ACLU of Florida Warns HB 641/SB 1642 Would Turn Florida Workplaces into Culture War Battlegrounds

TALLAHASSEE, FL – This week, House bill HB 641 and Senate companion SB 1642, sponsored by Rep. Plakon and Sen. McClain, advanced in the Florida Legislature. These bills would drag Florida’s culture wars into the workplace by regulating how people refer to themselves and others on the job. If enacted, it would shield employees from accountability for intentionally misgendering transgender coworkers and restrict LGBTQ+ inclusion in ways that make workplaces less safe and less respectful.

HB 641/SB 1642 would also prohibit job applicants from identifying as transgender or nonbinary on job applications and seek to block LGBTQ+-inclusive cultural competency training in certain workplaces. These provisions would chill inclusion, encourage hostility, and send a dangerous message that discrimination will be tolerated at work.

Kara Gross, Interim Political Director of the ACLU of Florida, shared the following statement:

“This bill is a direct attack on dignity and basic workplace professionalism. No one should have to walk into their job every day wondering whether their coworkers are allowed to disrespect them on purpose – or whether the state will protect that behavior.

 

HB 641/SB 1642 would take Florida’s culture wars and force them into workplaces across the state by shielding employees who create a hostile work environment and treating harassment like it’s a protected right. It will lead to increased harassment of transgender and nonbinary Floridians in the workplace and prohibit employers from creating safe and inclusive work environments.

 

This bill doesn’t protect free speech – it protects cruelty. It invites workplaces to become less safe, less respectful, and less accountable, and it puts LGBTQ+ people in an impossible position: stay silent about who you are, or risk being targeted for it.

 

Florida lawmakers should be focused on making workplaces safe, respectful, and functional – where people can do their jobs, support their families, and be treated humanely. Instead, this bill protects harassment, discourages inclusion, and undermines the basic expectation that every worker deserves dignity on the job.”