Contentious hearing ends with committee approval of Az transgender restrictions

Members of the nonbinary and
transgender community urged lawmakers Wednesday to vote no on a proposal
that they say would lead to further violence against their community
and erasure of their identities.

“We are people, we are Arizonans, we are Americans. We pose no danger,” Erica
Keppler, a trans woman who came to testify against a proposal to
restrict bathroom use by transgender Arizonans, told the Senate
Government Committee.

Keppler explained to lawmakers that
she is concerned the proposed law could open up the ability for the
state to make sex segregated spaces or make certain jobs gender
specific. 

She also pointed out to the committee
that having an ID that matches their outward appearance can help
protect them from acts of violence. Members of the transgender community are far more likely to face violence than their cisgendered counterparts including homicide, according to multiple studies.

Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican from
Queen Creek and the committee’s chairman, argued with Keppler and
conflated drag queens — men who dress in outlandish women’s clothes for
entertainment purposes — with transgender and nonbinary people, whose
gender doesn’t match perfectly with their biological sex.

“You said that the primary way to
protect yourself is to conceal this. You think that the masquerading of
trans activists in public libraries is concealing the trans status?”
Hoffman asked Keppler, referring to “drag queen story hours” at some
public libraries that have been the target of conservative ire. 

“I don’t find your question relevant
to the subject matter,” Keppler shot back. “There has been no benefit I
gained in life from being transgender besides the hatred I have in
myself from being male.” 

At issue for the committee was House Bill 2062,
sponsored by Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Glendale, which would allow schools and
other state agencies to bar trans people from using bathrooms or locker
rooms that align with their gender identity. Trans Arizonans would also
be banned from joining athletic teams or living in domestic violence
shelters that reflect their identities. 

Fink is a freshman lawmaker who has a
history of anti-trans advocacy as the president of the Protect Arizona
Children Coalition, an offshoot of the Gilbert-based Family Watch International, which has been recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group. 

In the past, Family Watch
International has engaged in a number of anti-LGBTQ+ measures, including
supporting Ugandan legislation dubbed the “Kill the Gays” bill. Before being elected, Fink advocated for an existing ban on transgender girls in sports. 

During the Government Committee
hearing on Wednesday, Fink minimized the impacts her bill would have on
trans and nonbinary Arizonans, calling it a “housekeeping” measure that
did not aim to discriminate against any particular group. 

The proposal would greenlight discrimination against trans people in public spaces, but also open the state up to possible lawsuits from trans people who experience discrimination from state agencies that use the law to create their policies. 

Anti-trans policies have become a
core part of Republican policy proposals in recent years. In Arizona,
GOP lawmakers in recent years have pushed for a litany of laws aimed at
curtailing the rights and lifestyles of the LGBTQ+ community, with a
particular focus on the transgender community. 

They’re bolstered by President Donald Trump, who issued an anti-trans executive order on his first day back in office, which was followed up with another aimed at transgender student athletes. 

Debate around Fink’s bill was heated. 

“Everyday Americans know that a woman
is an adult human female,” Fink said when introducing her bill to the
committee. That prompted someone in the audience to boo her. 

Hoffman quickly told those in attendance that he’d kick out anyone who disrupted the proceedings, alluding to what happened to Democratic Rep. Al Green during President Trump’s joint address to Congress the night before. 

“It will not be tolerated, whether that is here or in Congress,” Hoffman snapped. “So, knock it off.” 

Fink told her colleagues that a
“powerful group of activists” are using “judicial activism” to redefine
state law and that her legislation would ensure that data the state
collects “reflects biology” and “ensures that publicly collected sex
based statistics are accurate.” 

She insisted that her legislation
would not deny someone the right to free expression. But Democratic
members of the committee pushed back, saying that the bill as written
would force transgender, nonbinary or intersex individuals to have a
gender identity other than their preferred choice on their
identification.

Local attorney Ruth Carter, who
believes they received the first ever nonbinary drivers license in the
state, said they’re concerned how the bill could impact those who are
nonbinary, transgender or intersex who chose to move to Arizona from
other states. 

Both California and Washington allow
for birth certificates and IDs to have nonbinary options and both states
have seen a large number of residents moving to the Grand Canyon
State. 

“Think of nonbinary people like
people with green eyes. We are rare, but we are real. Please vote no on
this bill, it is a set up for discrimination,” Carter said. 

However, Republicans on the committee disagreed with Carter. 

“We make legislation for reality, not
the extreme outlier,” Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said,
adding that those who are born intersex make up a small percentage of
the population. 

Approximately 1.7% of the American population
has an intersex trait — nearly 6 million people, about the same number
of Americans who have red hair — but data is limited and those with
those traits often face stigma and discrimination. 

“This bill, if passed, has the
potential to upend my life,” Gabbie Hoffmeister said to the committee.
Hoffmeister said that she has been the victim of assault at a domestic
violence shelter, a place the bill is aiming to bar her from.
Hoffmeister also noted that if the bill becomes law and she used the
restroom connected to her gender identity, she could be fired. 

Activists and community members
continued to point out to members of the committee the attacks members
of the transgender community have faced in recent years and the lack of a link between inclusive bathroom policies and bathroom safety.

It was during these discussions that another outburst occurred leading to Hoffman having a person in the audience removed. 

“I appreciate you recognizing my
pronouns of chairman,” Hoffman said to Paul Bixler, the first
transgender woman to hold elected office in Arizona as she was
testifying. This led to an attendee making loud sarcastic laughs. 

“I want to know what you said to
[Senator Wendy Rogers] that she thought was so funny,” the person said
as they were escorted out of the committee room by Senate security. 

The bill also received support from the local chapter of Gays Against Groomers, which has been labeled an anti-LGBTQ+ group by the SPLC. Some of its chapters have engaged in campaigns of doxxing and harassment.  

“This bill defines sex so the legal
system can be free of the exploitation of those vulnerable loopholes
where biological males gain access and privileges that are meant for
women,” Robert Wallace of GAG’s Arizona Chapter said. 

Democrats panned the bill saying it
denies transgender, non-binary and intersex people the right to exist.
Sen. Lauren Kuby, D-Tempe, in her explanation of her vote brought up
Fink’s work with Family Watch International and its designation as a
hate group by the SPLC, leading to Hoffman warning her she was opening
herself up for “defamation.” 

The Arizona Constitution gives legislators immunity from civil or criminal prosecution “for words spoken in debate.”

The bill passed out of committee
along party lines and will head to the full Senate for a vote next. Gov.
Katie Hobbs, who has pledged to veto any and all anti-LGBTQ+ measures,
vetoed a similar bill last year.