- Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bill restricting transgender people's use of public school bathrooms
- The new law would fine at least $1,000 to those who are found guilty of going against the ban
- Opposition lawmakers and groups have called out the new law as being regressive
Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill to limit transgender people's use of bathrooms based on their gender identity. This decision is expected to be the first of many in the United States.
The signing comes amid a flood of bills that target the nation's trans community. Sanders' new bill makes Arkansas the fourth state in the US to impose such restrictions at public schools. Furthermore, bills in Idaho and Iowa are just waiting for their respective governors' signatures.
Arkansas Trans Bathroom Ban
The latest development could also be followed by an even more limiting bill in Arkansas that would criminalize transgender adults who use public restrooms that coincide with their gender identity.
The state's new law, set to take effect later this summer, will affect multi-person restrooms and locker rooms at public schools and charter schools that serve pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, as per Yahoo News.
Last week, the majority-Republican Legislature of the state gave its final approval to the bill. In a statement, Sanders' spokesperson, Alexa Henning, said that the governor committed to signing laws that would focus on protecting and educating children and not indoctrinating them.
She added that Sanders believes schools are not a place for the radical left and their "woke agenda." Henning said that Arkansas would not rewrite the rules of biology only to please a handful of far-left advocates.
Similar laws have been implemented in other states, notably in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. However, lawsuits have already been filed to counter and challenge the restrictions in the latter two regions.
Sanders' new law would require schools to create reasonable accommodations for transgender students, which include single-person restrooms. However, according to Fox News, those who oppose the new law claim that it does not provide schools with the necessary funding to address the requirements.
Lawmakers Claim Arkansas Uses Trans as Political Pawns
Under the new law, school superintendents, administrators, and teachers who are found to have violated the prohibition would be fined at least $1,000 from a state panel. Furthermore, parents will have the authority to file private lawsuits if, for some reason, the new law is not enforced.
In a statement, a co-sponsor of the bill, Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, said that every child in the state's schools has a right to privacy and the need to feel safe and comfortable in the bathroom that they go to.
But Clayton Crocket, the parent of a transgender child, said that a similar policy at his kid's school would lead to feelings of further marginalization. During a House panel hearing on the bill in January, Crocket said that their daughter felt like she was being targeted and discriminated against and that she was bullied and singled out.
The executive director of GLSEN, Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, said that politicians in Arkansas were using trans and non-binary children as political pawns. She added that the restrictions on bathroom use only hurt students' academic achievement, said CNN.
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