Are Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Restrictions Coming to the Workplace?

Are Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law gender identity restrictions coming to a workplace near you? A Republican from the Sunshine State reportedly wants to do just that with House Bill 599.

As reported by Rolling Stone, state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin introduced the bill on Tuesday. If passed into law, it would ban government employees from using preferred pronouns to address their colleagues.

The bill also prohibits the penalization of employees on the "basis of deeply held religious or biology-based beliefs" and makes it unlawful for any employer receiving state funding to require employees to undergo training on sexual/gender identity or gender expression best practices.

Additionally, the proposed law bans employers from asking about preferred pronouns and prohibits employees from providing pronouns that do not align with their birth sex.

"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," the bill reads.

Similar to the state's school-focused "Don't Say Gay Bill," Chamberlin's version could be even worse for nonprofits. By barring "any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression," the bill would heavily impact the abilities of many medical clinics and nonprofits to accurately and efficiently serve the LGBTQ community.

Chamberlin is yet the latest Republican who seems determined to make sure the Sunshine State feels less sunny every day.