Arkansas State Capitol

A bill that would make it a crime for a transgender person to remain in a bathroom or a changing facility while a minor is present again passed a Senate committee on Monday.

Senate Bill 270 cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee last week despite member Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) pointing out a missing line. Sponsor Sen. John Payton (R-Wilburn) convinced the committee to pass it anyway on the promise that he’d fix the bill in House committee, but after Tucker forcefully argued that it was a dereliction of the Senate’s duty to pass through bills with an obvious technical flaw, Payton agreed to send the bill back to committee.

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Payton told the committee that he viewed the bill as a compromise by limiting the bathroom ban to only instances when transgender adults were in a public restroom at the same time as minors instead of people of all ages.

Tucker asked Bob McMahan, state prosecutor coordinator, if he knew of any crime in Arkansas where a physical trait of a person’s body was an element of the crime to be proved, or if he knew of a crime on the books where a person could be charged with a crime for entering public property. McMahan said he didn’t know of examples of either.

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After Tucker got McMahan to agree that a prosecutor would have to prove a person’s sex at birth to successfully prosecute the crime, Tucker asked how McMahan anticipated a prosecutor proving the case. McMahan said likely a prosecutor would need to obtain a search warrant or subpoena of the accused’s birth certificate or perform a blood test.

Clint Schnekloth, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran in Fayetteville, testifying against the bill, said, “Passing laws to address issues that don’t exist is typically done as a dog whistle or out of irrational fear. Neither is good leadership or good governance.” Looking directly at Payton, he said that while the supporters of the bill talk about protecting kids, they’re actually targeting people. Stop targeting people, he told Payton. 

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The bill passed on a voice vote and now heads back to the full Senate.

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