Arkansas Seeks to Criminalize Trans People's Restroom Use
Arkansas is advancing a bill that would criminalize transgender people’s restroom use in certain circumstances, making it the most extreme “bathroom bill” in the nation.
Senate Bill 270, approved by senators Tuesday and sent to the state’s House of Representatives, would make it possible to charge a person with misdemeanor sexual indecency with a child if the person “enters into and remains in a public changing facility that is assigned to persons of the opposite sex while knowing a minor of the opposite sex is present in the public changing facility,” as the bill’s text states. The charge would be a Class C misdemeanor, punishable with up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.
The bill defines sex as “a person’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth” and “public changing facility” as “without limitation a restroom, bathroom, locker room, or shower room.”
There are some exceptions, such as for parents accompanying very young children, emergency responders, and health inspectors.
The Republican-majority Senate voted 19-7 in favor of the bill, with six members not voting and one voting present.
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