Trans official who met with AR gov. before he vetoed anti-trans bill: I was 'kind of surprised'

Arkansas is the first state to ban health care and gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth, after the legislature overrode a veto by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson. In the days before he vetoed the bill, Hutchinson met with health officials, and members of the transgender community, including the state's first transgender elected official, Evelyn Rios Stafford. She says, “there was a moment where I said to the governor, ‘I thought Republicans were supposed to be the party of small government and here we've got nine bills in all in our state that are doing everything from reaching in between families and their doctors’…They're reaching into every aspect of life and collectively they're just trying to make life impossible for trans people in this state, especially trans youth.” She added, “in a state like Arkansas, I almost feel like the best thing that could happen right now is for legislators to just leave us alone.”April 11, 2021