1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

I urge you to oppose SB 440/HB 1495 by Senator McClain and Representative Plakon and SB 1710/HB 731 by Senator Nick DiCeglie and Representative Lauren Melo. SB 440 promotes workplace discrimination and furthers state control over corporate speech and viewpoints. The bill would shield certain employees from accountability for intentionally misgendering transgender coworkers or clients, prohibit LGBTQ cultural competency training in government offices and certain private companies, and even ban job applicants from identifying as transgender or nonbinary. It seeks to codify the extremist claim that being transgender is "false," which is both offensive and harmful. Additionally, the SB 440's sweeping religious exemption allows employees and contractors to ignore workplace policies based on personal beliefs, threatening workplace safety and fairness. This legislation intrudes into how businesses operate and does nothing to protect workers - it only encourages discrimination and hostility toward LGBTQ people, particularly transgender Floridians. SB 1710 would eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for state agencies and restrict funding for DEI training among state contractors and grantees. The House version goes even further, threatening healthcare education and state boards, which risks leaving Florida's medical professionals unprepared to serve our diverse population. This bill is extremist political red meat that would make workplaces less supportive and inclusive. It weaponizes terms like "neopronouns" and "gender theory" to stoke fear rather than address real issues.  Please oppose SB 440 and SB 1710.