AZ Bill Banning Trans Athletes From Girls Teams Heads To Ducey

PHOENIX — The Arizona Legislature has passed bills that ban gender reassignment surgeries for children and bar transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams. The passage comes after transgender collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas last week won an individual title at the NCAA Women’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championship.

Republicans, worried that transgender athletes may have a competitive advantage, have said blocking transgender players from girls sports teams would protect the integrity of women’s sports.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has not said whether he will sign either bill.

Arizona Rep. Shawnna Bolick, also a Republican, said the bill is about biology. She played on a coed team in the 1980s, but said she could not have made the high school boys team.

“In my opinion, its unfair to allow biological males to compete with biological girls sports," Bolick said.

The Associated Press reported there are few trans athletes in Arizona schools. Since 2017, about 16 trans athletes have received waivers to play on teams that align with their gender identities. There are about 170,000 student-athletes in the state, according to the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

Critics said the legislation dehumanizes trans youth to address an issue that hasn’t been a problem.

“We’re talking about legislating bullying against children who are already struggling just to get by,” said Democratic Rep. Kelli Butler. fighting back tears.

Until two years ago, no state had passed a law regulating gender-designated youth sports. But the issue has become front-and-center in Republican-led statehouses since Idaho lawmakers passed the nation’s first sports participation law in 2020. It’s now blocked in court, along with another in West Virginia.

Arizona is one of 20 states that have considered proposed laws that restrict gender-affirming health care. The bill originally would have banned all such care for minors, but was scaled back to restrict only irreversible procedures, such as surgeries related to gender reassignment.

Supporters of the Arizona legislation said it would prevent children from making an irreversible decision.

“We should stand the same way today because this is mutilation of children,” Republican Rep. John Kavanagh said. “It is irreversible. It is horrific.”

Critics of the bill said the decision ought to be left to parents, their children and doctors. Such surgeries are only performed after extensive care and therapy.