Another bill aimed at restricting bathroom use in Arkansas has gained approval from a legislative panel.
Members of the Senate Judiciary committee on Monday voted along party lines in favor of Senate Bill 270, which would make it a crime for Arkansans to linger in a restroom or changing room inconsistent with their sex assigned at birth if a minor is present.
Bill sponsor Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, said it would only apply to adults who “knowingly remain” in a shared facility in which others, including minors, could be expected to be in various states of undress.
“If we’re going to respect somebody’s desire to go in the wrong facility, they need to respect the desire of other patrons to not be exposed to that and just use that [facility] when it’s not otherwise occupied by a minor,” he said.
Payton said Arkansans who choose to use the “wrong” facility have a responsibility to ensure others in the room are “out of the way and not exposed.” Many present at Monday’s committee meeting took issue with a lack of clarity in the bill on how it would be enforced, and how the bill’s vague language could be interpreted to be broader than the sponsor’s stated intent.
Sen. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, said SB270 is the latest in a series of bills sponsored by conservative Arkansas lawmakers which doesn’t address an actual problem in the state.
“There’s no evidence whatsoever that this bill is needed, it wasn’t cited. We would be the first state to pass a law like this, so Arkansas, if this bill passes, will take an unprecedented step toward criminalizing being transgender in America,” Tucker said. “We also are consistently passing bills out of committees this session without giving them the scrutiny that they deserve, and this is just the latest example.”
Tucker also pointed out a potential loophole in the bill's language which would allow Arkansans to enter and remain in bathrooms inconsistent with their sex assigned at birth as long as they were accompanied by their child if they're below seven years of age.
Under the bill, Arkansans found guilty of knowingly remaining in an opposite-sex bathroom while a minor is present would face misdemeanor charges for the first two offenses, and a felony charge for the third offense. Jessica Disney, a transgender woman, questioned how the bill's requirements would be enforced if they were to become law.
“For something like this to even be remotely enforceable, do I need to wear my identification papers or a special symbol for all to see when I enter the restroom to help people identify me and who I am? Someone called the police on me, am I supposed to allow an officer of the law to sexually assault me and feel me up so that I can be allowed to use the restroom any time somebody would call them on me?”
Payton said the goal wasn’t to criminalize transgender people but to minimize risk of harm for minors. He said, if needed, a blood test could be used to determine someone’s sex assigned at birth.
“Most people, from the time they’re old enough to communicate with their parents, know what their gender is. Now I understand in this day and age some people are led to believe that they were assigned the wrong gender, but the X and Y chromosomes still exist if you need to diagnose it,” Payton said.
Another bill governing bathroom and changing room use at public schools is awaiting a vote in the Arkansas Senate.
Tucker and committee Vice Chair Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, were the only lawmakers to vote against the bill. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
