicability; prohibiting employees
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and contractors of certain employers from being
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required to use certain pronouns or requiring such
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employers to use a pronoun that does not correspond to
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the employee’s or contractor’s sex; prohibiting the
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inclusion on certain forms of specified options
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relating to an applicant’s sex; prohibiting adverse
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personnel action on the basis of sincerely held
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religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology-based
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beliefs against gender ideology; providing
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administrative and civil remedies; providing
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reasonable attorney fees and costs; authorizing the
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Department of Management Services to adopt rules;
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amending s. 760.10, F.S.; providing that it is an
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unlawful employment practice for certain employers to
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require certain training, instruction, or activity as
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a condition of employment; defining the term
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“employer”; reenacting s. 760.11(1) and (15), F.S.,
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relating to administrative and civil remedies, to
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incorporate the amendment made to s. 760.10, F.S., in
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references thereto; providing an effective date.
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Freedom of
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Conscience in the Workplace Act.”
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Section 2. Section 112.0456, Florida Statutes, is created
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to read:
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112.0456 Personal pronouns.—
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(1) As used in this section, the term:
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(a) “Adverse personnel action” means the discharge,
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suspension, transfer, demotion, or lack of promotion of an
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employee or a contractor or the withholding of bonuses, the
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withholding of promotional opportunities, the reduction in
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salary or benefits, or any other adverse action taken against an
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employee or a contractor within the terms and conditions of
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employment by an employer.
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(b) “Contractor” means an individual, a partnership, a
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corporation, or a business entity that enters or attempts to
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enter into a contract for services with an employer.
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(c) “Employee” means an individual employed by, or
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attempting to be employed by, an employer.
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(d) “Employer” means the state or any county, municipality,
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or special district or any subdivision or agency thereof.
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(e) “Gender identity” means a fully internal and subjective
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sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex, and
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existing on an infinite continuum that does not provide a
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meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as
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a replacement for sex.
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(f) “Gender ideology” means the false belief that replaces
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the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of
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self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that
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males can identify as and become women and vice versa, and
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requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim
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as true. The term includes the idea that there is a vast
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spectrum of genders that are disconnected from a person’s sex.
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Gender ideology is internally inconsistent in that it diminishes
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sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless
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maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the
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wrong sexed body.
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(g) “Sex” means the classification of a person as either
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female or male based on the organization of the body of such
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person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the
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person’s sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and
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internal and external genitalia present at birth.
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(2) It is the policy of this state that a person’s sex is
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an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to
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a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person’s
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sex. This section does not apply to individuals born with a
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genetically or biochemically verifiable disorder of sex
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development, including, but not limited to, 46,XX disorder of
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sex development; 46,XY disorder of sex development; sex
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chromosome disorder of sex development; XX or XY sex reversal;
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and ovotesticular disorder.
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(3) An employee or a contractor may not be required, as a
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condition of employment or to avoid adverse personnel action, to
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refer to another person using that person’s preferred pronouns
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if such pronouns do not correspond to that person’s sex.
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(4) An employee or a contractor may not require an employer
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to use his or her preferred pronouns if such preferred pronouns
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do not correspond to the employee’s or contractor’s sex.
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(5) A job application or other related employment form that
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requires an applicant to mark his or her sex may only inquire if
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the applicant is male or female and may not provide a nonbinary
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or other option.
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(6)(a) It is an unlawful employment practice for an
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employer to take adverse personnel action against an employee or
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a contractor because of the employee’s or contractor’s sincerely
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held religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology-based
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beliefs against gender ideology, whether those views are
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expressed by the employee or contractor at or away from the
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worksite.
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(b) An employee or a contractor aggrieved by a violation of
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this subsection may avail himself or herself of the
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administrative and civil remedies provided in s. 760.11. The
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court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the
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prevailing party.
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(7) The Department of Management Services may adopt rules
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to administer this section.
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Section 3. Present subsections (10) and (11) of section
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760.10, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (11)
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and (12), respectively, and a new subsection (10) is added to
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that section, to read:
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760.10 Unlawful employment practices.—
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(10) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer
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who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition
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of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on
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sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. For
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purposes of this subsection, the term “employer” includes the
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state or any county, municipality, or special district or any
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subdivision or agency thereof.
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Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
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made by this act to section 760.10, Florida Statutes, in
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references thereto, subsections (1) and (15) of section 760.11,
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Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read:
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760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.—
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(1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01
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760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days
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of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment
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agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee,
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or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the
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person responsible for the violation and describing the
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violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may
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file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the
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alleged violation naming the person responsible for the
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violation and describing the violation. The commission, a
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commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file
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such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with
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the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face
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of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the
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commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission,
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a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal
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Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of
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government of the state which is a fair-employment-practice
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agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the
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complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the
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complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the
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complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this
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section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment
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Opportunity Commission, the fair-employment-practice agency, or
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the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain
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statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief
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sought. The commission may require additional information to be
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in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of the complaint
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being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the
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complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation.
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The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an
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answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complaint
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was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed
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to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both
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the complaint and the answer shall be verified.
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(15) In any civil action or administrative proceeding
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brought pursuant to this section, a finding that a person
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employed by the state or any governmental entity or agency has
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violated s. 760.10 shall as a matter of law constitute just or
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substantial cause for such person’s discharge.
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Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.