Sen. Sine Kerr

PHOENIX โ€” Saying they are protecting the rights of women, Arizona lawmakers are moving to spell out in state law just who is female and who is male.

The legislation declares that people are the sex they were assigned at birth.

โ€œIt provides much needed clarity in our statutes and uniformity for the courts,โ€™โ€™ said Buckeye Republican Sen. Sine Kerr.

She said nothing in Senate Bill 1628, which cleared the GOP-led Senate Thursday on a 16-12 party-line vote, precludes individuals from having their own โ€œgender identity.โ€™โ€™

โ€œThis is called the Arizona Womenโ€™s Bill of Rights for a good reason,โ€™โ€™ she told colleagues during debate.

โ€œThere are a lot of safety issues as we have seen, areas where trans males have invaded vulnerable places for women,โ€™โ€™ Kerr said. โ€œAnd it needs to be defined and the law followed, what a woman means, what a mother means, and also father, male, all those things.โ€™โ€™

SB 1628 starts by replacing all references to โ€œgenderโ€™โ€™ in state law with โ€œsex.โ€™โ€™

More to the point, it spells out that is determined at birth, includes only male or female as options, is โ€œobjective and fixed,โ€™โ€™ and โ€œdoes not include gender identity or any other term that is intended to convey a personโ€™s subject sense of self and may not be used as a synonym or substitute for the term sex.โ€™โ€™

Kern cited cases โ€” all from other states โ€” in which transgender individuals or males who identify as females have decided to participate in womenโ€™s sports and in the process injured players who were born female.

Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said the wording of the bill would eliminate any legal recognition of transgender people โ€œwho are already at higher risk of violence.โ€™โ€™

โ€œWe need to be protecting the populations who need it the most,โ€™โ€™ she said.

And Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, said if Kerr and supporters of the measure are really interested in benefiting women there are other and better ways to do that.

โ€œThat is legislation that would give us the right to pay equity,โ€™โ€™ she said.

โ€œLetโ€™s pass legislation to give us the right to be free from gender violence and sexual discrimination,โ€™โ€™ Hernandez said. โ€œAnd maybe we can also work towards the right to affordable child care and to have access to reproductive health care that would benefit all of us.โ€™โ€™

Arizona Republican lawmakers have for years blocked efforts by supporters to bring to ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the floor for a vote.

Kerr, for her part, said thatโ€™s not her focus.

โ€œThis is about protecting women, protecting our daughters, our granddaughters, young girls,โ€™โ€™ she said. โ€œItโ€™s about fairness.โ€™โ€™

The measure comes as the state is fighting a ruling by a federal judge who agreed to allow two transgender girls who have not experienced puberty to play on teams designated for girls.

It is doubtful, however, whether SB 1628, even if signed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, would affect that litigation. Thatโ€™s because Judge Jennifer Zipps said the transgender girls are protected by Title IX, the federal law that bars discrimination based on sex in educational opportunities.

That case is now on appeal.

โ€œPeople can deny reality all they want,โ€™โ€™ said Senate President Warren Petersen, a Gilbert Republican. โ€œBut a man is a man and a woman is a woman.

โ€œAnd harassment is allowing men to take the field with women and girls with their biological mass that is inherently greater, and pound them, harm them and hurt them,โ€ Petersen said.

He said the issue goes beyond sports.

โ€œHarassment is allowing men into womenโ€™s restrooms and them feeling uncomfortable and unsafe,โ€™โ€™ Petersen said. Ditto, he said, of boys going into girlsโ€™ showers.

โ€œAnd, yet, we hear from the other side of the aisle, my colleagues have said, and I quote, โ€˜Letโ€™s get them a shower curtain, letโ€™s have a shower curtain between the boys and the girls,โ€™โ€ he said. That refers to comments made last year by Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, who said that issue of privacy could be resolved if schools were required to install shower curtains.

โ€œIโ€™m sorry,โ€™โ€™ Petersen said. โ€œAs a dad of daughters, Iโ€™m not OK with that.โ€™โ€™

Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales, D-Tucson, suggested the legislation cold lead to situations where girls and women could have their femininity assessed by โ€œgender police.โ€™โ€™

That drew a response from Glendale Republican Sen. Anthony Kern, who said he wanted to โ€œpromote the biggest gender cop ever.โ€™โ€™

โ€œAnd thatโ€™s our Creator, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,โ€™โ€™ he said.

โ€œHe created them, male and female,โ€™โ€™ Kern said. โ€œAnd because we have left that foundation in our country is the reason why we have to sit here and listen to the nonsense of gender.โ€™โ€™

Kern said that as far as heโ€™s concerned, a personโ€™s sex is listed on his or her birth certificate.

โ€œIf you try to change that as you move through life, thatโ€™s your prerogative, thatโ€™s your freedom,โ€™โ€™ he said. โ€œBut we should not allow our females, our women, our mothers, our daughters, our nieces to be subjected to biological men who decided to change their identity. That doesnโ€™t mean theyโ€™re a woman.โ€™โ€™

The measure now goes to the House.

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Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Threads at @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com.