Arkansas' law banning gender-transition treatment for young people would adversely affect businesses by harming employees and impairing companies' ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce, a group of Arkansas companies 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 and would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming hormones and surgical procedures to transgender young people. It 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. Acxiom is in Conway; the other two businesses are in Little Rock.
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.
The parties' workforce includes the parents of transgender children, and the ban will compel those employees to either travel out of state, alter the course of their children's care or move to another state to obtain treatment, the group argues.
The law also "sends a message that transgender people are not welcome" in Arkansas, the brief states.
"As a result, it will place Arkansas' businesses at a competitive disadvantage, both domestically and on the global stage," it states.
The ban will ultimately cause a decline in economic activity within the state, inflicting substantial harm on "Arkansas businesses, and all Arkansans, because all benefit from a strong economy," according to the brief, which notes the adverse economic consequences North Carolina faced after that state's legislature passed a law preventing transgender people from using the public bathroom corresponding with their gender identity.
The brief calls Act 626 "arguably the most repressive anti-transgender law in the country."
"Since every other state recognizes the rights of transgender individuals to be given gender-affirming healthcare while Arkansas deprives them of those rights, transgender employees, employees with transgender children, or even employees who prefer to work in a community that does not discriminate, will be less willing to transfer to the State of Arkansas. This will, by necessity, interfere with the ability of these businesses to deploy their workforce in an efficient and effective manner," the brief reads as it nears the conclusion.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said the law does not discriminate against transgender people but instead protects children.
"Arkansas' law absolutely does not discriminate based on transgender status as this frivolous action suggests. It is not irrational to protect these children, as young as 9 years of age, from experimental procedures that have irreversible, physical consequences in the absence of any evidence whatsoever that those procedures have any benefit. I will always fight to protect Arkansas's children as I have my entire career," Rutledge said.
In a written statement, Randy Zook, the state Chamber's president and chief executive, said Friday evening that the organization's goal is to protect and improve the business climate in Arkansas, and the ban would create "significant economic backlash for our state, from consumers and businesses alike."
"We are competing on the national and global stage to attract and retain quality jobs and a trained workforce, and employers and workers want to bring their families to a state that fosters diversity, equality, and inclusion," Zook said in a written statement.
A representative for the Walton Family Foundation referred an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter to an opinion piece penned by Tom Walton, home region program committee chairman for the organization, that was published in the newspaper on June 14.
The piece touts a $1 million funding pledge that members of the Walton family made to a new statewide fund to improve the quality of life of LGBTQ Arkansans.
"As Arkansas celebrates Pride, we feel compelled to send a message of acceptance to the state's LGBTQ community, who now live their lives under new policies that discriminate against them," the piece reads in part. "These effort hurt our communities, our economy and the many LGBTQ Arkansans who are our colleagues, neighbors, friends and family. It also sends the wrong message to those willing to invest in or visit our state."
The foundation is the philanthropic organization started by the founders of Walmart.
In a written statement, Nelson Peacock, Northwest Arkansas Council president and CEO, said the group "fosters inclusivity as the region's growing diversity propels the community forward both socially and economically.
"The health care ban interferes in personal medical decisions between individuals, their families and their doctors. Laws that restrict individual freedoms do not advance Arkansas' interests or reflect the shared values and commitments of an inclusive community," Peacock said, adding that the passage of the ban and "the other discriminatory legislation targeting the LGBTQ community has already had a negative impact on Arkansas' image."
"If the law takes effect, it will further limit the state's ability to attract and retain economic investment -- through corporate talent, tourism and entrepreneurialism," Peacock said.
On May 25, the ACLU of Arkansas sued the state on behalf of four transgender young people and their families living in Arkansas, saying the GOP-sponsored legislation would prohibit health care professionals from providing or referring transgender young people for medically necessary health care.
Physicians Michele Hutchison and Kathryn Stambaugh also are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The suit asks the court to enter a judgment declaring that the law is unenforceable because it violates the Constitution.
Attorneys for the state asked the court to dismiss the complaint last month, arguing that children do not have the substantive, due-process right to those procedures, and that parents do not have the legal right to access them for their children.
Most recently, President Joe Biden's administration weighed in on the lawsuit, contending that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James M. Moody Jr.
The law was introduced as House Bill 1570 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, and was passed in both chambers before being vetoed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson on April 5. Both the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to override Hutchinson's veto less than a day later.
Information for this article was contributed by Dale Ellis of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.