Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs added another veto to her already record-breaking record today, this time striking down Senate Bill SB1182. The bill, sponsored by Senator John Kavanagh (R-LD3), required schools to provide reasonable accommodations to students of the opposite biological sex to access showers and other private spaces. The measure included providing alternate showers or setting aside specific times for use when opposite-sex students are not present. The bill passed the legislature on a straight party-line vote.
Despite assurances that the bill intended to protect women’s privacy, reduce the risk of potential sexual harassment, and provide a path for redress for failure to make accommodations for transgender students, Democrats and Hobbs refused to support the bill. In a press release dated April 23, 2024, Kavanagh expressed his outrage at the Governor’s veto and, more specifically, her failure to protect women.
Kavanagh wrote, “Girls should not be forced to shower with boys in our taxpayer-funded public schools. It’s utterly disgusting that Democrats, who are out-of-touch with reality, continue to push gender neutrality upon our children, endangering their safety and well-being just to politically platform off a small population they pretend to care about.”
He continued, “All students, not just transgender kids, deserve to feel safe and deserve to have privacy when they’re naked in a shower. This was a reasonable bill that a majority of Arizonans agree with. Unfortunately, because of this partisan-driven veto by our Governor, our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and neighbors will continue to be subjected to not only embarrassment but sexual assaults and harassment in the event a boy who’s claiming to be a girl is allowed into their female-only showers. I encourage Arizona parents, women, and girls to reach out to the Governor and our Democrat state lawmakers and demand they respect their privacy rights. Change will only happen if we continue to speak out and push back against these injustices our women and girls continue to endure at the hands of Arizona Democrats.”
It’s unclear whether Republicans will attempt to revive the bill, particularly in light of Hobbs’ veto record.