Sponsors (6)
The bill protects federal employees and contractors who refuse to use others' preferred pronouns and creates a fast, private legal remedy, but it raises taxpayer exposure to litigation costs and may reduce workplace inclusivity and create administrative confusion for transgender and gender‑diverse people.
Federal employees and contractors who object to using others' preferred pronouns or non-legal names are protected from being compelled by federally funded policies to use them.
Affected employees and contractors can sue agencies for damages and seek injunctive relief in court if the law is violated, creating a clear private legal remedy.
Complainants get a time‑bound agency response procedure (agencies must respond within 30 days), which can speed resolution of alleged violations.
Taxpayers and agencies may face increased litigation costs and liability exposure from private lawsuits and damage awards (up to $100,000), shifting financial risk to the public.
Transgender and gender‑diverse federal employees and contractors may face reduced protections and a less respectful, inclusive workplace if agencies are restricted from adopting policies that use preferred pronouns or names.
The bill's narrow definitions of sex (limited to biological male/female) risk excluding gender identity from agency policies, creating administrative confusion and potential discrimination claims against agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal funds from supporting rules or policies that require federal employees or contractors to use pronouns inconsistent with a person’s biological sex or to use a name other than a person’s legal name, and creates a private right of action.
Prohibits the use of federal funds to require federal employees or contractors to use pronouns that differ from a person’s biological sex or to call someone by a name other than their legal name, and gives affected employees and contractors a private right of action against agencies. Agencies must respond within 30 days to written notice of an alleged violation, and successful plaintiffs can seek injunctive relief, compensatory damages, attorney fees, and limited punitive damages (capped at $100,000); lawsuits must be filed within one year. The measure also defines “female,” “male,” and “sex” as biological sex (male or female) and defines “person” as a natural person. The prohibition applies to implementation, administration, or enforcement of any federal rule, policy, guidance, recommendation, or memorandum that would require the covered speech or naming practices, and conditions federal funding for those activities accordingly.
Official title: To prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce measures requiring certain employees to refer to an individual by the preferred pronouns of such individual or a name other than the legal name of such individual, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 29, 2026 by Andy Ogles · Last progress April 29, 2026