Arkansas lawmakers have approved a bill that would criminalize transgender individuals using restrooms that match their gender identity. This controversial legislation was approved by the majority-Republican Senate on a 19-7 vote and now heads to the majority-GOP House. If enacted, this bill would introduce a restriction that critics have labeled the most extreme in the country, making it a misdemeanor sexual indecency with a child for an individual to use a public restroom or changing room “of the opposite sex while knowing a minor of the opposite sex is present.”
The bill goes even further than a North Carolina bathroom law that was enacted in 2016 and later repealed following widespread boycotts and protests. The Arkansas bill includes criminal penalties and has been labeled an attack on the continued existence of transgender people in public. At least 155 bills targeting trans people’s rights have been introduced so far this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
While Republican Sen. John Payton, the Arkansas bill’s sponsor, called the measure narrowly crafted since it would only apply when minors are present and acknowledged it would be difficult to prosecute someone for violating the restriction, Sen. Joshua Bryant, the only Republican who voted against the bill, argued that the measure would allow someone to be prosecuted regardless of their intent.
Another bill pending in the Arkansas Legislature would prevent transgender people at public schools from using bathrooms that match their gender identity, similar to laws enacted in Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Lawsuits have been filed challenging the Oklahoma and Tennessee restrictions.
Despite some exemptions in the Arkansas bill, including for parents and guardians accompanying children under the age of 7, the proposed legislation would still pose a difficult choice for transgender activists like Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and her partner Beck Major, who is also transgender. The Little Rock couple have a two-year-old son and would eventually have to decide whether to send him into public restrooms alone rather than accompany him and risk being charged under the law.
This bill has been met with opposition and backlash, as it targets and criminalizes a marginalized community. If enacted, it would not only make life more difficult for transgender individuals in Arkansas, but would also set a dangerous precedent for other states to follow.