HB 361 - Competitive Workforce Act

• Adds sexual orientation and gender identity or expression as protected classes under Florida's civil rights laws, alongside existing protections for race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, and marital status.

• Replaces the term "handicap" with "disability" throughout Florida Statutes and provides detailed definitions of disability aligned with federal standards, including protections for episodic or remissive conditions and protections based on perceived disabilities.

• Extends discrimination protections to employment, housing, public accommodations, public lodging establishments, public food service establishments, and financing of residential real estate transactions.

• Creates new statutory sections (760.025 and 760.225) specifying when individuals are considered to have impairments, clarifying that ameliorative measures such as medication, devices, and assistive technology are not considered when determining disability status.

• Effective date: July 1, 2011.