Equality Arizona Policy Brief - Week 6
Act Today in Support of Trans Student Athletes!

LEGISLATIVE BRIEF & ACTION ALERT:

It takes 3 weeks to undo decades of LGBTQ progress at the Arizona Capitol. Today, HB2706 will be heard in the rules committee. We anticipate that the rules committee will give it a do pass recommendation along party lines. We have to tell every legislator, regardless of their political party, that Arizonans do not support discrimination against trans kids in athletics or any other arena of life.

The bill, HB2706, will likely come to the floor for a vote this Thursday. There are 6 Republicans who could stop this bill from moving forward and we are asking you to contact them, especially if you live in their district. We are asking you to reach out to these 6 Representatives and to your Representatives today.

Russell “Rusty” Bowers, Speaker of the House, District 25
Phone: 602-926-3128

Noel Campbell, District 1
Phone: 602-926-3124

Jeff Weninger, District 17
Phone: 602-926-3092

Bob Thorpe, District 6
Phone: 602-926-5219

Joanne Osborne, District 13
Phone: 602-926-3181

Steve Pierce, District 1
Phone: 602-926-5584

Here are somethings we ask you to share with these Representatives and to your Representatives.

“As an Arizona voter and citizen, I believe that every student and young person should have the opportunity to compete in student athletics. Sports can have a lasting positive impact on young people, teaching them the dedication, focus, hard work, and lessons about sportsmanship that are vital for the leaders of tomorrow to learn. 

Trans athletes, both as youth and adults, have been participating in competitive athletics consistent with their gender for decades and there has never been any evidence that they have an unfair advantage over their peers. Small and unobtrusive government, a conservative Arizona value, does not seek to create an issue through legislation that does not exist in the lives of Arizonans. 

I hope that you can see that trans students, like all students, deserve the opportunities as their classmates, in the same respectful and dignified ways. Don’t let special interests groups convince you to legislate into the private lives of your constituents needlessly. Stop government overreach, stop government violating the right of privacy of Arizonans, and vote no on HB2706.”

Before 5pm today please do all of the following:
  1. Contact your legislators. You can find contact information for your legislators here.
  2. Share Equality Arizona's email and social media about HB2706 with your network.
  3. Sign on to our letter opposing this bill and ask everyone in your network to sign on as well!

SCOTUS Brief:
We are concerned about this week’s Supreme Court decision to take up the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. Equality Arizona believes the Supreme Court could cause further injury to children, including LGBTQ children, who seek loving foster and adoptive homes; and parents, including LGBTQ parents, looking to provide foster kids a forever home. In 2015, Equality Arizona and the Arizona Children’s Association launched “Project Jigsaw” as a response to the hurdles that same-sex parents face when they want to adopt, such as preferential placement for straight couples. We have thousands of foster children in Arizona’s foster care system and 443,000 across the United States that we must connect to a loving home and family. A Supreme Court decision that enables discrimination is not the way to ensure that every child has a loving home.