Sarah Huckabee Sanders Signs Trans Bathroom Ban Bill Into Law

The Republican governor of Arkansas says it’s to protect children from the “left’s woke agenda.”

Christopher Wiggins

Christopher Wiggins is The Advocate’s senior national reporter in Washington, D.C., covering the intersection of public policy and politics with LGBTQ+ lives, including The White House, U.S. Congress, Supreme Court, and federal agencies. He has written multiple cover story profiles for The Advocate’s print magazine, profiling figures like Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, longtime LGBTQ+ ally Vice President Kamala Harris, and ABC Good Morning America Weekend anchor Gio Benitez. Wiggins is committed to amplifying untold stories, especially as the second Trump administration’s policies impact LGBTQ+ (and particularly transgender) rights, and can be reached at christopher.wiggins@equalpride.com or on BlueSky at cwnewser.bsky.social; whistleblowers can securely contact him on Signal at cwdc.98.

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Christopher Wiggins

March 22 2023 11:02 AM EST

March 22 2023 3:43 PM EST

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Arkansas Republicans have passed and proposed some of the most extreme anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in the country, with the state’s governor enacting a transgender bathroom bill earlier this week.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill into law on Tuesday that bars transgender people from using multiple-person restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity in public and charter schools within the state.

Arkansas is the fourth GOP-led state to institute such a restriction on access to restroom facilities.

Critics warn that this law could be made even more extreme with the passage of a pending bill that would make it a crime for transgender adults to use public changing facilities that are in line with their gender identity, USA Todayreports.

Sanders is unapologetic about the government-enforced bigotry she and other Republicans are endorsing nationwide.

“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,” a Sanders spokesperson said in a statement. “Arkansas isn’t going to rewrite the rules of biology just to please a handful of far-left advocates.”

Oklahoma and Tennessee restrictions have been challenged in lawsuits, while Idaho and Iowa bills are awaiting signatures from their governors. However, similar regulations have already been passed in Alabama.