Transphobic legislation and the linguist: The case of Florida’s Subsection 3

Abstract

This paper joins critical sociolinguistic approaches to the law by examining legislation limiting trans-affirming language use, especially in schools, with a focus on Florida Statute §1000.071. Subsection (3) of this law prohibits most transgender teachers from sharing their pronouns with students. The analysis begins by extracting the linguistic claims made in legal defense of §1000.071: 1) that it is “false” to refer to a trans woman as she or Ms. because pronouns function to categorize humans according to “biological sex” (as the state defines it); and 2) that children will be confused and their educations disrupted if trans teachers are allowed to share their pronouns. An in-depth review of linguistic research demonstrates that Florida’s assertions about how pronouns work are incorrect, and the discussion addresses some of the ways linguists might be both implicated in the transphobic ideas about language promoted by Florida’s government and well-positioned to support trans communities at a time of escalating institutional transphobia.