Gov. Hobbs Vetoes GOP-Led Bill to Block Males From Using Female Bathrooms

A person holds a transgender pride flag as people gather on Christopher Street outside the Stonewall Inn for a rally to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, June 28, 2019. - The June 1969 riots, sparked by repeated police raids on the Stonewall Inn -- a well-known gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village -- proved to be a turning point in the LGBTQ community's struggle for civil rights. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill (pdf) on Thursday blocking transgender males from using female public school bathrooms.

The Republican-backed bill would’ve required schools to provide transgender students their own restroom facility but wouldn’t have allowed them to use restrooms designated for the gender they identify as.

 Senate Bill 1040 (pdf) is “yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state Legislature,” Hobbs wrote in her veto letter.

Hobbs vowed to “veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children.”

Governor-elect of Arizona Katie Hobbs speaks to attendees at a rally to celebrate Hobbs's victory in Phoenix, Ariz., on Nov. 15, 2022. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Under the bill, public schools in Arizona would have to establish other accommodations for students who refused to use a multi-occupancy bathroom or change areas of the gender they were assigned at birth. The law would also have applied to sleeping quarters on school-sponsored overnight trips.

State Sen. John Kavanagh (R), who sponsored the bathroom legislation, criticized Hobbs for her veto, saying, “Women and young girls deserve privacy and their own protected bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms.”

He also accused Democratic lawmakers, who unanimously opposed the bill, and the governor of “catering to an extremist culture by pushing ‘gender neutrality’ as a means to win political points from their liberal base.”

Kavanagh said he would continue to propose bills that would protect students from transgender exposure in school bathrooms and would propose the measure strictly as a “shower bill,” and  believes it would be more effective because showers are areas “that require the most privacy.”

“Hopefully, she’ll respect the right of young girls not to be standing naked next to biological males who identify as females in the showers,” Kavanagh said.

Hobbs has shown her support for the LGBT community and hung four large pride flags from her 9th-floor office suite at the state Capitol to mark the start of Pride Month.

“Parents have a right to know if their children are in psychological turmoil,” Kavanagh said. “(They) need to know if their children are confused, depressed, anxious, isolating themselves, having suicidal thoughts, or need mental health care because of gender dysphoria. Parents can’t get their children the counseling or therapy needed if their school hides this information.”

Governor Asks Lawmakers for Better Proposals

Last month, Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have compelled schools not to refer to transgender students by the names or pronouns they identify with and said it was an attack on transgender children.

“Instead of coming up with new ways to target and isolate our children, we should be working together to create an Arizona where everyone has the freedom to be who they are without fear of harassment or judgment,” Hobbs said in a statement on Twitter.

Hobbs said the bill was discriminatory and called on lawmakers to craft proposals that better address the state’s challenges without hurting Arizonans.