GQP Culture War Of Fear And ignorance Against Trans Youth Meets With Opposition

On Friday, hundreds of Tucsonans gathered at El Presidio Plaza in front of City Hall and marched through Downtown Tucson as part of this year’s nationwide Transgender Day of Visibility. 100s rally in Downtown Tucson for Transgender Day of Visibility:

Carrying signs and waving flags, many blocked traffic on West Congress Street as part of a demonstration against a wave of legislation targeting transgender people, including limiting gender-affirming medical care, restricting their participation in sports, and requiring teachers to inform parents if their child asks to change their pronouns or wants information about gender identities.

“There has been a nationally coordinated attack against transgender and gender non-conforming people, led by conservative politicians, pundits and interest groups,” wrote organizers. Among their demands was a push to make Tucson a “sanctuary city” for trans and gender non-conforming people as “cities and states around us push to eliminate our legal protections and legislate away our rights.”

“We cannot be legislated out of existence,” they wrote.

Tucson has a city ordinance barring discrimination against LGBT residents, and was one of the first cities in the nation to institute such a law.

In 2021, Tucson earned a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization. Tucson’s non-discrimination ordinance, City Code Chapter 17, was first passed in 1977 and makes it unlawful to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity along with race, color, religion, sex and other backgrounds.

Organizers at the rally handed out signs, including some calling for the recall of Sen. Justine Wadsack, an Arizona Republican state lawmaker who become infamous for her dead-on-arrival bills, including one that targeted drag queens and another seeking to ban books that “promote” gender fluidity or alternative pronouns.

[T]he Human Rights Campaign estimates there are over 1.6 million trans youth and adults in the U.S. and said while there has been “significant progress in recent years” people who are transgender or non-binary “are still fighting for basic human rights for the community”

“Today we are experiencing significant political attacks by extremists legislating hate in the states and in Congress,” HRC wrote. “We also face an ongoing epidemic of fatal violence, especially against Black and Brown trans women. Today and every day, we must celebrate all trans and non-binary people everywhere and combat disinformation, discrimination and hate impacting our community.”

[C]urrently, there are 435 bills targeting LGBTQ rights in state legislatures, including 11 in Arizona, according to data from the American Civil Liberties Union.

On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers moved Senate Bill 1040, which requires schools to provide separate bathroom, shower, and locker rooms accommodations for trans students or risk lawsuits from uncomfortable classmates. The bill’s author, [American Taliban leader] Sen. John Kavanaugh argued his legislation is about modesty, however,  opponents argued the bill attempts to solve a nonexistent problem and will foist an impossible requirement on teachers.

The House Education Committee voted 6-4 to move the bill forward on a party-line vote. However, the bill faces a veto by Ariz. Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has slapped down more than a dozen Republican bills in her first few months in office.

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimates that 144,500 transgender adults and youth could lose access to gender-affirming care because of state-level restrictions, including people in Arizona.

On Friday, the White House announced a proclamation by President Joe Biden marking March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility.

“Transgender Day of Visibility celebrates the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know — people who have too often had to put their jobs, relationships, and lives on the line just to be their true selves,” wrote Biden. “Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that we see them, they belong, and they should be treated with dignity and respect.  Their courage has given countless others strength, but no one should have to be brave just to be themselves.  Every American deserves that freedom.”

During his first days in the White House, Biden signed an executive order directing federal officials to “root out” discrimination against LGBTQI+ people and last June he sought to blunt “discriminatory legislative attacks against LGBTQI+ children and families.”

This includes a requirement for Health and Human Services to protect federal health care access to transgender people, as well as moving to limit or block so-called “conversion therapies,” and moving to expand access to gender-affirming care.

Another bill from American Taliban leader Sen. John Kavanagh, carrying water for the Center For Arizona Policy and other religious bigots, passed on a party-line vote on Monday. Bill advances to bar teachers from honoring student pronoun requests:

Republican lawmakers advanced legislation to forbid teachers from honoring requests by students to be addressed by a pronoun different from their biological sex unless they have parental consent.

“The child belongs to the parent, not the government,’’ said Rep. Theresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, in voting for SB1001 Monday in the House Appropriations Committee. “I cannot imagine having to co-parent my child with the government.’’

Has this woman never heard of the legal doctrine of parens patriae:

The doctrine of parens patriae is a doctrine under which a state has third-party standing to bring a lawsuit on behalf of a citizen when the suit implicates a state’s quasi-sovereign interests for the well-being of its citizens. 

The parens patriae doctrine is also the doctrine in which all orphans, dependent children, and persons deemed incompetent are within the special protection, and under the control of the state.

Rep. Athena Salman, D-Tempe, said that’s fine in situations where children have supportive families.

But she said there are studies showing 70% of transgender children do not have that situation. Salman said “33% of trans and non-binary youth don’t believe and don’t find their current home to be a safe space to do that in, especially for a first time.’’

[American Taliban leader] Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, sponsor of the legislation, said notifying parents ensures the students get whatever professional help they need, including for depression and suicidal thoughts. Requiring permission to be addressed by a different pronoun is no different than what occurs now in connection with school activities, he said.

“If your kid wants to go on a school trip, they need permission from the parents,’’ Kavanagh told committee members. “If your child wants to be on a sports team, they need permission from the parents. If your child wants to take an aspirin in school, they need permission from the parents.’’

But Kavanagh’s bill does not ensure a parent’s affirmative desire to have a child addressed by a pronoun or a proper name that does not match their gender assigned at birth would be honored by teachers. It says that a parent’s request can be trumped by a teacher’s “religious or moral convictions.’’

Call it the American Taliban carve-out exception for religious extremists’ bigotry.

“We’re trying to balance the rights of two parties,’’ he said in an interview with Capitol Media Services. Kavanagh said he presumes that “pretty much everyone else’’ [but a religious extremist teacher] at the school would be honoring the rights of the parents.

“I don’t think it’s a major violation of the parent’s rights,’’ he said. [Of course this fool doesn’t.]

‘Aims to suppress and intimidate’

“I know what this bill is,’’ said Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa. “This bill is a nationwide agenda that targets and attacks a vulnerable population, and that is our youth,’’ said Austin, who uses “she’’ and “them’’ as her pronouns and identifies “as non-binary, non-gender conforming.’’

“It aims to suppress and intimidate them,’’ Austin said.

To lawmakers who who said that while parents may not understand a child’s request, they won’t kick the child out, Austin said that’s “absolutely, unequivocally false.’’ Austin said youths in the LGBTQ community comprise the largest share of unhoused teens.

Kavanagh sought to portray the measure as one designed to help.

“In youth, especially adolescence, issues around gender are always problematic and cause a great deal of angst,’’ he said. Being transgender, Kavanagh said, only makes that more pronounced.

“The psychological problems that can go along with this can be depression and sometimes suicidal thoughts, especially if they have a condition called gender dysphoria which some have when the conflict is very extreme,’’ he said, referring to the unease someone may have because of a mismatch between biological sex and gender identity.

“These are students who need family support,’’ Kavanagh said. “These are students who need outside psychological care that the family can provide for them.’’

Austin countered that it is bills like this that cause the angst to which Kavanagh refers.

Thank you Rep. @LorenaAustin4Az for speaking out. You, and the entire LGBTQ+ community can trust that this bill will be swiftly vetoed. https://t.co/KEV2dwP1kb

— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) April 3, 2023

More: State representative announces she’s nonbinary, gender-nonconforming during debate on pronouns:

A state representative announced she identifies as nonbinary, gender-nonconforming on Monday during a House Appropriations Committee discussion of a Republican bill that would prohibit school employees from calling students by their preferred pronouns or a name not listed on their school record without parental consent.

Rep. Lorena Austin, D-Mesa, said during the debate that she’s identified as nonbinary since she was 5 years old and grew up in a household and community that didn’t accept her identity. School for her was a sanctuary where she said she felt like she could breathe and be herself without the fear of retribution.

Austin said the bill, SB1001, sponsored by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, would take that safety away for many kids in similar circumstances in which she grew up.

“This bill is a nationwide agenda that targets and attacks a vulnerable population and that is our youth. It aims to suppress and intimidate them and it confuses assumption with reality,” Austin said. “And if you ask me why I know this, let me explain … I identify as nonbinary, nongender conforming.”

“I cannot imagine being 14 again and having a bill like this come through because I grew up in a community where I knew I would not be accepted,” Austin continued.

One of the main arguments Democrats have made against Kavanagh’s bill is that many transgender and nonbinary students don’t believe their homes are a safe place to talk about their gender identity. A 2022 national survey conducted by the Trevor Project found less than one-third of transgender and nonbinary youth considered their home to be gender-affirming.

The Trevor Project is a LGBTQ advocacy group that offers resources and crisis services to LGBTQ youth.

Another study published in the National Library of Medicine in March 2022 found 82% of transgender individuals have considered suicide and 40% have attempted suicide. Risk factors include adverse childhood experiences while protective factors include school belonging and family support.

Austin said she was among that group that had previously considered suicide.

Austin told of knowing her true identity at age 5.

“I grew up in a community where I knew I would not be accepted, I knew I would not be supported in my home or in public,’’ Austin said. “I need you to hear that,’’ she continued. “This is my lived experience.’’

Other transgender individuals also testified against the measure.

Jeanne Woodbury of Equality Arizona told lawmakers that sometimes a student seeking to come out to parents, even those who may be accepting, may still find it “intimidating.’’

“When you’re a little bit afraid, what’s helpful is to talk to someone like a teacher ahead of time and have that conversation and try things out in a safe space so you can actually prepare yourself to go have the conversation with your parents,’’ Woodbury said.

“What makes the teacher more appropriate to ask or talk to than anyone else?’’ Martinez asked. She said it’s equally possible a teacher might be a “devout Catholic or a devout whatever’’ who does not believe that things like this are a matter of choice.

“It’s not guaranteed that, even going to a teacher, you’re going to find support,’’ Woodbury acknowledged. “But if you face rejection from a teacher, the stakes are lower than if you face rejection from a parent.’’

Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, said he understands the concerns.

“As a member of the LGBT community, I just can’t imaging having to live a separate life at school and a different life at your home,’’ he said. “And I understand that is the tragic reality that many members of the LBGT community face.’’

But Gress said there’s an overriding issue.

“I just can’t get to the point where I’m willing to allow government employees to have additional information on a child,’’ he said.

“The children belong to the parents,’’ Gress said. “Parents have rights when it comes to their kids. They do. And to sever that relationship through public schools or other institutions, very serious.’’

Gress said he introduced HB2084, which would provide $5 million for a family support program he said would help parents have such conversations with their children. “More dialog is necessary, not less dialog,’’ he said. But his measure never got a hearing after Rep. Beverly Pingerelli, R-Peoria, who chairs the House Education Committee, did not put in on her agenda.

Kavanagh said there are other good reasons to ensure parents know if a child wants to be called by a name or pronoun that does not match his or her biological sex assigned at birth.

One, he said, is that the parent may have the child in treatment and the therapist may counsel that it is psychologically bad to allow the child to to be referred to by a non-matching name or pronoun. Kavanagh said there could be a lawsuit against the school if a child commits suicide and the parent didn’t know the child was being referred to by a different pronoun.

The measure, already approved by the Senate, now goes to the full House.

This bill will be vetoed by Gov. Hobbs.