Arkansas’ law banning gender transition treatment for youth would adversely affect businesses in the state by harming employees and impairing their ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce, a group of Arkansas businesses and industry groups argued in a friend of the court brief filed Friday.
Act 626, officially titled the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, was passed during this year’s legislative session. It would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming hormones and surgical procedures to transgender minors. The law is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which is seeking to block the law from going into effect.
The brief is signed by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, the Walton Family Foundation and the Northwest Arkansas Council, as well as the companies Acxiom, Kinesso and LiveRamp.
Those entities “share a commitment to equality, respect, and dignity for all people, regardless of their gender identity,” the brief reads.
The brief states that “the issues presented before this Court have a significant effect on the rights of the transgender residents of Arkansas, including those transgender individuals who are current or potential employees, customers, and investors” of the businesses and groups.
More details in Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.