Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen have ordered the filing of amicus briefs in two companion cases before the United States Supreme Court in support of Idaho and West Virginia, as the Court takes up pivotal cases that will determine whether states can preserve the integrity of female athletics by ensuring only biological females may compete.
“Arizona passed the Save Women’s Sports Act to keep competition fair for girls,” said Montenegro. “It’s unacceptable that our state’s top lawyer refuses to defend that law. While Attorney General Mayes stands aside, House Republicans are doing the job she won’t—standing up for Arizona’s daughters and every female athlete who trains and competes. The Ninth Circuit sidelined our law; I’m confident the Supreme Court will correct course and affirm what parents and coaches know: girls’ sports are for girls.”
In 2022, the Legislature enacted Arizona’s Save Women’s Sports Act. After Attorney General Mayes declined to defend it, Republican leaders in the House and Senate intervened and have continued to defend the law in federal court. Although the Ninth Circuit recognized the State’s important interests—competitive fairness, student safety, and equal athletic opportunities—it left the Act enjoined as applied to two transgender, biologically male athletes.
The Legislature’s petition for certiorari remains pending at the U.S. Supreme Court (Montenegro/Petersen v. Doe), with the Legislature itself stepping in to defend the statute after Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to do so. The Supreme Court’s rulings in the Idaho and West Virginia cases will directly shape the future of Arizona’s law, as well as those in dozens of other states.
Arizona’s briefs in the Idaho and West Virginia cases urge the Court to uphold state laws that keep girls’ and women’s sports female-only to preserve safety, fairness, and equal athletic opportunities. The filings explain that the federal injunction against Arizona’s law has already harmed girls—costing placements, roster spots, and playing time. The legislative leaders also argue that courts should defer to elected legislatures, rather than unelected athletic bodies, when setting uniform participation standards, especially where medical and scientific disputes exist.
“Girls deserve a level playing field,” Montenegro added. “House Republicans will continue to vigorously defend Arizona’s law and support states working to keep girls’ sports fair and safe.”
“These cases give the Court an opportunity to affirm what science and common sense already make clear: biological males hold inherent physical advantages that make women’s athletic competitions unfair and unsafe when they are allowed to participate,” said Petersen. “We cannot allow activist judges and radical groups to erase protections that women and girls have fought for generations to secure.”
Over half the states in America have enacted legislation to preserve fairness in women’s sports. Arizona joined them in 2022 with passage of SB 1165, the Save Women’s Sports Act, signed into law by then-Governor Doug Ducey. The law ensures that girls’ athletic events at public schools are reserved for biological females.
“Our daughters deserve the same fair opportunities in sports that their mothers and grandmothers fought to secure,” said Petersen. “This is about protecting truth, fairness, and the very foundation of women’s athletics.”
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