Arizona Legislators recently passed a bill that restricts transgender individuals from playing on sports teams that aligns with their gender identity.

Senate Bill 1165, also known as the anti-transgender sports bill, bans transgender females from competing on a girls’ sports team at both public and private schools. The bill was passed by the Arizona Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives then was ultimately signed into law on March 30 by Gov. Doug Ducey.

Supporters of the sports ban were pleased there will no longer be unfair competition within female sports while those against the ban did not want a bill specifically targeting transgender individuals to be passed.

Ali Sundem plays volleyball for a club team at her university and said as an athlete she did not support the bill and is disappointed that it passed.

“I think transgender athletes should be allowed to play on teams that match their gender identity,” said Sundem.

The bill was created to ensure that girls’ sports are kept fair by not allowing female transgender athletes to join because of certain biological advantages.

However, the bill would not restrict transgender females from joining sports teams for boys or from joining coed sports teams.

One of the main reasons people are against transgender girls participating in women’s sports is because they have biological advantages from being assigned male at birth, which is why they supported the passage of the law.

Many people who opposed the bill, and are disappointed it is now a law, were aware of the arguments made by supporters but continued to protest the passage of the bill.

Sundem said she understands why people support the new law but believes all athletes have some sort of advantage.

“Everyone has some sort of advantage, whether on a physical or biological level, that sets them apart from other athletes and leads to greater success,” said Sundem.

Now that the bill is a law, schools throughout Arizona will have to follow and implement the sports ban even if it goes against their city’s ordinance.

Scottsdale adopted an anti-discrimination ordinance in April 2021, to show that the City Council supports and values diversity. The anti-discrimination ordinance states it protects residents from discrimination because of their gender identity.

However, the ordinance cannot protect the rights of transgender students wanting to join a sports team because the State Legislature is in charge of establishing laws for public schools.

Thea Mushro, a member of the LGBTQ community said she believes that the law will severely impact the transgender community.

“Transgender kids are already experiencing so much discrimination and to add that bill to schools would just add another place they won’t feel safe,” said Mushro.

Mushro said she believes that schools should be accepting of the transgender youth and should try to find other ways to keep sports fair but still allow transgender athletes to participate.

“There are plenty of other ways to regulate who is eligible to play sports in a certain category,” said Mushro. “To keep it fair by banning transgender kids is not one of them.”

Editor’s Note: Miya Whitaker is a student reporter at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.