Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs bathroom bill aimed to protect students

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill on Tuesday restricting bathroom use in public schools to members of the same biological sex.

“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,” said Alexa Henning, Sanders’ spokesperson, in a statement.

“Arkansas isn’t going to rewrite the rules of biology just to please a handful of far-left advocates,” Henning added.

The bill passed the state House by a 77-15 vote, reported Fox News.

Arkansas now joins Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee in banning transgendered bathroom use for schools. Arkansas’ restrictions also apply to multi-person bathrooms and locker rooms.

District employees who violate the law could face fines of $1,000 or more, while parents can sue to make sure the measures are enforced.

“Each child in our schools has a right to privacy and to feel safe and to feel comfortable in the bathroom they need to go to,” said Republican state Rep. Mary Bentley. 

The Arkansas House is also considering a bill that would ban transgender and gender dysphoric individuals from using public changing facilities that don’t match their biological sex. 

A violation could result in charges of misdemeanor sexual indecency with a child. The bill has already passed the state Senate, 19-7. 

The bathroom ban won’t take effect until later in the summer, and LGBT lobbyists will likely challenge the law in court. 

Supporters of the measure, however, are buoyed by the fact that a federal court ruled in favor of a similar measure instituted by a Florida school district, according to the New York Post.