Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4425 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		By: Cain H.B. No. 4425
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4	6		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	7		AN ACT
6	8		Relating to prohibiting public officers and employees from
7	9		displaying preferred gender pronouns; authorizing a private civil
8	10		right of action.
9	11		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	12		SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended
11	13		by adding Chapter 620 to read as follows:
12	14		CHAPTER 620. WOKE TERMINOLOGY PROHIBITED IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT
13	15		Sec. 620.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
14	16		(1) "Governmental entity" means this state, a state
15	17		agency in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state
16	18		government, or a political subdivision of this state.
17	19		(2) "Preferred gender pronouns" refer to sets of
18	20		pronouns that an individual wants others to use when referring to
19	21		that individual, often displayed in parentheses, such as
20	22		"(he/him)," "(she/her)," or "(they/them)."
21	23		Sec. 620.002. PROHIBITED TERMINOLOGY IN PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT.
22	24		(a) Notwithstanding any other law, no officer, employee,
23	25		volunteer, or agent of a governmental entity may do any of the
24	26		following in any document or communication made within the scope of
25	27		their employment or work with the governmental entity, or in any
26	28		e-mail sent from an account provided by the governmental entity:
27	29		(1) List, display, or provide a hyperlink to a person's
28	30		preferred gender pronouns;
29	31		(2) Describe elective abortions as "abortion care" or
30	32		"health care" of any sort;
31	33		(3) Use any phrase that implies that men can become
32	34		pregnant, such as "pregnant persons," "pregnant individuals," or
33	35		"pregnant Texans";
34	36		(4) Use the term "gender-affirming care" to describe
35	37		treatments that are inconsistent with an individual's biological
36	38		sex assigned at birth;
37	39		(5) Refer to any transgender individual with a noun
38	40		that contravenes that individual's biological sex assigned at
39	41		birth, i.e., a biological man who identifies as a woman may not be
40	42		called a "transgender woman" or any phrase that implies that such an
41	43		individual actually is a woman;
42	44		(6) Use the terms "cisgender" and "cissexual";
43	45		(7) Refer to prostitutes as "sex workers."
44	46		(b) Nothing in this section may be construed to restrict or
45	47		regulate in any way:
46	48		(1) The off-the-job communications or correspondence
47	49		of an officer, employee, volunteer, or agent of a governmental
48	50		entity; or
49	51		(2) Speech or conduct protected by the First Amendment
50	52		of the United States Constitution, as made applicable to the states
51	53		through the Supreme Court of the United States' interpretations of
52	54		the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, or by
53	55		Article I, § 8 of the Texas Constitution.
54	56		Sec. 620.003. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. (a) Any person who
55	57		suffers injury in fact on account of a violation of section 620.002
56	58		has standing to bring and may bring a civil action against the
57	59		person who has violated or is violating section 620.002. Sovereign
58	60		immunity, governmental immunity, official immunity, and qualified
59	61		immunity are waived and abolished in any action brought under this
60	62		section.
61	63		(b) If a claimant prevails in an action brought under
62	64		Subsection (a), the court shall award:
63	65		(1) declaratory and injunctive relief sufficient to
64	66		prevent the defendant from violating this chapter;
65	67		(2) nominal damages;
66	68		(3) compensatory damages if the plaintiff has suffered
67	69		damages from the defendant's conduct; and
68	70		(4) costs and attorney's fees.
69	71		(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a person may commence an
70	72		action under this section and relief may be granted regardless of
71	73		whether the person has sought or exhausted available administrative
72	74		remedies.
73	75		(d) A defendant against whom an action is brought under this
74	76		section may assert an affirmative defense to liability under this
75	77		subsection if:
76	78		(1) the enforcement of this chapter against the
77	79		defendant will violate constitutional or federally protected
78	80		rights that belong to the defendant personally; or
79	81		(2) the defendant
80	82		(A) has standing to assert the rights of a third
81	83		party under the tests for third-party standing established by the
82	84		Supreme Court of the United States; and
83	85		(B) demonstrates that the enforcement of this
84	86		chapter against the defendant will violate constitutional or
85	87		federally protected rights belonging to that third party.
86	88		(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a civil action under this
87	89		section shall not be subject to any provision of Chapter 27, Civil
88	90		Practice and Remedies Code, or Chapter 110, Civil Practice and
89	91		Remedies Code.
90	92		SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.