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Senate committee OKs misgendering of trans people in government jobs

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4 weeks ago

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floridaphoenix.com – Mitch Perry – 2025-03-25 16:29:00

by Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
March 25, 2025

A hotly contested proposal that would prohibit the use of preferred pronouns in state and local government workplaces, and limit gender identity training for state and local government employees, won approval in its first committee stop on Tuesday.

Labeled the “Freedom of Conscience in the Workplace Act” (SB 440), the measure, sponsored by Ocala Republican Stan McClain, says that an employee in a public workplace may not be required to refer to another person using that person’s preferred pronouns if such pronouns don’t correspond to that person’s sex at birth.

It says that a public employee or contractor similarly cannot require his or her employer to use their preferred pronouns under the same circumstances. Additionally, job applications in public workplaces may only ask an applicant whether they are male or female and may not provide a nonbinary option.

No government employer could punish an applicant, employee, or contractor because of their “religious, moral, conscience-based, or biology based” beliefs, including if they oppose same-sex marriage or disagree with “gender ideology,” whether at or away from the worksite.

The measure would not affect the private sector.

Dozens of speakers signed up to denounce the proposal, which compelled committee chair Sen. Randy Fine to limit public comments to just 30 seconds.

“We need to oppose the bill to avoid the continued suppression of our speech viewpoint and self-determination here in Florida,” said Monica Davis, with the group Florida Rising. “The bill would promote workplace discrimination by supporting the outdated ideas that the use of transgender person-affirming pronouns are disconnected from reality.”

“Speaking as someone who doesn’t support the Venezuelan government, nor the Cuban government, it’s really appalling to see that the Cuban government and the Venezuelan government show more respect for gender identity than here in the Florida Legislature,” said Vanessa Garcia, who said she was born in Venezuela. “And these are countries that are oppressive and restrictive so this is not the land of the free.”

Claudia Thomas, elected late last year as the Central Florida city of Sanford’s first openly LGBTQ member of the City Commission, said she would “love” to get back to her city’s problems with water, housing, and other matters instead of “wasting her time talking about pronouns.”

“Your bill is misnamed: It should be the ‘Freedom from Conscience’ Act,” she declared.

The measure would also make it  illegal for any local government to require any training, instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation.

‘Terrorist rag’

The audience reacted derisively after Sen. Fine cracked, “Enjoy your terrorist rag,” after a speaker wearing a keffiyeh over his shoulder left the dais. As members of the audience jeered him, Fine was defiant, saying, “I’m the chairman, I can say what i want. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”

As the audience continued to make noise, Fine — who said earlier on Tuesday that this would be his last day in the Legislature as he seeks a congressional seat next week — warned that he would clear the room if he heard “one more outburst.”

“I don’t have to have any of you sit here. One more. One more. I’ll clear the room. We’ll debate, and we’ll vote.”

The meeting resumed without any more outbursts.

‘Hostile work environment’

The only legislator to speak about the bill was Orange County Democrat Kristen Arrington, who said she didn’t understand the need for the legislation.

“The bill really does promote government employers and contractors to harass transgender individuals by allowing them to intentionally misgender them by using disrespectful pronouns and having no consequences,” she said. “And this is a license to discriminate, free from accountability. It seems that’s an attempt to create a hostile work environment for LGBTQ people, particularly transgender Floridians.”

The bill defines gender identity as “a fully internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex, and existing on an infinite continuum that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex.”

“We’re not going to allow state employees to be coerced by their employers or subcontractors going forward,” declared Sen. McClain in making his closing pitch to the Senate Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability, which ultimately passed it on a party-line vote. It has two more committee stops before making the floor.

A companion bill filed in the House (HB 1495) by Seminole Republican Rachel Plakon has yet to be heard in committee.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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U.S. small manufacturers hope to benefit from tariffs, but some worry about uncertainty

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9 hours ago

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April 19, 2025

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www.clickorlando.com – Mae Anderson, Associated Press – 2025-04-19 07:34:00

SUMMARY: Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire Products, supports the Trump administration’s tariffs aimed at rebalancing trade in favor of U.S. manufacturers. He believes overseas competitors have unfair advantages, creating an uneven playing field for American workers. The administration seeks to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, which has declined by 35% since 1979, by imposing tariffs to encourage local production. However, some small manufacturers, like Corry Blanc and Michael Lyons, express concerns about the resulting economic uncertainty and potential recession. In contrast, Bayard Winthrop of American Giant remains hopeful that tariffs will lead to a resurgence of American-made products.

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JD Vance goes to the Vatican following remarkable papal rebuke over Trump crackdown on migrants

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17 hours ago

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April 19, 2025

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www.news4jax.com – Nicole Winfield, Associated Press – 2025-04-19 00:10:00

SUMMARY: U.S. Vice President JD Vance is meeting Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin after a papal rebuke of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Vance, a Catholic convert, has defended these policies through medieval Catholic theology concepts, which Pope Francis directly criticized. The Pope advocates for broader compassion toward migrants, contrasting Vance’s more hierarchical view of care. While in Rome for Easter, Vance attended Good Friday services at St. Peter’s Basilica with his family. He has previously criticized Francis but recently expressed prayers for the Pope’s recovery, highlighting the complex relationship between them on issues of social justice and migration.

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Federal judge extends block on Florida immigration law that led to arrest of a U.S. citizen

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1 day ago

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April 18, 2025

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floridaphoenix.com – Jackie Llanos – 2025-04-18 14:36:00

by Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
April 18, 2025

A federal judge brought up the arrest in Leon County of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, during a hearing Friday in which she extended her block of the new Florida immigration law until April 29.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams expressed frustration about the arrests of Lopez-Gomez and others, said an attorney representing the immigrants and groups suing the state.

At issue is Williams’ April 4 order temporarily barring enforcement of a law passed during a special session earlier this year making it a first-degree misdemeanor to illegally enter the state as an “unauthorized alien.”

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper’s arrest of Lopez-Gomez on Wednesday prompted national attention following Florida Phoenix’s reports that he was set to remain in jail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had placed a 48-hour hold on him — even after a Leon County judge determined there had been no probable cause for the arrest.

Lopez-Gomez was released from Leon County jail on Thursday evening. The 20-year-old held his mother in a tight embrace and wept when they reunited.

“We appreciate that the federal courts have seen through this blatantly unconstitutional law, but the reality is that, without enforcement, it seems that local law enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol are continuing to ignore the judge and order,” said Miriam Fahsi Haskell, an attorney for Community Justice Project representing the plaintiffs, in a phone interview with the Phoenix. “The reality is that once a person is arrested under SB 4C and booked into jail, that person risks then having an ICE hold on them.”

Community Justice Project, the ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Florida Legal Services attorneys are representing the plaintiffs: the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., and two women without permanent legal status.

David Matthew Costello, lead attorney representing Attorney General James Uthmeier, declined to comment, and a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not respond to the Phoenix’s questions. The other defendants are the statewide prosecutor and state attorneys.

Binding?

During the hearing at the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida in Miami, attorneys representing the state argued that law enforcement is not bound by Williams’ order, Fahsi Haskell said. Another hearing is set for April 29.

“The Court enters a [temporary restraining order] prohibiting Defendants and their officers, agents, employees, attorneys, and any person who are in active concert or participation with them from enforcing SB 4-C,” Williams’ order states.

Two other men were with Lopez-Gomez when the trooper stopped the car because the driver was going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the arrest report. The driver, Estiven Sales-Perez, and another passenger, Ismael Sales-Luis, were also charged with illegal entry as “unauthorized aliens.” The driver was also charged with driving without a license.

ICE has taken custody of Sales-Perez and is holding him in a Tallahassee field office, according to the online detainee locator system.

“Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work willingly with our federal partners to engage in interior enforcement of immigration law,” a spokesperson for the agency wrote in a statement to the Phoenix.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called the arrest a kidnapping.

“Where does the lawlessness of this administration stop? If this can happen to an American-born citizen, it can happen to any of us,” she said in a statement.

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Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

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