Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) submitted an amicus brief on Monday, asking a federal court for permission to intervene in a lawsuit over taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries that Governor Katie Hobbs seemed poised to conclude with a recent executive order.
The amicus brief was filed in Toomey v. State of Arizona, a lawsuit launched in 2019 on behalf of Russell Toomey, an associate professor at the University of Arizona who is transgender, by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Arizona. It alleged that the State of Arizona and the Arizona Board of Regents violated federal civil rights statutes and the U.S. Constitution because refusing to pay for gender reassignment surgery for state employees “unlawfully discriminates against transgender people.”
In a move celebrated by the ACLU, Hobbs signed Executive Order 2013-12 last month, which requires Arizona to pay for gender reassignment surgeries for state employees. However, Republicans note the executive order makes no mention of children, or A.R.S. 32-3230, a law signed last year which bans a litany of transgender treatments and surgeries for all Arizonans under the age of 18.
“Although Governor Hobbs and I may disagree on matters of policy, state statute prevails over any statements or executive orders from the Governor,” said Toma in a press release announcing the amicus brief. “Given that Arizona law prohibits gender reassignment surgeries for anyone under 18, Governor Hobbs cannot expressly or implicitly undo Arizona’s statutory prohibition, through litigation or otherwise.”
Toma said the amicus brief was “critical” because the ACLU and Hobbs “neglected to address” the issue of minor gender reassignment surgeries in their proposed settlement agreement.
In the legal document, the Republicans wrote that neither the ACLU nor Arizona explained how the executive order “relates to existing Arizona statutory law,” and suggest both the ACLU and Hobbs’ legal team ignored A.R.S. 32-3230 “even though the parties’ proposed Consent Decree implicates, and risks violating” the law.
The Arizona Sun Times contacted Hobbs’ press team to ask for a comment regarding the efforts of Toma and Petersen, and whether her office intentionally excluded mention of children in the executive order or proposed settlement, but did not receive a response before press time.
Speaking to The Sun Times, Toma confirmed he had not spoken to Hobbs but is “optimistic that the court will accept our brief and resolve the case appropriately in light of the separation of powers concerns we have raised.”
When Hobbs signed the executive order late last month, State Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope (R-Maricopa) vowed the legislature would work to stop Hobbs’ latest “unilateral overreach.”
“Instead of helping families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, fill their tanks with gas and put food on the table, Governor Hobbs is making sure taxpayer dollars are instead going towards elective, sex change surgeries,” said Shope, calling the order “tone deaf and out of touch.”
A.R.S. 32-3230 was signed into law by former Governor Doug Ducey last year. It was sponsored by Petersen in the State Senate and passed 16-12, also passing in the State House 31-26.
Though public opinion polling on gender reassignment for children remains sparse, The Sun Times noted last year that a Michigan survey found 79 percent of that state’s voters opposed allowing those under 18 to undergo gender reassignment surgeries, transgender hormone treatments, or other forms of gender-affirming care. Only 21 percent were in favor of allowing minors to receive such treatments.
Petersen did not respond to a press inquiry in time for publication.
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Tom Pappert is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Tom on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
