A bill to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls and women's sports at Arkansas schools was filed this week, one day after the state's attorney general announced her support for separate legislation accomplishing the same objective by a different method.
Proponents of the measure say allowing athletes assigned male at birth to compete against participants assigned female at birth makes the playing field unfair, while state Senate Democrats and LGBT advocates have said barring transgender children from playing sports is discriminatory.
Senate Bill 354, or the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," by Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, allows students "deprived of an athletic opportunity" or suffering "direct or indirect harm" as a result of a kindergarten-through-12 school or higher-education institution not maintaining separate sports teams for female students to seek injunctive relief against the school, as well as monetary damages.
"We see the positive impact that athletics have here on our future female leaders and across our country. However, we are also seeing the negative impacts of unfair competition," Irvin said at a news conference Thursday.
Irvin referred to two transgender high school athletes winning titles competing in track and field in Connecticut, currently the subject of a federal lawsuit, though she later noted that there are no such athletes competing right now in Arkansas and that the legislation is intended to be proactive.
Separately, Irvin is also the sponsor of legislation proposed by Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge that has the same goal but uses a different remedy.
That proposal, which is set to be laid out in concurrent House and Senate bills and called the Gender Integrity Reinforcement Legislation for Sports would allow the attorney general to lodge a cause of action for injunctive relief.
Irvin said the pieces of legislation are complementary, not competing.
"This is a one-two punch. We are going to approach this issue from every single angle, pursuing all policy avenues with our colleagues," Irvin said.
Through a spokeswoman Thursday, Rutledge said she was excited about both her proposal and SB354.
"As the mother of a two-and-a-half year-old girl, I am excited about the GIRLS Act as well as SB 354 which will ensure our girls have a fair opportunity to participate in sports at all levels. Having heard positive feedback from countless Arkansans on this issue, I am working closely with our legislators to pass the strongest language that will be upheld if challenged," Rutledge said in a written statement.
In response to officials arguing that it's unfair for girls to compete against athletes who may be stronger and faster because they were born male, Willow Breshears with the Center for Artistic Revolution, an LGBTQ civil-rights organization in Little Rock, said many young transgender people use puberty blocking drugs and hormone replacement therapy, which backtracks the effects of testosterone.
Democratic lawmakers said the state should focus on equity for transgender people.
"Why not try to find a way to make sure they get a chance to participate as opposed to just canceling them, as we talk about cancel culture, cancel them for who they are?" Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said when told of Rutledge's proposal.
Senate Bill 354 is part of the Republican Women's Legislative Caucus' legislative package, a slate of measures and goals the coalition presented Thursday that also includes:
• House Bill 1061, dubbed the "No Patient Left Alone Act," which would limit the authority of hospitals, nursing homes and state regulators to close visitation.
• Fighting sex trafficking in Arkansas.
• Expanding opportunities for incarcerated people to learn to read.