State House votes to limit rights of transgender youths

PHOENIX – The state House voted, twice, on Thursday to limit the rights of transgender youths.

Without a single Democrat in support, legislators said that anyone who is borne a male cannot participate in intramural or interscholastic sports for females, regardless of whether she has fully transitioned. Supporters of SB 1165 said it simply recognizes the reality that males are inherently stronger than females.

By that same all-Republican vote, the House approved SB 1138. It prohibits any form of “irreversible gender reassignment surgery’’ on any individual younger than 18, even with the consent of parents.

Rep, Kelli Butler, D-Paradise Valley, accused supporters of “hypocrisy.’’

She pointed out that nothing in state law – and nothing in this bill – precludes teens, with parental permission, from getting surgery to increase or reduce breast size. It would only be illegal in cases of gender reassignment.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, countered with his own example.

He cited the 2014 vote by the legislature which outlawed “genital mutilation,’’ a measure aimed at parents of some religious groups who subject their daughters to the procedure. And Kavanagh said that law, approved unanimously, had no exceptions for parental permission.

Both measures now go to Gov. Doug Ducey. But there is some possibility that Ducey could veto the legislation on sports.

Republican governors of two other states already have set the precedent with their own vetoes, including a decision just days ago by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. He said there were so few of these cases that these decisions should be left to the organization that governs interscholastic athletics in his state.

And there was something else.

Cox cited figures that show 86% of transgender youths have considered suicide, with 56% actually making an attempt.

“I want them to live,’’ he wrote. “And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicidality significantly.’’

But efforts by Butler to point out the statistics cited by Cox were shut down by House Speaker Pro-tem Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert. He said she could discuss only the measure before actually up for the vote.

Grantham, however, did not block Kavanagh from discussing the 2014 legislation on genital mutilation.

Butler said the fact remains that transgender kids do have a higher rate of suicide than other teens. And, tearfully, she said one of the reason is their feeling that they don’t belong.

“This bill is banning transgender youth from doing sports, which is actually designed to give people a feeling of belonging and a sense of teamwork and a sense of being part of something that creates camaraderie and makes them feel included and welcome,’’ Butler said.

Kavanagh said that’s misstating the facts.

“This bill allows everybody to participate in sports,’’ he said. “It simply says that you have to go on the team that aligns with your biological gender because, quite frankly, puberty conveys significant physical advantages on males.’’

Underlying much of the debate is whether there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

Backers of the measure have pointed to Lia Thomas who competed for three season at the University of Pennsylvania against men while she began her transition in 2019. Now, competing as a woman, she has shattered various records.

But Rep. Jennifer Pawlik, D-Chandler, cited the testimony of Dr. Kristina Wilson who serves on the medical advisory board of the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

“They have a procedure for determining if a transgender person can play on sports teams,’’ Pawlik told colleagues. And that committee has approved the requests of just 16 transgender individuals seeking to compete on the team on which they identify.

“So when we hear stories about how the issue of how trans people dominating in sports is a really big deal in the country, we found that there is little to no evidence of that being an issue in Arizona,’’ Pawlik said.

Rep. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, was not convinced.

“In my opinion, it’s unfair to allow biological males to compete in biological girls’ sports,’’ she said. “The advantages bestowed by biological male puberty are so big that no amount of training or talent can enable biological female athletes to overcome them.”

Bolick said that is borne out by the speed records set by men and women in races. And she said if it comes down to choosing between inclusion and fairness, she chooses the latter.

“Much of the male advantage is granted by testosterone due to male puberty,’’ she said. “Suppressing testosterone in adults seems to do little to undo the advantages granted by male adolescence.’’

Rep. Melody Hernandez,

D-Phoenix, said all that transgender youths want to do is “play sports with people they identify with.’’

But House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, said sports is about more than just participating.

“This body could make other league opportunities to play in where they didn’t care about winning,’’ he said.

“But for many, competition is the essence of excellence and being the best,’’ Bowers said. “And when that’s taken away by an arbitrary decision that someone takes a choice, wants to participate, and has such a huge advantage, that destroys the dreams of many, many, many striving young women.’’

Part of the fight over the measure on surgery turned on whether lawmakers should trump the decisions made by parents that their children have determined that their biological gender is not who they are and are willing to help them transform their bodies to match that identity.

“This is getting in the way of the child-parent relationship,’’ said Rep. Andres Cano, D-Tucson. “It’s government overreach.’’

But Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, said that precedent already has been set with the 2017 vote by the Pima County Board of Supervisors which made it illegal for parents to pay for counselors to conduct “conversion therapy’’ for their children, a process that normally takes the form of trying to convince youngsters to give up being gay.

And Kavanagh said there’s nothing wrong with the state deciding that certain procedures should be outlawed.

“This is mutilation of children,’’ he said. “It is irreversible, it is horrific.’’