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Youth getting a haircut with barber clippers.
A bill in Arkansas would allow lawsuits against people who use trans kids' preferred names or give them gender nonconforming haircuts.
Arkansas Republicans have proposed a bill that would allow lawsuits against people who support transgender youth's social transitions, including by using their preferred name and pronouns or by giving them a gender nonconforming haircut.
H.B. 1668, the so-called "Vulnerable Youth Protection Act," would allow minors or their parents to sue anyone who even acknowledges a minor's gender identity, including "without limitation changes in clothing, pronouns, hairstyle, and name." Lawsuits are permitted up to 15 years after the alleged conduct, with damages of $10,000, or up to $10 million if they have received gender-affirming care.
Related:What is gender-affirming care, who uses it, and do they regret it?
The bill falsely equates gender-affirming care with "castration, sterilization, or mutilation." The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the World Medical Association, and the World Health Organization all agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based and medically necessary not just for adults, but minors as well.
Arkansas Republicans passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors in 2021, after which the the state saw an increase in teenage suicide attempts. The bill was deemed unconstitutional and struck down by a judge in 2023, and remains blocked today. However, the state passed a bill shortly after that similarly allowing people to sue providers for supposed "malpractice" up to 15 years after receiving gender-affirming care.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas strongly denounced the social transition bill in a statement, asserting that it "fosters a climate of fear, where doctors, teachers, and even parents risk financial ruin simply for supporting transgender youth" and that it is "a blatant overreach of government power, attempting to control private decisions and to circumvent our constitutional rights, including free speech, religious exercise, due process and equal protection."
"These cases would be extremely unlikely to hold up in court, but the bill’s intent is to scare people into silence and deter them from providing respect, dignity, and care to LGBTQ youth," the group wrote. "The ACLU of Arkansas strongly opposes HB1668, a cruel and unconstitutional attack on transgender youth, their families, and medical professionals. This bill seeks to deter life-saving healthcare through baseless lawsuits, forcing transgender youth into unsafe conditions and increasing their risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide."
"It is state-mandated bullying that violates our basic individual freedoms," it concluded.
