Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-12), left, and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-27) | AZLeg.gov
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-12), left, and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-27) | AZLeg.gov
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-12) and House Speaker Ben Toma (R-27) are filing a motion to intervene in a lawsuit challenging the state's prohibition on boys participating in girls' sports, in the wake of Attorney General Kris Mayes (D-Ariz.) announcement that she will not defend the state law.
"Senate and House Republicans stand in solidarity to protect women and girls from the injustices being attempted against them by the extreme left. Female athletes deserve equal opportunities in sporting events, which will not happen so long as males are allowed to compete against them," said Petersen in a statement. "Science is clear that male athletes have many inherent physical advantages over females, including greater size, stronger muscles and larger bone structure. By allowing males to compete against females, we're essentially subjecting young girls to greater risk of injury, as well as stripping them of athletic opportunities their female predecessors have long fought for. In the absence of the Attorney General defending Arizona's law, we're looking forward to fighting for the rights of female athletes across Arizona, as well as for the Court making it clear Arizona's law protecting women and girls should be enforced."
In March 2022, then-Gov. Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) signed into law Senate Bill 1165, which prohibits biological males from competing in girls’ sports at the K-12 and collegiate levels. That law is now being challenged by a lawsuit filed on April 18 in the U.S. District Court in Tucson.
Mayes announced last week she would not defend Senate Bill 1165 in that lawsuit. The Grand Canyon Times reported on April 27 that Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne would hire his own legal team to defend the law.
"You ask if I'm gonna hire my own legal team," Horne told the Grand Canyon Times. "The answer is yes."
Horne said he has not discussed the case with Mayes nor did he wish to express an opinion on her decision not to defend the law.
"But I can talk about the reason I am defending the lawsuit," Horne said. "There have been a lot of news stories about girls who take their sports very seriously. They work very hard and they want to excel. Some of them hope they can get college scholarships for excelling in their sports and they how devastated they are when they find out they can't excel because they have to compete against biological boys who have greater muscle mass and greater bone structure."
Former Congressman Lt. Col. Allen West (ret.), executive director of the American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU), told the Grand Canyon Times that Mayes' decision is "highly disconcerting."
“The decision by the Arizona Attorney General to sacrifice young women seeking to excel in sports upon the altar of gender dysphoria is highly disconcerting,” said West. “The left desires to erase women from our society. Biological males wishing to compete against females is not heroic, it is cowardice personified. And those supporting this absurdity are utterly deranged and in violation of the constitutional rights of Women in America."
The Grand Canyon Times reported last month that Arizona is one of 21 states to ban boys from playing girls’ high school sports.
As of publication time, there are 29 states that still allow boys to participate in girls’ high school sports: Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Which states have banned boys from participating in girls high school sports — and which states still allow it?
* 2022: Federal appeals court rejects challenge to Connecticut's policy allowing boys to participate in girls sports.
** U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn federal appeals court ruling blocking WV enforcement of state ban.
Source: State statutes and codes
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