LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) – A state representative has filed a bill that, if passed, would amend the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 to include the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
The bill was filed by Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, on March 9 at 5:32 p.m. and is called HB 1950, according to legislative records.
The Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993 already protects residents in The Natural State from discrimination based on “race, religion, national origin, gender or the presence of any sensory mental or physical disability,” the bill states.
If passed, the bill would also protect citizens based on sexual orientation and gender identity, providing the following rights:
- The right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination
- The right to the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement
- The right to engage in property transactions without discrimination
- The right to engage in credit and other contractual transactions without discrimination
- The right to vote and participate fully in the political process
To read a copy of HB 1950, click here.
