Republican bill would force misgendering of trans federal employees

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) have introduced legislation that would block federal agencies from requiring all federal government employees and federally funded contractors and entities to use the “preferred pronouns” of their employees or anything other than the pronouns that would reflect the sex they were assigned at birth.

Titled the “Safeguarding Honest Speech Act,” the bill is a response to the Department of Health and Human Services issuing their “Gender Identity and Non-Discrimination Guidance: Gender Identity Non-Discrimination and Inclusion Policy for Employees and Applicants” in October. The HHS guidelines state that “all employees should be addressed [by] the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves.”

In addition to being part of the Biden administration’s overall inclusion policy, the HHS guidelines are meant to ensure all employees follow federal regulations prohibiting sex discrimination in employment.

In a statement, Ogles said “Can you imagine getting reprimanded or fired from your job for not using an individual’s ‘preferred pronouns’? Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Biden regime has imposed in its latest guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services.”

Cruz claimed the HHS policy to be a violation of the First Amendment, and he said “As the Supreme Court held, ‘If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.’ The government has no business compelling anyone to use pronouns that contradict biological reality.”

The anti-trans bill introduced by Cruz and Ogles would block federal funds from being used to implement such rules and would entitle federal employees and contractors to sue and collect damages of up to $100,000 if a federal agency requests that they use the preferred name and pronouns of a coworker. The bill’s co-sponsors include Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Andy Harris (R-MD) and Mary Miller (R-IL).

This legislation mirrors other bills both Ogles and Cruz have proposed previously. Ogles was elected to the House last November, but he has made anti-LGBTQ legislation a priority, and he opposes abortion and same-sex marriage. In June 2022, after the repeal of Roe v. Wade, Ogles said, “The next thing we have to do is go after gay marriage.”

The latest proposal from Ogles and Cruz follows a new trend in Congress: House Republicans are adding dozens of anti-LGBTQ measures to must-pass bills to make it impossible for Democrats to avoid signing onto them. Thus far, House Republicans have embedded at least 45 anti-LGBTQ provisions in must-pass funding bills. These riders to established bills would weaken discrimination protections for same-sex couples or restrict gender-affirming care for adults and minors. Ogles could attempt to do that with this bill, similar to what Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) did in July when she added an amendment to the Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill, HHS appropriations bill, and defense appropriations bill that would ban federal funding for gender-affirming care and the hospitals that provide such care. 

A 25-page report from the Human Rights Campaign in August found that all of the annual spending bills brought in the House contain anti-LGBTQ provisions. 

Ogles is among the most anti-LGBTQ members of Congress. This year he sponsored the “There Are Two Sexes Act of 2023,” “to prohibit the obligation or expenditure of Federal funds for certain forms that offer an option other than Male or Female to reference the sex of an individual, and for other purposes.” 

Then Ogles introduced the “Keep Our Kids Safe Act of 2023″ which would prohibit the use of federal education funds for performances or instruction by drag queens in elementary and secondary schools.

Ogles stated, “Parents should not have to worry about sending their children to places of education, wondering whether hyper-sexualized drag queens will introduce inappropriate subject matter content to their children. My bill would ensure that not even a dime of taxpayer money is spent on drag queens in schools. It is incredibly concerning that this is where we are as a country but rest assured, I will never stop fighting to protect our kids.”

Ogles added that, “Beyond our schools, there is also an agenda to allow gender options beyond ‘male’ and ‘female’ to be included on federal forms. Again, taxpayers should never be forced to fund the ‘gender-identity’ crises of individuals. I will never give up the fight for common sense and it starts with reaffirming fundamental truths — including that there are only two biological sexes. If you have a problem with that, your issue is with science, not Republicans.”

Both of Ogles’ bills were supported by the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. 

Cruz has a long anti-LGBTQ history. He opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In 2013, he said marriage should be legally defined as only “between one man and one woman.” In 2015, after the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges ruled same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional, Cruz called the decision “the very definition of tyranny,” accused the court of judicial activism, and said the decision was “among the darkest hours of our nation.”According to the Pew Research Center, 5.1% of adults under 30 and 1.6% of all adults identify as transgender or nonbinary, meaning someone who identifies with more than one gender, no gender, or has a fluctuating gender identity, thus likely using different pronouns than their sex at birth.