Arkansas joined several states on Tuesday in introducing a bill that would ban transgender people in public schools from using the restroom that uses their gender identity.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed her name to the piece of legislation, which applies to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms in public and charter schools from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“The governor has said she will sign laws aimed at protecting and educating our children, not indoctrinating them, and believes our schools are no place for the waking agenda of the radical left,” said Alexa Henning, the spokesman for Sanders, in a statement to The Associated. Press. “Arkansas is not going to rewrite the rules of biology to appease a handful of far-left advocates.”
The law will not take effect until 90 days after the end of the current legislative session on April 7, but will be in effect before the 2023-2024 school year begins.
ARKANSAS GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS SIGNS ACCOUNT FOR PRO-LIFE MONUMENT AT STATE CAPITOL
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of office on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 in Little Rock, Ark. (The associated press)
The new law also requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations for transgender students, such as single-person toilets, though opponents have argued the measure does not provide schools with funding for this.
Superintendents, school administrators and teachers who violate the ban could be fined at least $1,000 by a state panel. Parents can also file private lawsuits if the new law is not enforced.
“Every child in our schools has a right to privacy and to feel safe and comfortable in the bathroom they have to go to,” Republican Representative Mary Bentley, who sponsored the bill, told lawmakers earlier this year. .
Clayton Crocket, who has a transgender daughter, told lawmakers that similar policies at his child’s school led to feelings of further marginalization.
“She feels attacked, she feels discriminated against, she feels bullied, she feels singled out,” Crockett said at a House panel hearing on the bill in January, according to The AP.
ARKANSAS GOV. SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS SIGNS LEGAL RESTRICTIONS ON ‘ADULT’ PERFORMANCE
There is a gender neutral sign outside a toilet. (Istock/Andrey Popov)
Six years after protests and boycotts led North Carolina to repeal the law banning transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice, proposals to ban or restrict transgender people have reappeared at a record pace across the country.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than two dozen bills in the legislature aim to limit or ban gender-affirming care for minors, ban transgender girls from competing with biological girls, and place restrictions on drag shows — usually where children are present .
“They single out transgender people for no other reason than disgust, disapproval and misunderstanding of who transgender youth are,” Paul Castillo, senior counsel and student rights strategist for Lambda Legal, told The AP. “And the entire school population suffers from these bills, especially schools and teachers and administrators who face real problems and need to focus on creating a welcoming environment for every student.”
Another bill pending in Arkansas would charge anyone using a public restroom or locker room inconsistent with their biological sex when a minor is present with sexual indecency with a child, which is a felony.
Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, told the AP the bill is a “blatant message” that proves that some lawmakers “refuse to respect the rights and humanity of transgender people.”
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Arkansas is now the fourth state to introduce a “bathroom law” in public schools. Similar laws are already in place in Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee, but lawsuits against the restrictions have been filed in the latter two states. Bills in Idaho and Iowa have also passed the legislature and are awaiting their governor’s signature.
The Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sanders’ signing of the bill on Tuesday comes a week after she passed legislation that makes it easier to sue medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care to minors, and a few weeks after she signed a bill that would allow classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation for the 5th grade.
Fox News Digital reached out to Governor Sanders for additional comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
