Senate Bill 1165, which is currently being sent to Gov. Doug Ducey, would reprehensibly ban trans women from participating in women’s athletics.
The marginalization of trans athletes is rooted in archaic gender stereotypes based on a false understanding of strength, biology, and the proper gender roles for two binary genders. There is a long legacy of this troubling sex discrimination in athletics. Myths, such as the idea that physical exertion would harm women’s reproductive systems or that women were inherently inferior athletes, were historically used to “protect” women from participation in entire fields, including marathon racing and contact sports. These myths, of course, are closely tied to the long history of organized religion treating women as inherently inferior to men.
Two Republican governors, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, vetoed similar anti-trans sports bans earlier this week, rejecting discriminatory bills approved by their legislatures. Please take a moment to tell Gov. Ducey to do the same in Arizona.
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