I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4180 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to include the disclosure of sexual 
orientation by a member of the Armed Forces to a Member of Congress 
as a lawful and protected communication and to prohibit retaliatory 
personnel actions against members of the Armed Forces who make such 
a disclosure in a Congressional hearing or who testify, for or against, 
the policy concerning homosexuality in the Armed Forces. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 2, 2009 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. CAPPS, 
Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. STARK, Ms. WATSON, Ms. EDWARDS 
of Maryland, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GRAYSON, Ms. CHU, Mr. MEEKS of New 
York, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. 
SPEIER, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. DIN-
GELL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, 
Ms. CLARKE, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 
ABERCROMBIE, and Mr. WALZ) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to include the disclo-
sure of sexual orientation by a member of the Armed 
Forces to a Member of Congress as a lawful and pro-
tected communication and to prohibit retaliatory per-
sonnel actions against members of the Armed Forces 
who make such a disclosure in a Congressional hearing 
or who testify, for or against, the policy concerning ho-
mosexuality in the Armed Forces. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honest and Open Tes-
timony Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF RETALIATORY PERSONNEL AC-
TIONS AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
FORCES WHO TESTIFY HONESTLY AND OPEN-
LY ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION IN A 
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING OR WHO TESTIFY 
REGARDING THE POLICY CONCERNING HO-
MOSEXUALITY IN THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) PROTECTED COMMUNICATION.—Subsection (a) 
of section 1034 of title 10, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) Protected communication with a Member of 
Congress covered by paragraph (1) includes testimony by 
a member of the armed forces in a Congressional hearing 
regarding the policies set forth in subsection 654(b) of this 
title, including testimony by the member that discloses or 
affirms that the member is homosexual, bisexual, or 
transgender. Such communication is lawful and may not 
be restricted.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITION OF RETALIATORY PERSONNEL AC-
TIONS IN RESPONSE TO PROTECTED COMMUNICATION.— 
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Subsection (b) of such title is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) In the case of a member of the armed forces 
who makes a protected communication described in sub-
section (a)(3), any application of the policies set forth in 
subsection 654(b) of this title (or threat to apply the poli-
cies) to the member shall be considered to be an unfavor-
able personnel action prohibited by paragraph (1).’’. 
Æ 
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