Az governor’s office responds to Horne’s anti-trans bill complaints

The head of Arizona’s public schools
said he was surprised that the governor vetoed two pieces of anti-trans
legislation that he claimed were common sense and would protect girls
and parental rights, even though she’s vetoed every measure Republicans
have sent her that targeted transgender people. 

And Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs already vetoed nearly identical legislation last year. 

“It’s surprising to me that the
governor did not recognize the legislation’s value in promoting common
sense, girls’ privacy, safety, and the rights of parents to be fully
informed about what their children are doing while at school or related
activities,” Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne
said in a written statement.

On May 12, Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1002 and Senate Bill 1003,
both sponsored by Fountain Hills Republican Sen. John Kavanagh, who has
introduced numerous anti-trans bills over the past decade, including
bills that mirror the ones that Hobbs vetoed this week. 

Senate Bill 1002 would have banned
teachers from referring to a student by a name or pronoun that differs
from their given name or biological sex without first obtaining written
permission from a parent. Senate Bill 1003 would have barred trans
students from using locker rooms and bathrooms that don’t match their
biological sex. It would also ban trans students from staying in the
same room as classmates or teammates of the opposite biological sex on
school trips. 

Hobbs vetoed both proposals alongside numerous others on May 12, and wrote in her veto letters that they would “not increase opportunity, security or freedom for Arizonans.” 

In response to Horne’s statements,
Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater told the Arizona Mirror that “there’s
nothing to be surprised about.” 

“Governor Hobbs has made clear time
and again that she is focused on increasing opportunity, security and
freedom for Arizonans,” he said. “These bills do not do that. Instead of
sending the same bill every year, only to be vetoed, the Legislature
should work with the governor to lower costs, protect the border, create
jobs and secure Arizona’s water future.” 

During a March 25 committee hearing,
Kavanagh claimed that SB1003 would balance cisgender students’ desire
for privacy with trans students’ discomfort using facilities that don’t
align with their gender identity. He claimed it would do so by allowing
trans students to request other accommodations, such as the use of
single-occupancy or staff bathrooms. 

But Paul Bixler, a transgender woman
and advocate, told the committee that the proposal would create an
“atmosphere of exclusion, alienation and disenfranchisement.”

In a May 12 statement, Kavanagh
accused Hobbs of vetoing the bill as a way to pander to the “extremist
liberal community” and claimed that it would expose children to “sexual
violence, harassment and emotional distress.” 

“A 13-year-old female should not be
forced to stand next to a naked, transgender female, who is in reality
an 18-year-old biological male,” Kavanagh said. “The fact that this bill
was vetoed proves just how little Hobbs cares for the development of
our youth and how radical she is for Arizona.”

But there’s no evidence
that allowing transgender people to use bathrooms that align with their
gender identity leads to an increase in sexual assaults. In fact, the
opposite may be true: Surveys have shown that banning transgender people
from using bathrooms that align with their identities puts them at greater risk of being assaulted. 

In his statement, Horne argued that girls deserve locker rooms and restrooms that aren’t accessible to “biological males.” 

“Public schools are entrusted to
educate children, not to interfere with the rights of parents to raise
their children as they see fit,” Horne said. “This veto is contrary to
overwhelming public support for protecting girls and parental rights.”

Public support for restrictions on
things like participation in sports teams that align with their gender
identities and for gender affirming care for minors has increased in the
past few years, as Republicans — led by President Donald Trump —
continue their attacks on transgender people. 

A poll conducted last month by The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom covering gender and public policy, found that 49% of Americans think politicians should not be focusing on transgender issues at all.