Sponsors (16)
The bill narrows Title VII's definition of 'sex' to exclude gender identity, trading clearer, narrower obligations for employers and the ability to preserve sex‑specific spaces against removing federal workplace protections for transgender and gender‑diverse people, which increases their vulnerability and creates legal uncertainty.
Employers — including small-business owners — get a clearer, narrower federal definition of 'sex' under Title VII, reducing the risk of some gender-identity discrimination suits and lowering litigation uncertainty for those employers.
Women and operators of single‑sex facilities can preserve sex‑based policies (e.g., bathrooms, locker rooms, single‑sex programs) framed around biological sex rather than gender identity.
LGBTQ people — especially transgender and gender‑diverse individuals — lose federal workplace protection under Title VII for discrimination tied to gender identity, leaving them more vulnerable to discrimination and with fewer paths for federal redress (an outcome that will be felt most strongly in states without their own protections).
Employees who experience harassment, firing, or hostile treatment because of gender identity will likely face greater job insecurity and reduced legal remedies, increasing workplace health and safety risks for those workers.
Employers, courts, and agencies will face legal uncertainty and additional litigation over how this narrower definition of 'sex' interacts with other federal laws and court precedents that have treated 'sex' to include gender identity, raising compliance and legal costs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Amends Title VII to state that “sex” does not include gender identity, excluding gender-identity discrimination from Title VII protection.
Official title: To clarify that sex discrimination under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not include discrimination on the basis of gender identity.
Introduced April 9, 2026 by Sheri Biggs · Last progress April 9, 2026
Rewrites Title VII’s rule of construction so that the phrases “because of sex” and “on the basis of sex” explicitly exclude actions taken because of or on the basis of gender identity. In other words, it narrows federal employment discrimination protections by removing gender identity from the definition of sex under Title VII. This change affects how employers, courts, and federal agencies interpret and apply Title VII to claims by transgender people, potentially limiting legal protections and remedies for discrimination based on gender identity.