TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 16, 2025

Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill into law protecting educators and school contractors from disciplinary action and lawsuits if they misgender or deadname students, staff or others within their school district, WBIR reports. In addition, the new law shields public schools and districts from liability in such cases. Those who are disciplined may sue for monetary damages after going through a complaint process. The law, which was sponsored by Rep. Mark Cochran, R-Englewood, in the House and by Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington, in the Senate, also prohibits schools and teachers from requiring students, employees or contractors to share preferred pronouns and names, and educators may not ask students to refer to them by a preferred pronoun. For institutions of higher education, the bill prohibits the disciplining of students, faculty, employees or contractors who refuse to provide preferred pronouns. The law went into effect on May 9.