Powerful Speech Halts Bathroom Ban In Arkansas: "Most Extreme Anti-trans Law In America" Gets Pulled

Watch Senator Tucker's amazing floor speech that results in Arkansas' bathroom ban getting pulled back into committee. He convinced the senate that is 80% Republican to retreat with words alone.

There are moments in anti-trans legislative cycles that you will always remember. Some of them are terrible - Greg Abbott’s letter investigating the parents of transgender kids for child abuse comes to mind. Others, such as the Supreme Court's Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, which declared discrimination against transgender individuals unconstitutional, are foundational. Sometimes it is powerful witness testimony, such as the trans man in Florida who injected his hormone therapy in front of the Florida Board of Medicine and raised his fist. After observing hundreds of hours of hearings, some of the most memorable moments occur on the floors and committees of the legislature. Arkansas Senator Clark Tucker's (D) impassioned plea to the 29-6 Republican Supermajority to withdraw "the worst anti-trans bill in America" during a speech in front of the Arkansas Senate will leave a lasting impression on those who witnessed it.

The bill before the Arkansas Senate was Senate Bill 270, sponsored by Senator John Payton (R). This bill amounts to a full adult bathroom ban. It states that a transgender person cannot be in a bathroom at the same time as a person under 18 years old. Trans people violating this law would be guilty of “sexual indecency with a child,” a law that includes depraved things like soliciting someone under 14 for sex or propositioning a child to display their genitalia in a sexual fashion. It would make transgender people who use bathrooms of their gender identity sex criminals. It is abhorrent in how it targets the community. See one of the provisions here:

Portion of the bill making it a sex crime for trans adults to use bathrooms if minors are present.

The bill would have severe consequences. It would ban transgender people from bathrooms in many circumstances. It would force transgender people to leave if a minor enters, even if they are in the middle of using the bathroom in a stall. It would create an environment conducive to violence against the trans community. The ACLU’s Chase Strangio, who is trying cases in Arkansas right now, said in a tweet, “If my 10-year-old child came into the bathroom with me, that could be a crime. If I tried to go to the bathroom at a restaurant at dinner while in trial or deposition, that would be a crime.”

It is indeed correct that transgender men would also be forced into women’s restrooms, resulting in ridiculous scenarios such as boxer Patricio Manuel being forced into women’s rooms:

Patricio Manuel

For these reasons and more, Senator Clark Tucker stood in strong opposition to the bill, stating that it it amounted to “an unprecedented step to criminalize being transgender in America.” He proceeded to speak passionately for 15 minutes, methodically attacking the bill from every angle. He stated that if passed, it would be “the most extreme anti-trans law in America.” He critiqued that if it were to be passed, it would be one of the only places in the code that criminalizes a physical characteristic of a person rather than a criminal action and a criminal intent. It criminalizes a person’s very being.

He then switched tactics and focused bills construction, pointing out that the bill had entire lines of text missing so that the House could fill them in. He reminded the Republican legislature of a gift he received on his first day 10 years ago - a knife with the message "iron sharpens iron." The intention of the gift, he stated, was to ensure that bills are in the sharpest shape before they are passed into law. He emphasized the importance of sharp bill-crafting, particularly in a legislature controlled 80% by one party. After questioning how "a bill in this condition ever made it to the floor of the Senate," he turned to the senators and said, "I think some of you have forgotten your iron.”

Watch his full speech here. It is long, but it is memorable and serves as an example of how one strong ally can hold back bills even when it seems impossible:

Senators were immediately rattled. Republican Senator Stubblefield, the author of Arkansas’ drag ban, spoke immediately after and indicated concern with “passing a bill with missing language.” Senator Joshua Bryant (R) indicated that he saw an issue with this bill criminalizing people who are forced to use a bathroom of the opposite sex in emergency situations when one bathroom is out of order or full. Senator Jimmy Hickey, Jr (R), after indicating his support for the intent of the bill, spoke directly to Senator Payton: “I’m going to make the request of Senator Payton to pull this bill down to get it right in committee.”

Senator Payton took the stand and tried to defend his bill, stating that the body considered passing it “5 or 6 years ago.” This is unsurprising - should this bill pass, it would be the first anti-trans bathroom ban since North Carolina’s HB2, a bill that resulted in billions of dollars in economic losses for the state. These losses are likely the reason it has taken 7 years for a bill like this to appear in another state. Ultimately as he spoke on, he waivered. He finally closed with the decision to pull down the bill and send it back to committee, temporarily putting the bill on hold.

This is one of those moments that you remember in debates on anti-trans bills. Senator Clark Tucker got strong proponents of anti-trans measures to oppose this bill, which would amount to a brutal curtailment of transgender rights that, as Senator Tucker put it, would “criminalize being trans in America.” The fact that even the author of Arkansas’ drag ban waivered on the bill due to his words is a strong testament to what a powerful speech from a supportive ally can do.

It is important to note that SB270 is not dead. It will likely go through a committee hearing yet again. Activists will have more time to prepare testimony against the bill and exert pressure on legislators to not progress the bill any further. Many issues will still remain even if the bill gets “fixed” in committee. That said, the fact that Senator Tucker was able to turn the tide on anti-trans legislation in Arkansas should serve as inspiration to activists and legislators everywhere looking to do the same: it can be done.