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A California appeals court ruled that a law requiring nursing home staff to use transgender residents preferred pronouns violates the First Amendment.
The law was struck down on Friday in a 3-0 decision by the Sacramento-based Third District Court of Appeal. The court held that the law was a “content-based restriction on speech” that unconstitutionally requires nursing staff to express a message they may not wish to.
“The pronoun provision at issue here tests the limits of the government’s authority to restrict pure speech that, while potentially offensive or harassing to the listener, does not necessarily create a hostile environment,” Judge Elena Duarte wrote in the decision.