The Arkansas House approved a bill Wednesday to restrict transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice at a public school.
House Bill 1156 would require public schools and open enrollment public charter schools to bar people from using a restroom that does not correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate. The bill applies to places at schools where people "may be in various stages of undress" around others, which includes multiple-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms and shower rooms.
The bill drew pushback from parents of transgender students and activists who called it discriminatory. Proponents praised the bill, saying it protected children and shielded school districts from having to enact similar policies that could open them up to lawsuits.
The bill passed the House on an 80 to 10 vote, with five members voting present. The bill moves to the Senate for consideration.
"It simply requires our schools to set up a policy where the boys go to the boys' bathroom and the girls go to the girls' bathroom," said Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, the bill's sponsor.
For supporters, the bill is directed toward protecting the privacy and comfort of those using multi-occupancy bathrooms while at school. The bill also calls for schools to provide "a reasonable accommodation," such as a private bathroom or changing area, for those uncomfortable using a multi-occupancy bathroom. Students traveling on school-sponsored overnight trips also will be barred from sharing "sleeping quarters with a member of the opposite sex" unless it is with an immediate family member.
The bill also is seen as an attack on transgender students, parents of trans children and activists told lawmakers during the bill's hearing last week, saying it singled them out for special scrutiny and potentially would mean they could be outed when forced to use corresponding facilities with the sex listed on their birth certificate.
"The only thing it will accomplish is to demonize trans kids, make them feel less safe at school, and make their lives even harder than they already are," said Eric Reece, Arkansas state director of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil-rights group, in a statement. "Schools should be safe and welcoming places for all kids. The Arkansas Senate should refuse to send this bill to the governor's desk."
[DOCUMENT: Read House Bill 1156 » arkansasonline.com/202hb1156/]
House Minority Leader Tippi McCullough called the bill a distraction, saying the Legislature should focus on improving education in the state, not trying to enlist teachers and principals to enforce new bathroom regulations.
"Instead of focusing on keeping our schools on track, principals, superintendents and teachers will have to worry how to keep their bathrooms in regulation," said McCullough, a Democrat from Little Rock.
Bentley contended teachers and principals would be able to enforce the bathroom rule through their personal relationships with students. McCullough, a former teacher, responded by saying teachers, even at the smallest school, rarely know every student personally.
Schools also would be prohibited from adopting a policy for bathrooms contrary to the one outlined in the bill. Superintendents, principals and teachers could be subject to a minimum fine of $1,000 and possible further discipline from the Professional Licensure Standards Board for not complying with the law.
Rep. Cindy Crawford, R-Fort Smith, said the bill would help shield school districts that enact similar bathroom policies from lawsuits. In October, the Conway School Board passed a similar policy on bathrooms that drew vocal pushback, prompting Bentley to introduce her bill.
"It's our job as adults to place boundaries," Crawford said. "It's our job as legislators to put laws in place to protect our children so that the schools are not fearful of being sued when they have the restroom policy the way it's been since creation -- male and female."
If it becomes law, House Bill 1156 is likely to end up being litigated in court. Bentley said her bill will stand up to legal scrutiny, saying the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar law in Florida. Sarah Everett, policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said the legality of the bill was not clear, with the 4th and 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals coming to "opposite conclusions."
"If this does pass, we will know what will happen and it won't have anything to do with bathrooms," McCullough said. "Someone's going to sue, it will be blocked, one day we'll look up and we'll see that the taxpayers of Arkansas have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees."
Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, looks at the final voting results for House Bill 1156 during the House session Wednesday at the state Capitol in Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)