LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The governor of Arkansas. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday the state would not comply with a federal regulation aimed at protect the rights of transgender students in schools across the country, joining other Republican-led states that are defying the new rules.
Sanders signed an executive order saying Arkansas schools will continue to enforce restrictions on bathrooms and pronouns transgender students can use, laws that could be invalidated by new regulations on how to enforce the title IX.
“My message to Joe Biden and the federal government is that we will not comply,” Sanders said during a news conference at the state Capitol.
The regulations finalized last month aim to clarify Title IX, a landmark sex discrimination law dating from 1972, originally passed to protect women’s rights and applied to schools and colleges receiving federal money. The regulation clarifies that Title IX also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Sanders called the changes a complete reinterpretation of the law.
Sanders’ order follows similar actions by several other states, including Texas and Oklahoma, which have directed 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 multiple challenges give states a better chance that one will suspend the rule nationally.
Sanders’ order follows several steps Arkansas has taken to restrict the rights of transgender youth. The state appealed a judge’s order striking down Arkansas’ first ban on gender-affirming care for minors. A group of transgender, non-binary and intersex residents sued the state earlier this week, following its decision to no longer allow the “X” in place of a man or woman on state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards.
“This act constitutes a complete defiance of laws designed to protect against discrimination and a clear and aggressive attack on the well-being and freedoms of LGBTQ people in our state,” said Megan Bailey, spokesperson for the American Union. of Arkansas Civil Liberties. statement.
Sanders’ order calls on the state Department of Education to provide specific guidance to schools, saying that “at no time should Arkansas law be ignored.” In addition to bathroom and pronoun laws, the order cites Arkansas law that restricts the teams on which transgender athletes can play. The Biden administration’s new rules largely protect against sex discrimination, but they offer no guidance on it. transgender athletes.
Brandon Wolf, senior director of political communications and national press secretary for the LGBTQ rights group Human Rights Campaign, warned that the state’s refusal to comply could have dire consequences, including a significant loss of funding.
“This seems like a sacrifice that those whose only priorities are themselves and their own political profile are willing to make,” Wolf said in a statement.
Sanders said the state will sue for any loss of funding due to the new regulations.
