The General Assembly finds that:(1) Like the United States Senate, the General Assembly recognizes that 'athletic participation helps develop self-discipline . . . confidence, and leadership skills', S. Res. 398, 115th Cong. (2018);(2) The same United States Senate resolution states that 'opportunities for athletic participation should be available to all individuals,' both male and female;(3) The same United States Senate resolution also states that, although 'the share of athletic participation opportunities of high school girls has increased more than sixfold since the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 . . . high school girls still experience . . . a lower share of athletic participation opportunities than high school boys';(4) According to the same United States Senate resolution, disparities also still remain at the collegiate level;(5) This chapter seeks to address these lingering disparities and, as stated in the same United States Senate resolution, 'promote equality in sports and access to athletic opportunities for girls and women';(6) To serve these goals, the General Assembly finds that there are ''[i]nherent differences' between men and women,' mote equality in sports and access to athletic opportunities for girls and women';(6) To serve these goals, the General Assembly finds that there are ''[i]nherent differences' between men and women,' borrowing the words of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a majority of the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 533 (1996); and(7) As Justice Ginsburg further said, these inherent differences 'remain cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual's opportunity'.Added by Act 2021, No. 953,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.
Arkansas Legal Code