Arkansas Gov. Signs Law Banning Transgender People From Using Bathrooms Matching Their Gender Identity In Public Schools

Topline

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a law on Tuesday that bans transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity in public schools, the latest in a series of legislative moves targeting transgender people in GOP-led states.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivers the Republican response to the State of the Union … [+] address by President Joe Biden in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Key Facts

The new bathroom law applies to all multi-person restrooms and locker rooms at public and charter schools across the state.

School superintendents, principals and teachers who violate the law may face monetary fines of at least $1,000, while parents are also allowed to file private lawsuits to ensure its enforcement.

The law, which won’t go into effect until later this year, was passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature last week.

Schools will also be required to provide “reasonable accommodation,” including single person restrooms, to any individual who is “unwilling or unable” to use a multi occupancy restroom “designated for the individual’s sex.”

Arkansas is now the fourth state after Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama to prevent transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice in public schools.

Key Background

The bill signed by Sanders on Tuesday is one of many legislative efforts targeting transgender people being pushed through the legislatures of Republican-led states. Lawmakers in 11 other states—Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Texas—are pushing through bathroom bills similar to the Arkansas legislation. The Idaho and Iowa bills are awaiting their governor’s signature after being passed by the states’ legislatures last week. Earlier this month, the Arkansas Senate passed a more extreme version of the bathroom bill, which would allow for a transgender person to be charged with “misdemeanor sexual indecency with a child” if they use a public restroom matching their gender identity while a minor is present.

Big Number

Over 435. That is the total number of bills targeting LGBTQ+ individuals moving through the legislatures of 37 states across the country, according to the Human Rights Campaign. With Huckabee Sanders’ signing of the bathroom law, 10 such bills have passed into law this year, and eight more are on governor’s desks awaiting passage.