Nearly 20 Anti-LGBTQ Bills Filed By FL Lawmakers: Reports

FLORIDA — Amid the start of the 2024 legislative session, nearly two dozen bills proposed Tuesday by Florida Republicans are believed to target the LGBTQ community and question the definition of gender, per a media report.

At least 19 bills aimed at transgender Floridians specifically and or potentially LGBTQ+ people were filed before the start of the session, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

According to Senate records, House Bill 599 forbids mandates that staffers and contractors of certain employers must use their co-workers’ requested pronouns.

House Bill 1135 could make “lewd or lascivious grooming” illegal, according to House records.

NBC News reported Tuesday the lack of clarity in House Bill 1129, which seeks to protect minors for “harmful material,” has advocates concerned LGBTQ content could be included.

The outlet spoke with Brandon Wolf, who is reportedly “a spokesperson for LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign who survived the Orlando, Florida, Pulse nightclub mass shooting.”

“Florida has, for years, been an innovator of new assaults on freedom and equality, and this year’s slate of bills is no different,” Wolf told NBC News. “This session, we’ll see escalating attacks on education, medical freedom and the fundamental right of transgender people to exist as their authentic selves.”

A bill filed by Rep. Dean Black, R-Jacksonville — which removes mentions of “gender” throughout Florida statutes and requires sex affidavits from all Floridians with driver’s licenses — might be one of the most sweeping anti-trans billsproposed in the state, the newspaper said.

In an effort to keep children from seeing inappropriate material online, five bills would require measures such as age verification and real-time moderation to banning children from social media entirely, the Democrat reported.