Horne Files Defense Of Arizona Law Prohibiting Biological Boys From Playing On Girls’ Teams

press conference
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, former competitive cyclist Shawna Glazier, Arizona House Rep. Selina Bliss (LD1), and former swim team captain at University of Arizona Misha Smith.

On Wednesday, University of Arizona Hall of Fame swimmer, Marshi Smith, joined Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne at a press conference announcing that he has submitted a defense of a lawsuit challenging the state law that prohibits biological boys from playing on girls’ teams.

Also lending support to Horne’s effort are triathlete Lauren Bondly, former UArizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood, and Shawna Glazier, a competitive cyclist who was defeated by a male who identified as a woman, won a cycling event, and then reverted to identifying as a male.

Smith, the 2005 NCAA and Pac-10 Conference Women’s backstroke champion, provided a letter that she and 44 other female athletes sent to the NCAA and the University of Arizona in March 2022 critical of the decision to allow males who identify as transgender to compete against women.

Horne is the only remaining defendant in the case since the other named parties have declined to defend the law.

“From the birth of the NCAA in 1906 until 1972, women had the fight to earn the law that provided equal opportunities for women in sports,” the letter states in part. “It took a male to female transgender person one year to take the women’s swimming national championship title. This is not equality. Women’s standings, titles, records and scholarships are suddenly at risk again.”

“I have sympathy for anybody who feels trapped in the wrong body, but I don’t believe that biological boys should be playing against girls,” Horne stated. “If there really are no differences between males and females then all sports would already be co-ed.”

In the Response to Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, Horne argues “The disruption and the unfairness caused to others by Plaintiffs insisting on unfairly competing against biological girls is undeniable. If the preliminary injunction were to be granted, a number of schools would permit biological males/transgender females to compete against girls. This would be devastating to girls who hope to excel but cannot because they are competing against biological boys and being deprived of scholarships. “

“Biological girls forced to compete against biological males/transgender girls in contact sports, are at a particularly high risk of physical injury due to the average size, speed and strength advantages males have over females,” the response further states.

Because Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes refuses to defend the law, Arizona’s legislative leaders, House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen, filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by two males, an 11-year-old who wants to play girls’ soccer, basketball, and cross-country and a 15-year-old volleyball player.

In 2022, S.B. 1165, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” was passed to ensure young females are protected and provided with an even playing field in sports competition and athletic opportunities. On March 30, this bill was signed into law by former Governor Doug Ducey.

“Like it or not, it is Attorney General Mayes’ job to defend state law the Legislature passes. Because she won’t do her job, I feel an obligation as House Speaker, and as a father of five daughters, to intervene in this case and stand up for women and girls who should not be forced to compete in sports with biological males, who have obvious and unfair physiological advantages that cannot be overlooked,” said Toma.

The law requires “any athletic team that is sponsored by a public or private school to be designated based on the biological sex of the student participants. It allows injunctive relief, damages and any other relief available under law for students or schools that suffer any direct or indirect harm due to a violation.”

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