Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1069, extending classroom gender-identity restrictions through grade 8 and mandating sex-based pronoun rules

On May 17, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed CS/CS/HB 1069 into law, expanding the state's 2022 "Parental Rights in Education" law — labeled by critics the "Don't Say Gay" law — that restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. The 2023 measure extended that instructional restriction from grades K-3 to pre-kindergarten through grade 8, and was codified as Chapter 2023-105, Laws of Florida, taking effect on July 1, 2023.

The law defines "sex" in the Florida Early Learning-20 Education Code as an immutable biological trait and declares it false to ascribe to a person a pronoun that does not correspond to that sex. Under the statute, teachers and school employees may not provide students with their own preferred titles or pronouns if inconsistent with their sex, and may not be required to refer to students by pronouns that do not correspond to the student's sex. The bill was sponsored by Representative Stan McClain and moved through the Education & Employment Committee.

HB 1069 also strengthened Florida's 2022 instructional-materials law by shifting responsibility for classroom-library materials to school boards and easing the process by which members of the public can challenge school library and instructional books. LGBTQ-advocacy group Equality Florida condemned the measure as part of what it called the governor's "slate of hate."

Updates

2024-04-09 — Federal judge blocked pronoun rule for one teacher [5]

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker preliminarily enjoined Florida from enforcing HB 1069's pronoun restriction against Hillsborough County teacher Katie Wood while her First Amendment challenge proceeded, declining to extend the injunction statewide.

2025-07-02 — Appeals court reversed injunction, upheld pronoun rule [6]

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Walker's preliminary injunction, ruling Wood spoke as a government employee rather than a private citizen when addressing students and that the pronoun restriction did not violate her First Amendment rights.

2025-08-13 — Judge ruled pronoun law violates Title VII, stayed pending appeal [7]

Applying the Eleventh Circuit's reversal to reject the teachers' speech claims, Walker separately ruled on summary judgment that HB 1069's pronoun restriction violates Title VII's sex-discrimination protections under Bostock v. Clayton County, but stayed the ruling pending a related Eleventh Circuit case, leaving the restriction in effect.