New transgender-athlete bill moved

Senate lawmakers on Wednesday began advancing another bill to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports, just days after Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed controversial legislation with largely the same effect.

The latest effort regarding transgender athletes, Senate Bill 450, would allow the Arkansas attorney general to undertake legal action to prohibit transgender women from participating in girls’ or women’s sports at schools and colleges in Arkansas.

The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, and has been touted by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, a Republican who has announced plans to run for governor in 2022.

After Rutledge rolled out the legislation in late February, lawmakers took action on another bill — also sponsored by Irvin — to allow student athletes to take a private cause of action if they are “deprived of athletic opportunity” by a school not maintaining separate teams for female students.

Both opponents and supporters said the legislation would effectively deter transgender women from participating in women’s sports.

That bill was signed by Hutchinson on March 25, becoming Act 461.

Explaining her latest bill on the matter Wednesday, Irvin said, “This is another level of protection to allow for the Arkansas attorney general to step in when a violation has occurred in order to protect the integrity of girls’ sports.”

Sen. Jim Hendren, an independent from Sulphur Springs, questioned the need for the bill, saying, “We’ve already made this illegal, so why do we need this?”

Rutledge’s chief of staff, Cory Cox, said the bill would make it clear that schools could go to the attorney general’s office if they receive complaints about transgender athletes.

Opponents of Republican bills related to transgender athletes say the problem is nonexistent in Arkansas, and even the bills’ sponsors have been unable to point to instances of transgender girls or women playing school sports in the state.

If this issue were to arise at the college level, the NCAA already has rules in place allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports that align with their gender identity after one year of hormone treatment.

The Arkansas Activities Association, which regulates K-12 sports, allows students to participate in sports that align with the sex on their birth certificates, and it allows amended birth certificates to be accepted.

No one spoke against SB450 in committee on Wednesday, and the bill was sent to the Senate floor on a voice vote.