The Arizona Legislature has faced waves of opposition from transgender and LGBTQ+ advocates across the state in response to a series of proposed bills that specifically target transgender youth.
Arizona lawmakers proposed multiple bills at the start of the session that targeted Arizona’s K-12 transgender youth population. Among these bills were measures to ban transgender girls from participating in school sports and a proposed ban on gender-affirming health care for minors.
LGBTQ+ advocates worry the Arizona bills could cause significant harm to the autonomy and mental health of transgender youth in the state.
“Unfortunately, this political push to marginalize and discriminate against these LGBTQ students means they have become political pawns, and what many of these lawmakers don’t understand is that they have real-life consequences for LGBTQ youth across the state,” said Andi Young, co-chair of GLSEN Phoenix, the local branch of a national nonprofit that promotes safety and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ youth in K-12 schools.
A majority of the proposed bills stalled and died prior to reaching committee hearings as a result of transgender rights advocacy across the state, but two bills passed the full Arizona Legislature and were signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey on March 30.
The first is Senate Bill1138, sponsored by Sen. Warren Peterson, R-Gilbert. In its original form, the bill sought to ban all gender-affirming health care for minors. The bill has since been amended to only include a ban on gender reassignment surgery for minors, due to pushback from transgender youth advocates.
“I testified in committee against SB 1138, which at the time before it was amended was banning all gender-affirming healthcare for minors under the age of 18,” Young said.
Young testified against SB1138 in the packed room of a Health and Human Services Senate committee meeting on Feb. 9, 2022. She said she was there as both an activist and a parent.
“I testified as a parent whose child receives gender-affirming care,” Young said. “This bill was very frightening to me because we have seen the benefits of gender-affirming care firsthand that it had on my child, most specifically on their mental health.”
Young explained her child had missed three weeks of the eighth grade due to severe mental health issues.
“We were worried they weren’t going to be able to continue in-person school until we started gender-affirming care and that turned around for them,” Young said.
Sen. Warren Peterson and other proponents of the bill argued that the surgery ban is a protection for transgender youth.
“The reason is simple, and common sense – this is a decision that will dramatically affect the rest of an individual’s life, including the ability of that individual to become a biological parent later in life,” said Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in a press release after signing the legislation.
Young and other activists warned that a ban on gender reassignment surgery for minors would be damaging to the mental health of trans youth, and to the rights of parents of trans youth.
“It was very frightening to me that someone was and still is trying to take away my right as a parent to make medically informed decisions about my child,” Young said.
Madelaine Adelman, a professor of justice and social inquiry at Arizona State University and a board member of GLSEN Phoenix, warned SB 1138 could open the door to further legislation regarding private health care decisions.
“We’re talking about the state government getting in between a patient and their health provider, getting in between a patient and their doctor,” Adelman said. “It may be targeting one relatively small population today, but what if tomorrow these same legislators want to get between me and my doctor for another issue?”
Bridget Sharpe, the Arizona state director for the Human Rights Campaign, worked with a variety of other LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in Arizona to bring families of transgender youth in front of as many Arizona lawmakers as possible to oppose the bill.
“To be able to show these legislators that these are very much Arizona families that deserve support,” said Sharpe. “They don’t deserve to have legislation passed that would harm them or their children.”
Sharpe says the Human Rights Campaign has worked with several Arizona parents who have said to Arizona legislators, “we plan to leave the state if these bills pass because it would not make us welcome in the state of Arizona.”
The second bill that has passed both floors and was signed into law last week is Senate Bill 1165, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, the bill seeks to ban transgender youth from participating in girls sports in K-12 schools.
The bill will force transgender youth to play on the sports team that aligns with their gender assigned at birth.
Barto and other proponents of the bill argue it is aimed to protect girls athletics, calling it the Save Women’s Sports Act.
“S.B. 1165 creates a statewide policy to ensure that biologically female athletes at Arizona public schools, colleges, and universities have a level playing field to compete,” said Ducey in a letter explaining his support for the legislation.
The governor continued by calling the legislation “common-sense,” saying that “Every young Arizona athlete should have the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities that give them a sense of belonging and allow them to grow and thrive.”
Transgender youth activists in Phoenix warn the bill would do the exact opposite of that, saying the bill will have severe negative impacts on the mental health of both trans- and cisgender youth.
“These are bills that are touted as protecting girls’ sports, and protecting trans youth by not allowing them to get surgery, that’s simply not the case,” Sharpe said. “It’s an effort to minimize the rights of trans individuals, it’s an effort to target trans youth who are already experiencing high levels of anxiety and depression.”
Jeanne Woodbury, the political and communications director for Equality Arizona warns the bill would create a “surveillance culture” around K-12 school sports.
“It creates this culture around school sports where there’s really intense monitoring of kids’ gender representation,” Woodbury said. “It would contribute to bullying and social isolation which is the exact opposite of what the great things about school sports are.”
LGBTQ+ activist groups have said the most effective advocacy is getting trans youth and their families to engage in face-to-face interaction with state lawmakers, a strategy Woodbury calls “relationship-building.”
“The most effective strategy is letting lawmakers and legislators actually talk face to face with the people these bills impact,” Young said. “A lot of people don’t realize that these decisions affect real people.”
Activists worry this kind of face-to-face advocacy can have negative impacts on the mental health of transgender youth.
“To have to fight for your right to exist and have access to public school is a significant burden that we are basically asking our young people to take on when the adults in the room are sitting there at an incredible power differential,” Adelman said.
According to Woodbury, any time there is debate and legislation over the lifestyle choices of transgender youth, that contributes to violence against the community and translates to poor mental health outcomes.
The two transgender youth bills were signed into law last week and will go into effect in Arizona this year, but according to transgender youth advocates, the fight is not over.
“Past our 2022 session, our 2023 session is going to be a similar battle,” said Young. “As soon as we end with this session we will be prepping for the next session and getting prepared.”
