Trans student families remove myths and fears that energy anti-trans laws.

The proliferation of anti-trans policy that is being introduced year after year is fueled by a misunderstood knowledge of the existence of transgender students every day.

In February, Republicans rapidly passed two of these expenses, but a second proposal that targeted transgender students was blocked by a single Republican.

Charges emphasize preferred pronouns and room restrictions

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, is sponsoring Senate Bill 1166, which would require teachers to notify parents when their child requests that the teacher use preferred pronouns or a name that doesn’t match the biological sex or given name the child was enrolled under.

SB 1182, which Kavanagh even sponsored, would require schools to separate shower and toilet facilities based on biological sex, forbid transgender students from accessing areas that reflect their gender identity, and require schools to offer spaces for transgender students who object to using the designated areas based on their biological sex.

Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, shot down Senate Concurrent Resolution 1013, which combined the speech from both SB1182 and SB1166. If it had been passed, it would have bypassed the governor, Kate Hobbs’ veto, and be sent directly to the voters on the ballot in 2024.

Truth and hypotheses collision.

After meeting with a transgender scholar who had a lived experience that had a profound impact on the Republican senator, Bennett made the decision to vote against the bill, according to the Arizona Agenda.

Kavanagh, who has introduced bills attacking trans Arizonans year after year, hopes Hobbs and other critics of the previous bills will “at least respect the right of relatives to know what’s going on.”

“My bills ensure that when non-transgender students take communal showers at school, there won’t be someone of a different biological sex,” Kavanagh told The Copper Courier.” My bills protect the privacy of non-transgender students,” Kavanagh said. Because it mandates that the school provide them with an alternate shower service, the costs also respect the privacy of 99% of students.

However, legislators who have worked in education, such as Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson, have made it clear in debates that the scenarios that her Republican counterparts have suggested aren’t grounded in reality.

Hobbs has voiced similar opinions and has vehemently blocked any anti-LGBT expenses that come to her office. Her behavior contrasts sharply with those of her predecessor, Doug Ducey, who sparked a wave of anti-LGBT laws. Individuals feel a little more secure with Hobbs in the governor’s office, according to Gaelle Esposito, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union’s branch in Arizona.

According to Esposito, “[The bills] are based on a caricature and a boogeyman that they’ve [Republicans] drawn based on their misinterpretation, fear, and prejudice of a very small community.”

According to Bridget Sharpe, the Arizona state director for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC AZ), “it is very clear that the so-called problems outlined in these three pieces of legislation do not exist.” “It’s really a made-up problem made up by a select few people who have chosen to demonize transgender and non-binary students.”

“It’s wrong to criticize and ostracize anyone, especially trans and non-binary individuals, just because they live their lives and are who they are,” according to Sharpe, and politicians have no right to make these decisions for Arizonans.

Searching for neighborhoods that don’t discriminate

For years, Lizette Trujillo has driven her 16-year-old son Daniel, who is transgender, from their home to a different school district, one with non-discrimination policies that protect him from sex and gender discrimination.

Daniel has always had access to a bathroom that is sex appropriate and has received support from peers and teachers, which allows the majority of his emotional energy to go to what matters most to him: class.

“Because he’s in a very friendly school district, he’s actually been able to thrive as a student, and I think his experience is unique,” Trujillo said.

Not all families, however, are as accepting as the Trujillos. Some individuals with unaccepting homes were concerned that requiring teachers to inform families of their child’s shift in pronouns or gender identity could put them in danger.

Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Spain, said at the committee hearing on the bills, “If a parent is now friendly, then this bill is nothing more than annoying, but if the parents are unsupportive, then this can have some very devastating consequences for that younger person.”

Kavanagh told The Copper Courier he is assured that school resource officers and child protective services may step in when students encounter situations where their families properly kick them out of their homes or subject them to harm.

In the committee hearing on the payments, Kavanagh remarked that the idea that parents may put their kids out or use violence if they found out they were transgender “paints a dim view of parenthood in our land” or that the majority of parents would do the right thing.

However, according to data collected by the Governor’s Council on Child Safety and Family Empowerment, 40% of the homeless youth people identify as LGBTQ and are at a 120% higher chance of reporting homelessness.

According to Sharpe, “kids have gotten kicked out of their houses for coming out to their parents, or coming out as trans or non-binary to their families.” “It’s up to the parents to work with their child and make those judgments, but it’s also a teacher’s responsibility to protect their students.” “We value the caregiver-teacher relationship.

Searching for states that don’t discriminate

Skyler Morrison, 15, has been fighting for transgender rights since she was seven years old, and she believes that the lawmakers who are sponsoring these bills don’t care about her best interests.

“If my close friends are forced to come out to their kids,” a lot of my friends will be harmed,” Morrison said.

The Morrison family moved to Arizona in 2017 after Skyler had been subject to aggressive toilet bills in Texas. One of the deciding factors in their move was those equal laws that were passed in Texas.

According to 2022 statistics from the US Trans Survey, Texas and Arizona are two of the top ten states where trans people relocated because of laws enforcing trans people for unequal treatment, almost half of the survey respondents had considered moving to another state.

“Because their state’s legislatures considered or passed laws that discriminate against transgender people for unequal treatment, almost half of the survey respondents had considered moving to another state,” she said. “The issues lie within the community rather than the transgender community.”

According to her mom, Chelsa Morrison, Skyler has heard related bad speech about the transgender community her entire life, and it has an impact on people and children’s minds.

“What they’re trying to do is create issues where there aren’t any.” “In this state, Chelsa said, “We have actual, real things that we need to be talking about.” “They’re [transgender children] who aren’t focused on parts; instead, they’re focused on hearts.

In instances beyond nouns or gender identity, Chelsa contends that teachers are frequently essential for students’ preservation when there is no one else to help them.

Challenging young people

The day before the bills were heard in the Senate Education Committee on February 7, HRC AZ met with politicians and their people. According to families like the Morrisons, students don’t care whether their classmates are transgender or not, they are supportive, and they don’t care who uses what bathroom.

“According to Sharpe, “This is not an issue, this is a deception that anti-equality politicians have stoked up.” “I believe that [the far right] has an opportunity to detract attention from the real issues that are affecting Arizona schools,” he said.

Educators and administrators who will have to enforce these laws may have issues with it, according to Sharpe, and the negative effects may fall on students who only want to get accepted and be who they are.

When non-binary or transgender learners are instructed to use the patient’s bath, they are made to feel less than, strange, or different, according to Sharpe, who works with parents and children from across the condition. She continued, noting that transgender students frequently hold it until they feel safe when they can return home so they won’t be perceived as the child who needs to use the nurses’ restroom.

Putting transgender children in this position can have a toll on their mental health in addition to the actual pain.

According to Kavanagh, “the much greater risk is the fact that so many of these transgender students, yet their proponents, suffer from depression and some have homicidal thoughts,” according to Kavanagh. “Giving kids that information, which would allow them to receive medical care for the child, exposes those children to the possibility of death and mental anguish.”

According to the 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Youth, 41% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the past year.

However, according to the same study, less than 40% of LGBTQ young people said their homes were LGBTQ-affirming, and almost 2 in 3 said hearing about possible state or local regulations banning LGBTQ people from discussing them at school, such as those introduced by Kavanagh, made their mental health worse.

The Human Rights Campaign is tracking the progress of thirteen bills that target Arizona’s LGBTQ area; many of them are either dead or have potential for vetoes this legislative session.

According to Esposito, “[The bills] are based on a caricature and a boogeyman that they’ve [Republicans] drawn based on their misinterpretation, fear, and prejudice of a very small community.”


Alyssa Bickle

Alyssa Bickle works for The Metal Courier as an intern for reporting on affordability and LGBTQ+ issues. With levels in media and social technology and a minor in industrial and municipal studies, she plans to graduate in May 2024. She is an associate research scientist at ASU’s Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research and has written for Cronkite News and The State Press.