Arkansas House Bill HB1615 Redefines Gender Under "Religious Nondiscrimination" Protections Act

Under this new law, state and private organizations will be given explicit permission to discriminate or limit services based on gender identity

On Thursday, Republican Robin Lundstrum of Springdale filed an amendment to the Arkansas Religious Nondiscrimination Act that would greatly expand faith-based civil-rights exceptions. The bill creates broad religious exemptions to allow individuals and organizations to deny services based on their religious belief about gender identity.

The bill would allow healthcare providers to legally refuse hormone therapy, surgical consultations, and even routine medical care to transgender patients if they claim a religious objection. Housing providers could deny rentals, and employers could enforce strict biological sex-based dress codes and bathroom policies. This effectively amounts to a full-scale repeal of identity-based protections.

The bill starts with a definition of gender and defines "belief about biological sex or marriage" to include a belief "that 'male' or 'man' or 'female' or 'woman' refers exclusively to a person's immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at the time of birth."

The bill prohibits the state from taking “discriminatory action” against people who maintain "separate dress codes, restrooms, spas, baths, showers, dressing rooms, locker rooms, or other intimate facilities or settings based on biological sex.” State employees who express beliefs about biological sex based on the definition above, both in and outside the workplace, are protected.

In addition, the bill would protect individuals from having to "assist or provide professional services to a client or potential client in pursuit of goals, outcomes, or behaviors that conflict with the person's sincerely held religious belief.”

In practical terms, this means that businesses will be allowed to refuse to accommodate transgender individuals, healthcare providers will be allowed to decline providing gender-affirming care, and educational institutions will be allowed to enforce biological sex-based policies.

Finally, the bill specifically provides protections to employees who refuse to perform or solemnize queer marriages, based on religious beliefs.

The good news:

• It remains to be seen how courts will interpret or limit the bill’s provisions if people begin testing it in lawsuits. Federal protections, like Title VII, may still provide some recourse in some circumstances, but the outcome will depend on litigation.

• The bill hasn’t passed yet

It appears to have strong support in the house and I will be watching it for further developments. It will be further discussed in judiciary committee on 3/4/2025.

If you’d like to read the bill yourself, here’s the link:

https://arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1615.pdf