Florida GOP Pushes New Legislation on ‘Gender Identity’ and Sexual Orientation

One of the proposed laws seeks to make public accusations of discrimination as ‘defamation by default.’

Members and supporters of the LGBT community attend the "Say Gay Anyway" rally in Miami Beach, Fla., on March 13, 2022. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

After passing laws in 2023 that prohibited “gender identity” and sexual orientation instructions in early school grades and limited bathroom access to biological sex, the Florida GOP is pushing a new wave of legislation in 2024 that further addresses these topics.

Republican lawmakers filed a bill that prohibits government workers and contractors from being forced to use preferred pronouns within the workplace while protecting employees from penalties for their religious beliefs or convictions, including ideas regarding biological sex.

Another piece of legislation would make it “defamation per se” to publicly accuse someone of discriminating against others based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity and, if passed, let the accused sue journalists, newspapers, TV stations, or citizens making social media posts.

Along with providing extensive grounds for defamation cases, the bill also considers all “anonymous sources” in charges of discrimination as false by definition.

A third bill seeks to bar government entities from displaying any flags that “represent a political viewpoint,“ including ”politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint.”

Other states are considering similar laws in their 2024 legislative sessions.

Tennessee is considering HB 2165, which would require informing school administrators and parents whenever a student files a request to affirm their “gender identity.”

Oklahoma proposed changes to its Parents’ Bill of Rights that require strict parental consent in all instructions regarding sexuality, sexual orientation, or “gender identity.”

South Carolina’s HB 3551 would “prohibit the performance of a medical procedure or the prescription or issuance of medication, upon or to a minor, that is intended to alter the appearance of the minor’s gender or delay puberty, with exceptions.”

Michigan, which has a Democrat majority in the state House and Senate, is considering a bill that would restrict student access to “certain restrooms and changing areas based on biological sex.”

Expansions from 2023

Florida passed HB 1069 in May 2023 as part of the “Let Kids Be Kids” initiative, which prohibited “gender identity” and sexual orientation lessons from pre-kindergarten to the 8th Grade after similar legislation in 2022 banned it in Grades K–3.

“As the world goes mad, Florida represents a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news release on May 17, 2023, after signing the bill.

Florida passed SB 254 at the same time, which prohibits “sex reassignment surgeries” and experimental puberty blockers for children while forcing medical providers to inform adult patients receiving these treatments of the dangers and irreversible features.

Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida said: “Florida is following the science to elevate our standards of care to protect kids from harmful drugs and surgeries” in a statement.

An attendee at a planned "walkout" at the University of Florida holds a sign that says "Trans Healthcare is a Human Right, Not a Political Pawn!" on the Gainesville, Fla. campus on Feb. 23, 2023. Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times

The Movement Advancement Project (MAP), an LGBT-focused think tank, said these legislative efforts in Florida and other states amount to a “war on LGBT people in America.”

“In school settings, these efforts include making it illegal to talk about LGBT people or issues or to support LGBT students, pulling all LGBT content from school libraries and books, banning transgender students from playing sports with their friends or using the restroom at school that matches their gender identity, and more,” MAP said in a 2023 report entitled “Erasing LGBT People from Schools and Public Life.”

Florida’s Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz, Jr., defended Florida’s education efforts after Mr. DeSantis signed the legislation in May 2023.

“Today’s actions make it clear—educators in Florida are expected to teach our standards and not interject their own opinions or worldview into the classroom.

“The department will remain focused on teaching students core subjects, rather than woke gender ideology or inappropriate topics,” Mr. Diaz said in a statement.

New Bills for 2024

Some of the bills unveiled in the 2024 session expand previous efforts by the Florida Legislature.

HB 599, sponsored by state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin (R-Belleview), takes provisions from HB 1069 and applies them to government workplaces.

While the latter made it illegal to force teachers, administrators, and students to refer to others using pronouns that do not correspond to biological sex, HB 599 extends this rule to government entities and their workplaces.

If passed, the bill would prevent employees and contractors from facing personnel actions because of their “deeply held religious or biology-based beliefs.”

An activist holds pins about gender pronouns on the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie, Wyo., on Aug. 13, 2022. Patrick Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

It would also make it illegal for state-funded nonprofit organizations to require training or instructions on “sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression” as a condition for employment.

State Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) is sponsoring SB 1780, which strengthens the state’s statutes on defamation and renders certain accusations as defamatory by default while stripping journalistic privilege in these cases.

The bill says that “Editing any form of media,” including newspapers, books, magazines, radio and TV broadcasts, films, and social media posts, “so that it attributes something false or leads a reasonable viewer to believe something false about a plaintiff, may give rise to a defamation claim or privacy tort.”

Accusing another of discrimination based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or “gender identity” would amount to “defamation per se” under the changes proposed in the bill.

Those accused of this kind of discrimination are also shielded by their “constitutionally protected religious beliefs” and their “scientific beliefs.”

The bill considers anonymous sources as “false” by default when used to justify these defamatory remarks. If a plaintiff sues under the changed statute, they are entitled to damages of at least $35,000.

Rule Against Political Flags

State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) is sponsoring HB 901, which concerns the use of flags by governmental entities, including public schools and universities.

The law would prohibit flags that represent a “political viewpoint,” including views that are “politically partisan, racial, [or based on] sexual orientation and gender.”

An activist waves a damaged rainbow flag during gay pride in St. Petersburg on July 26, 2014. Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

The bill would ban LGBT-pride flags in classrooms and government agencies, along with any other flags that express views that can be considered “political,” potentially even the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.

The Epoch Times reached out to Mr. Fine to ask if HB 901 would apply to the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, which some see as a historical symbol of the American Revolution, but did not receive a response prior to publication.

The bill would also require any government offices to display the U.S. flag in a “prominent position that is superior to any other flag that is also displayed.”