Arizona Republicans are pushing to enact a strict and rigid definition of biological sex into state laws that would effectively remove all constitutional recognition of transgender people in an effort to prevent them from participating in girls’ sports teams and using public restrooms.
The plan would replace any mention of gender in Arizona’s laws or policies with “sex,” which is strictly defined as the brand given to a person at birth based on their physical and sexual characteristics.
According to that notion, biological sex could be used to divide up sports teams, locker rooms, restrooms, shelters for domestic violence, and sexual assault crisis centers, leaving gender nonconforming individuals to face legalized discrimination.
Sen. Senate Bill 1628’s sponsor, Sine Kerr, argued that the plan is merely intended to clarify state law and refused to acknowledge that it might result in rights violations for transgender people.
During a news conference on Tuesday night, the Republican from Buckeye stated that “it enshrines wisdom into law.” It disproves the myth that the distinctions between male and female are actually in doubt.
According to Kerr, her policy protects cisgender women from the threats posed by biological men in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms rather than harming transgender and intersex people. The Arizona Women’s Bill of Rights is the name of her initiative.
Despite the fact that there is no evidence to suggest that transgender-friendly policies harm people, Republican lawmakers who want to restrict access to public accommodations frequently use the security of women from assault as their justification.
In fact, transgender people have a much higher risk of committing acts of violence than do non-transgender people, and this risk is increased when strict regulations are put in place to prevent them from using facilities and locker rooms in accordance with their gender identities.
Kerr continued by saying that by eliminating cruel competition, her plan supports children’s athletic achievements. Paula Scanlan, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who competed in women’s sports with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, shared her opposition to the sport, saying that she has encountered women who have had their victories robbed of them due to diverse policies.
Almost two dozen states have passed laws prohibiting trans athletes from competing on teams that best fit their gender identities as a result of their focus on transgender women in sports. This includes Arizona, which in 2022 passed a law forbidding trans girls from participating in girls’ sports teams in their schools despite opposition from LGBTQ advocates and data from the state’s public schools athletic association showing that transgender athletes make up a vast minority of the population. Two transgender teens are now challenging that law in court, claiming that it violates numerous federal equal protection laws.
Scanlan said she supports Kerr’s plan because it safeguards the rights of women in a variety of settings. She has testified before Congress and visited state legislatures to aid GOP-backed anti-trans policies.
She said, “This won’t just apply to sports.” “Men who claim to identify as women may be prevented from joining children’s fraternities, obtaining unrestricted access to and rights to shelters for women, and being housed in prisons.”
“When we observe that kind of hatred emanating from our political leadership, it seriously troubles the transgender community. These bills cause fear throughout my whole community. This is nothing less than political extremism.
Arizona Trans Alliance Erica Keppler
Co-founder and co-chair of the Arizona Trans Alliance Erica Keppler criticized the act as a blatant attempt to exclude trans people from public life.
She claimed that “this is a broad effort to eliminate the existence of transgender people in law and throughout the state.”
By preventing transgender people from obtaining identification documents that are consistent with their lived gender identity, such as driver’s licenses and birth certificates, the measure, according to transgender person Keppler, would simply put them in danger. Almost one-third of respondents who presented an identity document that was inconsistent with their perceived gender experienced harassment, physical assault, or were denied services, according to a 2015 National Center for Transgender Equality study.
The measure aims to regulate how transgender people act and present themselves by codifying a limited understanding of gender into law, according to Keppler.
She claimed that “this is attempting to dictate what Americans must be as a condition of birth.” It means that we cannot live our lives in accordance with our identities and that a trans person cannot lawfully exist. It states that if you express or believe that you are a different sex, the law will punish, humiliate, and destroy you wherever you go.
Keppler stated that, despite being reassured by Gov. Katie Hobbs has repeatedly pledged to reject anti-LGBT legislation and that the GOP-majority legislature has continued to attack her. In a show of support that disparages LGBTQ Arizonans, eleven of the state Senate’s 16 Democratic members, including Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, joined the bill as co-sponsors.
“When we see that kind of hatred coming out of our political leadership, it’s very, deeply troubling to the transgender community.” These bills cause fear throughout my whole community, according to Keppler. It
goes without saying that this is parliamentary terrorism.
The largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the country, the Human Rights Campaign, is based in Arizona. According to Bridget Sharpe, enacting regulations that would make schools and other public services providers discriminate against trans people may have a negative effect on their revenue sources. Federally funded public schools would be at risk of losing their funding if they engaged in sex-based discrimination, which includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to Sharpe, SB1628 would harm Arizonans who are merely trying to live their lives and put federal funds for schools, domestic violence facilities, and rape crisis centers in jeopardy. To treat one another with respect and dignity, we don’t necessarily need to know everything about the other, and this bill does the exact opposite.
The ability of transgender and gender nonconforming people to report atrocities committed against them would be put in jeopardy, according to Sharpe, if a clause in the act required schools and other data collection agencies, like police departments, to fill out reports using only biological sex.
The Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona, which supports policy that achieves equity for women, was unimpressed by the bill despite its claim to protect women. The act was criticized in a similar way by Erika Mach, the vice president of policy matters for the foundation, for erasing trans people and putting them in risky situations.
Mach rather urged lawmakers to move forward policies that support women’s access to reproductive health care, high-quality childcare, and fair wages.
