Today, both SB 1138 and SB 1165 passed through Arizona’s House of Representatives, and will be headed to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law or vetoed. This is a pivotal moment for trans rights in Arizona. SB 1138 creates a governmental authority to override standards of care decided by medical experts and to restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth. SB 1165 rewrites school athletics policy for the entire state, from kindergarten through college, simply to keep trans girls from playing sports with their friends. These bills are hostile and discriminatory, and must be stopped.
What You Can Do Today
Write to Governor Ducey asking him to join Republican leaders from Utah and Indiana in vetoing anti-trans legislation. It only takes a few seconds to send a letter with our online advocacy form, and it’s important to let him know what kind of leader Arizona needs him to be.
Share your message to the Governor online
Record a short video asking Governor Ducey to veto SB 1138 and SB 1165.
Post your video on social media and tag @equalityarizona on Instagram or Twitter.
Use the hashtags #GovernorDucey #VetoSB1138 #VetoSB1165 and #ProtectTransKids so that we can amplify your voice!
Why These Bills Are Wrong for Arizona
By crafting state law to restrict the medical care of a specific population, SB 1138 would set a dangerous precedent. Standards of care evolve, and should be decided by experts, not the legislature. Codifying today’s standards of care could mean that, as transgender health care improves over time, doctors are kept from following standards of care and put at odds with their industry boards. This bill is unnecessary, unjustified, and comes at a time when many families worry that the decisions they make with teams of doctors and psychologists to support their children could place them in legal jeopardy.
Like SB 1138, the student athlete ban SB 1165 discriminates against a very small minority. In the past five years, only 16 trans students (both boys and girls) have appealed to play in high school sports in Arizona under the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s inclusive policy, out of over 170,000 total student athletes in our high schools. We already have a policy to ensure fairness for all students when trans kids ask to participate in sports, and that policy is working. Rewriting sports policy at a state level to ban a very small number of girls from sports is unjustified and would have drastic unintended consequences for all girls. The strict standards of scrutiny for gender in SB 1165 will make it harder for tomboyish girls to feel comfortable joining a team, or for a tall girl to feel like she could play basketball or volleyball without unfair suspicion, and will contribute to a culture of bullying and invasive accusations.
