March 22 (UPI) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a controversial law Wednesday that restricts transgender youth from using the school bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
The law enacted by the Republican governor states that transgender pre-K-12 students may only use the bathroom that corresponds with their sex designated on their birth certificate. The law also applies to locker rooms for public and private charter schools.
It also restricts transgender students from sharing a room with someone from the opposite sex on school trips, unless they are a member of their immediate family. The school must either ensure that students staying in the same sleeping quarters are of the same sex or provide single occupancy sleeping quarters.
“The governor has said she will sign laws that focus on protecting and educating our kids, not indoctrinating them, and believes our schools are no place for the radical left’s woke agenda,” Alexa Henning, a spokesperson for the governor, told CNN.
With Sanders’ signature, Arkansas becomes the fifth state with a “bathroom ban” on the books. Iowa, Oklahoma, Alabama and Tennessee also have passed similar laws. Arkansas’ 40/29 News reports that lawsuits have been filed against Oklahoma and Tennessee over their bathroom restrictions.
Last week, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed similar legislation, while also signing a law to bar doctors from giving gender-affirming care to transgender minors.
Arkansas also has reportedly advanced a bill that would criminalize transgender adults who use public bathrooms that align with their gender identity.
These anti-trans actions have attracted growing vocal criticism.
“These bathroom bans hurt students’ academic achievement — and the educators held accountable for students’ success. Discriminatory policies affect more than just grades: LGBTQ+ students who experience discrimination, like being prohibited from using the restroom, report higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem,” said Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, the executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, according to CNN. “Enforcing these bills would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming for schools and extraordinarily invasive toward transgender students.”