About the Bill

SB486 | Sen. Blake Johnson and Rep. Mary Bentley | Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs 
This bill would prohibit transgender individuals from using restrooms, changing rooms, sleeping quarters, and other accommodations corresponding to their gender identification. It would require shelters, state and local correctional facilities, and all public buildings to ensure that they do not allow transgender individuals to use facilities that correspond to their gender identity and take steps to prevent transgender individuals from doing so. An individual would be able to file a civil case against the state agency if they encountered a person of the “opposite sex” in any of the above areas and could recover damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs within two years of the incident.

AACF Testimony on April 15, House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs

Maricella Garcia, Race Equity Director, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Good afternoon Mr. chair and members of the committee. My name is Maricella Garcia, and I am a lawyer and I work for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. AACF has worked for more than 47 years to advocate that ALL children and families in Arkansas have access to the resources and opportunities they need to lead healthy, successful, and fulfilling lives.

I am here today to ask you to vote no on SB486. This bill is unnecessarily broad and will lead to increased danger for our trans community members no matter the bathroom they choose. Further, it will lead to additional harassment, bullying, and violence not only against our trans members but against anyone that a person feels may be trans. It will also lead to widespread lawsuits against the state.

The terminology here is overly broad. It allows someone to sue the state if they “encounter” a trans person in certain bathrooms, shelters, and state prisons. The implication here is that the trans person must use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender on their birth certificate. However, it will lead to female presenting trans people having to use the men’s room and male presenting people having to use the women’s room. This is certain to cause not only more confusion and danger for our trans community members, but also cause violence against anyone seen as trans, whether they are or not. The intention is to make it so that trans people cannot exist in public. This type of isolation of some of our most vulnerable community members by enshrining this discrimination in law is dangerous, unnecessary, and cruel.

Again, this bill increases the danger, especially for trans women who are some of the most marginalized populations in the U.S. Trans women seeking shelter should not be forced to reside with men/sleep in rooms assigned to men. This is how the danger of rape increases. This bill allows people to sue the state if they are housed with a trans person, which encourages state-sponsored shelters to either deny services to trans women or force them into dangerous housing situations. There have been no cases presented here of trans individuals using restrooms/dorms to attack people because it is not an actual issue. And, this bill doesn’t address issues of rape or gender-based violence as suggested earlier. This bill is not about safety. And it is actually likely to increase violence of all kinds for women as they are most likely the ones to be stopped, have their gender questioned, and face violence as a result.

Further, this bill will subject the state to endless lawsuits. Anyone who thinks they may have encountered someone of the opposite sex in a bathroom would be able to sue the state, even though there is no way to know what gender the person is. It is also impossible for most state agencies to police every one of their bathrooms, particularly those like state parks with bathrooms scattered in remote areas throughout the state. How, will they be able to identify trans individuals? Will they have to present documents? Will there be pat downs or anatomy checks? People who were identified female at birth and who consider themselves female are going to get caught up in this legalized policing of women’s bodies. It is unclear how a person’s gender can be identified and that will lead to discrimination. Even if they ultimately win any lawsuit, there is nothing any agency can do under this bill to protect themselves from having to waste taxpayer money and time on frivolous litigation.

This bill will further marginalize the trans community to the extent that it will be nearly impossible for them just to live their lives in public. Trans people using the bathroom are not a risk to others, and making state agencies monitor the bathrooms or be at risk of lawsuits will encourage discrimination. Trans people should have the same rights in public as anyone else, but most especially, they should have the opportunity to feel safe and secure. Because this bill intentionally targets trans individuals and will result in serious harm, I would ask that you vote no on SB486.