Christian Groups and Pastors Say California's New Workplace 'Hate Speech' Training Law Targets Their Beliefs

A new California law is drawing pushback from conservative Christians who say it lets the state decide what counts as hateful speech about sexuality and gender.

Assembly Bill 1803, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, takes effect Jan. 1, 2028. Fox News reports it requires employers with five or more employees, who are already covered by the state's harassment-training rules, to add instruction on recognizing, reporting and addressing workplace speech that "vilifies, humiliates, or incites hatred" based on protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity. It does not create a separate course. Employers fold the material into training they already give.

The critics. Greg Burt of the California Family Council said California's Civil Rights Department "put together some curriculum that is explicitly condemning anyone who has a conservative view." His main objection is that "hate speech" has no clear legal definition in state law. "You cannot regulate what you cannot define," he told an Assembly committee in March. He also says the law has no explicit exemption for matters of conscience, that churches are not clearly exempt, and that the rules reach public school teachers and workers in many state-licensed industries. His worry is that employers will be forced to decide whether to discipline employees over religious beliefs, with lawsuit risk if they get it wrong.

Pastor Paul Chappell of Lancaster Baptist Church called the bill poorly written. Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills called it "an encroachment upon the church" and said "it's completely unacceptable and will be challenged."

The state's training module, Fox says, defines gender identity as a person's "internal understanding of their gender," which may be male, female, a combination, neither, or nonbinary.

The other side. Equality California, the state's leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group and a backer of the bill, has argued that existing harassment training leaves a gap that exposes employees to hostile work environments. Fox says the group declined to comment, and that it also reached out to Newsom's office and the Civil Rights Department.

A note on scope: the law is not in force until 2028, and the churches' claim that they would be covered rests on the bill's lack of an explicit exemption, as Fox describes it. We have not read the bill text, and no lawsuit had been filed at the time of the report.