Arkansas bill will require transgender students to use toilets based on their biological sex

A committee of the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a bill that would require transgender children to use the toilet assigned to them at birth, rather than the toilet that matches their gender identity.

Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, said at a bill hearing last week that “every child in our school and every school has the right to privacy and to feel comfortable in their bathrooms.”

Bentley House Bill 1156 would require public charter schools and open enrollment public schools to prohibit students from using a restroom that does not match the gender on their birth certificate. The law applies to restrooms, locker rooms, locker rooms and showers in schools where people “may be in various stages of undressing” in front of others.

A 15% pay cut will apply to the wages of superintendents, principals, or the administrative head of an open enrollment public charter school in the fiscal year after they are found to be in violation of the law, under the bill. If the law is passed, parents of students “will have cause for action” if they come into contact with a person of the “opposite sex” in a restroom with multiple patrons.

The bill is currently moving to the House of Republicans with a majority vote, where a vote could take place as early as this Wednesday.

Critics have argued that the latest attempt does not really solve any problems, but is simply an attempt to start a new legal fight against the rights of transgender students.

“The states are really challenging the federal government by passing bills like this and saying, ‘We know this is what you think the law says, and we’re ready to fight you,'” Oakley said. director of the state legislature and senior advisor to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ rights organization in the country.

Linda Hargis, a member of the Conway School Board, spoke out in support of the legislation, saying it aims to ensure that girls feel at ease in the toilets.

According to Hargis, “our children have the right to feel safe and at home in their own neighborhood.” We will create a real storm if this bill and this policy is not passed.

The Republican-majority Arkansas legislature is poised to become the first state to impose restrictions on drag shows as state restroom legislation passes. Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she supports the measure, which, if passed by a House committee, would label drag performance companies “adult-focused.”

In a statement Tuesday, Sanders’ staff did not specify whether she would sign the toilet bill if it hit her desk.

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