Arkansas Senate Passes Bathroom Bill Critics Call Extreme

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A bill that would criminalize transgender people who use toilets that match their gender identity won initial passage in the Arkansas Legislature Tuesday, introducing a restriction that critics say would be the most extreme in the world. country.

He bill Passed by a majority of the Republican Senate on a 19-7 vote, it would allow someone to be charged with a misdemeanor charge of sexual indecency with a child if they use a public restroom or changing room of the opposite sex when a minor is present. The bill now heads to the Republican-majority House.

The legislation goes even further than a North Carolina Bathroom Law which was enacted in 2016 and later repealed following widespread boycotts and protests. That law did not include criminal sanctions.

“This is an attack on the continued existence in public of transgender people and the criminalization of being transgender in public,” said Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior adviser to the Human Rights Campaign.

The bill comes in the middle a deluge of bills targeting transgender peopleand increasingly hostile rhetoric against trans people in state houses. So far this year, at least 155 bills targeting the rights of trans people have been introduced, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Republican Sen. John Payton, the sponsor of the Arkansas bill, said the measure was narrowly crafted in that it would only apply when minors were present and acknowledged it would be difficult to prosecute someone for violating the restriction.

“I just don’t see this as the bill that keeps people from going to the wrong bathroom,” Payton said before the vote. “Hopefully it’s only limited to when children are present.”

But Sen. Joshua Bryant, the only Republican to vote against the bill, said the measure would allow someone to be prosecuted regardless of their intent. He likened it to charging someone with armed robbery if they bring a concealed weapon into a building where it’s not allowed.

Bryant also noted that the bill would also apply to a transgender person who has undergone full gender-affirming surgery.

“He may not understand why they did it, he may not agree with why they did it, but it was his decision as an adult,” Bryant said.

The proposal narrowly won approval in the 35-member Senate, with several Republican lawmakers not voting on the measure, another Republican senator voting “present,” which has the same effect as voting no.

Despite the backlash over North Carolina’s now repealed bathroom bill, there has been a resurgence of similar restrictions proposed by Republican lawmakers. At least 17 bills related to who can use the toilets have been introduced in 11 states so far this year.

Another bill pending in the Arkansas Legislature would be prevent transgender people in public schools from using bathrooms that match their gender identity. Similar laws have been enacted in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Lawsuits have been filed challenging the Oklahoma and Tennessee restrictions.

There are some exemptions in the bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday, including for parents and guardians accompanying children under the age of 7.

Even with that exemption, the bill would represent a tough choice for transgender activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy and her partner Beck Major, who is also transgender. The Little Rock couple have a two-year-old son and they would eventually have to decide whether to send him to the public restrooms alone rather than accompany him and risk being charged under the law.

“Those are two horrible options for a parent,” Beck Major said. “What choice would you make?”

The legislation also worries Kathy Brown-Nichols of Arkansas, who describes herself as a tomboyish lesbian and said she is already regularly harassed and questioned when using the women’s bathroom in public because of her appearance. Brown-Nichols said she is concerned that bullying will only increase if the proposed restriction becomes law.

“They are putting a big target on people who are different,” he said.