California Proposes Jail Time for Using the Wrong Pronoun for Transgenders

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California is on its way to passing a new law that makes it illegal to call transgender senior citizens living in long-term care facilities a pronoun they don't like.

If passed, workers in a facility who do not refer to an elderly person by the pronoun the wish, could consequences.

Fines for repeat offenders could be as high as $1,000 and a jail term of up to a year. CBN reports SB 219, titled the "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Long-Term Care Facility Resident's Bill of Rights," says facility staff may be punished if they “willfully and repeatedly fail to use a resident's preferred name or pronouns.”

The bill will also mandate bathrooms and rooms be designated by gender identity and not biological sex.

There are no exemptions for long term care facilities run by religious institutions. 

Corrie O'Connor