by Katherine Hamilton at Breitbart News
The states join Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Iowa, among others, as well as Utah, whose GOP-dominated legislature voted to override the governor’s veto on Friday. All three state legislatures have passed the bills on to their governors for approval (or possible veto) in the coming days.
The GOP-dominated Arizona House voted 31/24 to send SB 1165 to Gov. Doug Ducey’s (R) desk. According to the Associated Press, Ducey has not said whether he will sign the bill — the publication pointed to both Utah’s governor and Indiana’s, who in recent days vetoed similar bills in their states. (However, the Utah legislature voted to override Gov. Spencer Cox’s veto, and the Indiana State Legislature says it plans to do the same in May.)
Arizona’s ban would apply to both public schools and colleges, as well as private institutions that compete against public schools. The bill does specify that men and women can compete together in “coed” or “mixed” events and does not restrict women from playing on teams designated for men.
The bill lists several studies confirming the biological differences of men and women, and boys and girls, including the physiological advantages boys as young as six years old have in athletics, such as “cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and speed/agility…” The bill also details how testosterone in men gives them a greater advantage over women, even after a year of testosterone suppression, which the Internal Olympics Committee requires for “transgender women” participants.
Under the legislation, any student who is “deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a school knowingly violating” the bill has the right to sue the school for damages…
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