Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee on Tuesday signed a law prohibiting transgender students from using restrooms at public schools that match their gender identity.
The law makes it the first of several states to enact such bans this year amid a flood of bills nationwide targeting transgender people.
The rule in Arkansas, which won’t go into effect until later this summer, covers locker rooms and multi-person facilities at public and charter schools that serve students in prekindergarten through grade 12. Last week, the law received final approval from the majority-Republican Legislature.
“The Governor has said she will sign laws that focus on protecting and educating our kids, not indoctrinating them and believes our schools are no place for the radical left’s woke agenda,” Alexa Henning, Sanders’ spokesperson, said in a statement. “Arkansas isn’t going to rewrite the rules of biology just to please a handful of far-left advocates.”
Similar laws have been enacted in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, but lawsuits have been filed challenging the restrictions in Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Proposals to restrict trangenders from using the restroom of their choice have seen a resurgence this year, six years after North Carolina repealed its bathroom law amid widespread protests and boycotts. According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than two dozen bathroom bills have been filed in 17 states.
“They’re singling out transgender people for no other reason than dislike, disapproval and misunderstanding of who transgender youth are,” said Paul Castillo, senior counsel and students’ rights strategist for Lambda Legal. “And the entire school population suffers as a result of these types of bills, particularly schools and teachers and administrators who are dealing with real problems and need to focus on creating a welcome environment for every student.”
Arkansas is also considering a bill that goes further than the statute in North Carolina by adding criminal penalties. If someone uses a public restroom or changing area of the opposite sex when a minor is present, they could be prosecuted for misdemeanor sexual indecency with a child.
“It’s a flagrant message from them that they refuse to respect (transgender people’s) rights and humanity, to respect Arkansans’ rights and humanity,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas.
