Arkansas governor says state won’t comply with new federal rules on treatment of trans students
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared Thursday that the state will not comply with a federal regulation aimed at protecting the rights of transgender students in the nation’s schools, joining other Republican-led states that defy the new rules.
Sanders signed an executive order saying that Arkansas schools will continue to impose restrictions on the use of restrooms and pronouns that transgender students can use, laws that could be invalidated by the new regulations on how to enforce Title IX.
“My message to Joe Biden and the federal government is that we will not comply,” Sanders said at a news conference at the Capitol.
The regulation, finalized last month, aims to clarify Title IX, a landmark 1972 sex discrimination law that was originally passed to address women’s rights and applied to schools and colleges that receive federal money. The regulations provide that Title IX also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Sanders called those changes a complete reinterpretation of the law.
Sanders’ order follows similar steps by several other states, including Texas and Oklahoma, which have told schools not to comply with the new regulations. Lawsuits have also been filed in federal courts in Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Kentucky challenging the rule. The many challenges give states a greater chance that one of them will suspend the rule nationally.
Sanders’ order follows several moves by Arkansas to restrict the rights of transgender youth. The state is appealing a judge’s order to strike down Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for minors. A group of transgender, non-binary and intersex residents sued the state earlier this week over its decision to no longer allow “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards.
“This act is a stark defiance of anti-discrimination laws and a clear, aggressive attack on the well-being and freedoms of LGBTQ people in our state,” Megan Bailey, spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said in a statement. a statement. rack.
Sanders’ order calls on the state education department to provide schools with specific guidance, saying “at no time should Arkansas law be ignored.” In addition to laws about bathrooms and pronouns, the order cites Arkansas law that limits which teams transgender athletes can play on. The Biden administration’s new rules broadly protect against discrimination based on sex, but offer no guidance for transgender athletes.
Brandon Wolf, senior director of political communications and national press secretary for the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, warned that the state’s refusal to comply could have damaging consequences, including a significant loss of funding.
“That appears to be a sacrifice that those whose only priorities are themselves and their own political profiles are willing to make,” Wolf said in a statement.
Sanders said the state will take legal action for any loss of funding resulting from the new regulations.