The claim: A Michigan bill would make using a person’s wrong gender pronouns a felony
A July 27 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Progress Pride flag with the Michigan State Capitol in the background.
“Michigan House passes bill making wrong pronoun use a felony,” reads the text in the image. The caption adds that it is “punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 too!”
The post received more than 10,000 likes in two weeks.
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Our rating: False
The bill would have no effect on a person’s First Amendment right to free speech, lawmakers from both parties and legal experts say. The bill language does not include the word “pronoun.” What it would criminalize is conduct, specifically intimidation.
DA: Pronoun prosecution would be ‘beyond frivolous’
The Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill on June 20 that would expand the state’s 35-year-old hate crime law to include protections for sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability and age. It carries penalties of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The word “pronoun” does not appear in the five-page bill, which is still pending in the state legislature. Nothing in the legislation establishes any sort of structure that, for example, would make it a crime to use “she” when referring to someone who identifies as a man.
“Let me make it plain and simple: This bill does not infringe on anyone’s First Amendment rights, and it most certainly is not a bill that has anything to do with pronouns,” Democratic Rep. Ranjeev Puri, who is one of the bill’s 45 sponsors, said in an email to USA TODAY.
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It would allow prosecutors to bring hate-crime charges against those who “maliciously and intentionally” intimidate people because they belong to a protected group.
Some people could argue that using an incorrect gender pronoun counts as intimidation. But Eli Savit, the Democratic prosecutor in the county that is home to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, called that “a bad-faith reading of this bill.
“It has absolutely no legal basis,” he said.
Both Savit and Puri say the bill focuses on actions – not words.
It defines intimidation as a “willful course of conduct” involving “repeated or continuing harassment” that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened or threatened.
That reasonability standard is key, said Republican Rep. Graham Filler, who is one of three GOP members who voted for the bill.
“I think there probably are some people out there who think that using the wrong pronouns is a hate crime,” Filler said. “I don’t think those people would be able to somehow convince a prosecutor to charge” someone.
The bill also specifically allows constitutionally protected activities – such as free speech – and “conduct that serves a legitimate purpose.”
“The idea that somebody could actually be prosecuted for using the wrong pronouns is just beyond frivolous,” Savit said. “I don’t think any prosecutor could ever bring the case, and I don’t think he would. And if they did, it would be thrown out of court immediately.”
The bill has been sent to the state Senate’s Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post but did not receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
- Graham Filler, Aug. 8, Phone interview with USA TODAY
- Michael McDaniel, Aug. 8, Phone interview with USA TODAY
- Eli Savit, Aug. 7, Phone interview with USA TODAY
- Ranjeev Puri, Aug. 7, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- Michigan Legislature, accessed Aug. 7, House Bill 4474
- Michigan Legislature, March 30, 1989, Section 750.147b
- The Detroit News, July 4, Livengood: Michigan lawmakers aren’t trying to criminalize pronoun use
- Click On Detroit, July 10, Hate crimes bill approved by Michigan House wouldn’t criminalize incorrect pronoun use
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