By: Piper Hutchinson | Louisiana Illuminator
A bill advancing in the Louisiana Legislature would prohibit private employers from punishing employees who willingly refer to anybody by the incorrect gender.
House Bill 1137 by Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, passed out of the House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations on a 6-4 vote Thursday along party lines. It protects an employee from punishment or dismissal for misgendering a colleague, customer or any individual for using the incorrect pronouns to refer to them.
The bill applies whether the individual being misgendered is transgender, meaning their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth, or cisgender, when their gender identity and birth sex are aligned.
Louisiana is an at-will employment state, meaning that employers can terminate their employees without cause for almost any reason. Crews’ bill would be a significant departure from that.
Opponents of his bill argued it could prevent employers from taking action against employees who use gender to harass.
“Respecting one another is one of our biggest values … this is a Louisiana value,” said Peyton Rose Michelle, executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates. ”We’re kind, we’re loving. I don’t know how this bill fits into that at all. I mean, this bill is impolite. It is not aligned with Louisiana values.”
Crews said his bill is necessary to protect employees’ free speech and religious rights and that it would promote workplace harmony.
“It tells every worker, whether in an office, factory, hospital or classroom, that they will not be punished for refusing to participate in someone else’s delusion,” Crews said. “The result will be more honest communication, less frivolous litigation and a stronger economy built on merit rather than mandated affirmation.”
Rep. Brian Glorioso, R-Slidell, who was not present for the vote, raised concerns the bill would create a dichotomy between state law and federal law on hostile workplaces.
“As an employer, I could be following state law by not disciplining that employee but also violating federal law by allowing a hostile work environment to be created,” Glorioso said.
Crews’ bill will next be discussed by the full House of Representatives.