‘Nothing to be surprised about’: Governor’s office responds to Horne’s anti-trans bill complaints

The head of Arizona’s public schools said he was surprised that the governor vetoed two pieces of anti-trans legislation that he claimed were common sense and would protect girls and parental rights, even though she’s vetoed every measure Republicans have sent her that targeted transgender people. 

And Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs already vetoed nearly identical legislation last year. 

“It’s surprising to me that the governor did not recognize the legislation’s value in promoting common sense, girls’ privacy, safety, and the rights of parents to be fully informed about what their children are doing while at school or related activities,” Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said in a written statement. 

On May 12, Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1002 and Senate Bill 1003, both sponsored by Fountain Hills Republican Sen. John Kavanagh, who has introduced numerous anti-trans bills over the past decade, including bills that mirror the ones that Hobbs vetoed this week. 

Senate Bill 1002 would have banned teachers from referring to a student by a name or pronoun that differs from their given name or biological sex without first obtaining written permission from a parent. Senate Bill 1003 would have barred trans students from using locker rooms and bathrooms that don’t match their biological sex. It would also ban trans students from staying in the same room as classmates or teammates of the opposite biological sex on school trips. 

Hobbs vetoed both proposals alongside numerous others on May 12, and wrote in her veto letters that they would “not increase opportunity, security or freedom for Arizonans.” 

In response to Horne’s statements, Hobbs spokesman Christian Slater told the Arizona Mirror that “there’s nothing to be surprised about.” 

“Governor Hobbs has made clear time and again that she is focused on increasing opportunity, security and freedom for Arizonans,” he said. “These bills do not do that. Instead of sending the same bill every year, only to be vetoed, the Legislature should work with the governor to lower costs, protect the border, create jobs and secure Arizona’s water future.” 

During a March 25 committee hearing, Kavanagh claimed that SB1003 would balance cisgender students’ desire for privacy with trans students’ discomfort using facilities that don’t align with their gender identity. He claimed it would do so by allowing trans students to request other accommodations, such as the use of single-occupancy or staff bathrooms. 

But Paul Bixler, a transgender woman and advocate, told the committee that the proposal would create an “atmosphere of exclusion, alienation and disenfranchisement.”

In a May 12 statement, Kavanagh accused Hobbs of vetoing the bill as a way to pander to the “extremist liberal community” and claimed that it would expose children to “sexual violence, harassment and emotional distress.” 

“A 13-year-old female should not be forced to stand next to a naked, transgender female, who is in reality an 18-year-old biological male,” Kavanagh said. “The fact that this bill was vetoed proves just how little Hobbs cares for the development of our youth and how radical she is for Arizona.”

But there’s no evidence that allowing transgender people to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity leads to an increase in sexual assaults. In fact, the opposite may be true: Surveys have shown that banning transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their identities puts them at greater risk of being assaulted. 

In his statement, Horne argued that girls deserve locker rooms and restrooms that aren’t accessible to “biological males.” 

“Public schools are entrusted to educate children, not to interfere with the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit,” Horne said. “This veto is contrary to overwhelming public support for protecting girls and parental rights.”

Public support for restrictions on things like participation in sports teams that align with their gender identities and for gender affirming care for minors has increased in the past few years, as Republicans — led by President Donald Trump — continue their attacks on transgender people. 

A poll conducted last month by The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom covering gender and public policy, found that 49% of Americans think politicians should not be focusing on transgender issues at all.