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.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · November 15, 2023
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The Safeguarding Honest Speech Act would prohibit federal agencies and departments from using any funds to implement policies that require employees or contractors to use someone's preferred pronouns if they differ from pronouns associated with that person's biological sex, or to use a name other than someone's legal name. The bill would affect all federal employees and contractors across government agencies. It creates an enforcement mechanism requiring agencies to respond within 30 days to complaints about alleged violations, and allows federal workers to sue their agencies in civil court if they believe their rights under the law were violated, with potential awards including compensatory damages, punitive damages up to $100,000, and attorney's fees. Lawsuits would need to be filed within one year of an alleged violation. The legislation does not specify new funding amounts, but rather restricts how existing federal funds may be used.
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