Note the irony of the states’ rights, local control crowd taking their marching orders from a national group and copycatting a bill identical to what’s being pitched in other places.
Reliable culture warrior lawmakers Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R-Branch) and Rep. Mary Bentley (R-Perryville) filed a bill yesterday that would effectively shut down any showing of “Tootsie” or any powderpuff football game that might unfold before tender eyes.
Harvard Law instructor Alejandra Caraballo notes that Arkansas’s cut-and-paste language matches cookie cutter bills in Arizona, Missouri, Texas and Tennessee. The bill seems to target not just drag performances, but trans people just out there living their lives, Caraballo said.
5 states have introduced bills to ban drag. At least 4 of them have used nearly identical language signifying that they are using a "model bill" drafted by a anti-trans group. These bills would essentially criminalize trans people under the guise of banning "drag." pic.twitter.com/s9DjieLpWj
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) January 9, 2023
It’s no surprise that Arkansas conservative lawmakers would come out swinging for vulnerable people who have hurt nobody. They made sport of it in 2021, passing laws to ban gender-affirming medical care for people under 18 and preventing trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams in school.
This new attack on trans people is worrisome for sure, but civil rights proponents should note the American Civil Liberties Union and the local advocacy group inTRANSitive are already on top of it.
#SB43 is a reckless attempt to remove LGBTQ people from public life. We won't back down in the face of bigotry. The bill has been assigned to the Senate City, County, and Local Affairs Committee. Tell committee members you oppose SB43: https://t.co/2AcGtoMo40 #arpx #arleg https://t.co/z1lDCfvFna
— ACLU of Arkansas (@ArkansasACLU) January 9, 2023
