The state of Arizona passed a bill that will ban transgender athletes from playing on girls' sports teams. | leah hetteberg/Unsplash
The state of Arizona passed a bill that will ban transgender athletes from playing on girls' sports teams. | leah hetteberg/Unsplash
The Arizona State Legislature passed bills in late March to prohibit gender reassignment surgery for minors and to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls' sports teams.
Republicans say the measure will help prevent transgender athletes from gaining an unfair advantage, according to an Associated Press (AP) story. Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) did not immediately say whether or not he would sign the bill.
“This bill, to me, is all about biology,” Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Maricopa) said. “In my opinion, it's unfair to allow biological males to compete with biological girls [in] sports.”
Democrats, however, claim the measures discriminate against trans youth athletes and place them in an unfair situation.
“We’re talking about legislating bullying against children who are already struggling just to get by,” Rep. Kelli Butler (D-Maricopa) said.
Skyler Morrison, a 13-year-old transgender girl, told lawmakers during a committee hearing that the bill creates “a pointless and harmful solution to a non-existent issue. It’s obvious this bill is just an excuse to discriminate against transgender girls.”
Including Arizona, 20 states have debated legislation to restrict gender-reassignment procedures for minors. A similar measure passed the House in Idaho earlier in March, but it was killed in the state Senate over concerns about parental rights.
Arizona Republicans say the bill would protect minors from making decisions and receiving procedures they might later regret. Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Maricopa) compared it to the state legislature’s decision in 2014 to ban genital mutilation.
“We should stand the same way today because this is mutilation of children,” Kavanagh said. “It is irreversible. It is horrific.”
Democrats argued that such surgeries are only performed after extensive care and therapy, and that the decision should be made by families and healthcare providers.
“We’re talking about our kids, who are already going to be taking the proper steps with their parents to be able to be who they are,” Rep. Andres Cano (D-Pima) said in the AP story.
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