Cain’s Pronoun Bill Also Bans Six Other Kinds Of Speech

The text as introduced · 686 words

By: Cain
H.B. No. 4425

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

Relating to prohibiting public officers and employees from

displaying preferred gender pronouns; authorizing a private civil

right of action.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended

by adding Chapter 620 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 620. WOKE TERMINOLOGY PROHIBITED IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT

Sec. 620.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Governmental entity" means this state, a state

agency in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state

government, or a political subdivision of this state.

(2) "Preferred gender pronouns" refer to sets of

pronouns that an individual wants others to use when referring to

that individual, often displayed in parentheses, such as

"(he/him)," "(she/her)," or "(they/them)."

Sec. 620.002. PROHIBITED TERMINOLOGY IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT.

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, no officer, employee,

volunteer, or agent of a governmental entity may do any of the

following in any document or communication made within the scope of

their employment or work with the governmental entity, or in any

e-mail sent from an account provided by the governmental entity:

(1) List, display, or provide a hyperlink to a person's

preferred gender pronouns;

(2) Describe elective abortions as "abortion care" or

"health care" of any sort;

(3) Use any phrase that implies that men can become

pregnant, such as "pregnant persons," "pregnant individuals," or

"pregnant Texans";

(4) Use the term "gender-affirming care" to describe

treatments that are inconsistent with an individual's biological

sex assigned at birth;

(5) Refer to any transgender individual with a noun

that contravenes that individual's biological sex assigned at

birth, i.e., a biological man who identifies as a woman may not be

called a "transgender woman" or any phrase that implies that such an

individual actually is a woman;

(6) Use the terms "cisgender" and "cissexual";

(7) Refer to prostitutes as "sex workers."

(b) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict or

regulate in any way:

(1) The off-the-job communications or correspondence

of an officer, employee, volunteer, or agent of a governmental

entity; or

(2) Speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment

of the United States Constitution, as made applicable to the states

through the Supreme Court of the United States' interpretations of

the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, or by

Article I, § 8 of the Texas Constitution.

Sec. 620.003. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. (a) Any person who

suffers injury in fact on account of a violation of section 620.002

has standing to bring and may bring a civil action against the

person who has violated or is violating section 620.002. Sovereign

immunity, governmental immunity, official immunity, and qualified

immunity are waived and abolished in any action brought under this

section.

(b) If a claimant prevails in an action brought under

Subsection (a), the court shall award:

(1) declaratory and injunctive relief sufficient to

prevent the defendant from violating this chapter;

(2) nominal damages;

(3) compensatory damages if the plaintiff has suffered

damages from the defendant's conduct; and

(4) costs and attorney's fees.

(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a person may commence an

action under this section and relief may be granted regardless of

whether the person has sought or exhausted available administrative

remedies.

(d) A defendant against whom an action is brought under this

section may assert an affirmative defense to liability under this

subsection if:

(1) the enforcement of this chapter against the

defendant will violate constitutional or federally protected

rights that belong to the defendant personally; or

(2) the defendant

(A) has standing to assert the rights of a third

party under the tests for third-party standing established by the

Supreme Court of the United States; and

(B) demonstrates that the enforcement of this

chapter against the defendant will violate constitutional or

federally protected rights belonging to that third party.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a civil action under this

section shall not be subject to any provision of Chapter 27, Civil

Practice and Remedies Code, or Chapter 110, Civil Practice and

Remedies Code.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.