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Safeguarding Honest Speech Act of 2026
To prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce measures requiring certain employees to refer to an individual by the preferred pronouns of such individual or a name other than the legal name of such individual, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to implement, administer, or enforce any policies requiring federal employees or contractors to use preferred pronouns that conflict with an individual's biological sex or to use a name other than a person's legal name. The bill requires federal agencies to issue a formal response within 30 days to any written complaints from employees or contractors alleging violations. Employees or contractors dissatisfied with an agency's response may file a civil lawsuit against their agency, and courts may award compensatory damages, punitive damages up to $100,000, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees. The bill defines sex as biological sex based on reproductive system characteristics and allows lawsuits to be filed up to one year after an alleged violation.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Ogles, Andrew [R-TN-5] (R-TN)
5 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Apr 29, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. · house
- Apr 29, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 29, 2026
Mr. Ogles (for himself, Ms. Boebert, Mr. Clyde, Mr. Crane, Mr. Gosar, and Mr. Weber of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
A BILL
To prohibit the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce measures requiring certain employees to refer to an individual by the preferred pronouns of such individual or a name other than the legal name of such individual, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Safeguarding Honest Speech Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. NO FEDERAL FUNDS FOR COMPELLED LANGUAGE.
(a) In General.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds may be used for the purpose of implementing, administering, or enforcing any rule, policy, guidance, recommendation, or memoranda requiring an employee or contractor of any Federal agency or Department to use—
(1) another person’s preferred pronouns if they are incompatible with such a person’s sex; or
(2) a name other than a person’s legal name when referring to such a person.
(b) Enforcement.—
(1) In general.—All Federal agencies and Departments shall ensure that, not later than 30 days following a written notice from any employee or contractor regarding an alleged violation of subsection (a), a formal response to the notice is issued to the employee or contractor.
(2) Private right of action.—In the case that the formal response in subsection (a) does not represent a satisfactory outcome for a Federal employee or contractor, any employee or contractor aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may commence a civil action against the Federal agency or Department responsible for the alleged violation.
(3) Relief.—In any action under this subsection, the court may award appropriate relief, including—
(A) temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief;
(B) compensatory damages;
(C) punitive or exemplary damages, which may not exceed $100,000; and
(D) reasonable fees for attorneys.
(4) Statute of limitations.—An action under this subsection shall be brought not later than one year after the date on which the alleged violation of subsection (a) occurred.
(c) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) Female.—The term “female” refers to an individual who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes eggs for fertilization.
(2) Male.—The term “male” refers to an individual who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes sperm for fertilization.
(3) Sex.—The term “sex” refers to biological sex, either male or female.
(4) Person.—The term “person” refers to a natural person. <all>
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