Arizona voters appear all but certain excluding trans students from girls sports teams and the school bathrooms and locker rooms that reflect their gender identity.

Dubbed the “Protect Girls Sports in Arizona Act,” Proposition 318 threatens schools and athletic associations with lawsuits if they allow trans girls to join the sports teams consistent with their gender identity or let someone use a locker room, shower facility or bathroom intended to be for a person of the opposite biological sex. It is already illegal under Arizona law to permit trans girls to play on school sports teams designated for girls, but the initiative would extend that prohibition to private athletic organizations, like Little League.

Votes for Prop. 318 raced to a likely insurmountable lead of more than 200,000 votes when initial election results were released shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday. Those votes came from early ballots that were returned prior to Election Day.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20261104050210/https://azmirror.com/2026/11/03/arizona-voters-back-prop-318-banning-trans-students-from-bathrooms-matching-their-gender/

  • savvie@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    40
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 day ago

    Critics also argued that the initiative does the opposite of what it purports to do, by exposing cisgender girls to uncomfortable questions and discrimination based on what someone else perceives their gender identity to be. 

    “The negative impacts (this) would have, not only on trying to bully and shame transgender people of all ages back into closets, into the shadows, but also to enforce a stereotype of what girls are supposed to look and dress and act like,” Joel Edman, a spokesman for Progress Arizona said. “The real risk that this measure poses is having all girls potentially scrutinized for being too tall, or too strong, or too good at whatever sport they want to play with their friends.”

    • Malica@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      14 hours ago

      This is the intended outcome. This is bred from transphobia which is bred from misogyny. Two birds, one stone, happy bigots.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      13 hours ago

      Yeah. The mean girls will subject poor strong thicc Phoebe to cruel accusations and gender checks.