The U.S. leader of a top global feminist organization, Women’s Declaration International (WDI), urged Arizona’s Democratic lawmakers to support a bill protecting women’s rights by ending gender identity codifications.
Senate Bill 1628, the Women’s Bill of Rights by Senator Sine Kerr, was passed in the House last week and will head to the governor’s desk. SB 1628 would codify new definitions for sex-based terms used in statutes, administrative rules, regulations, and public policies. It’s unlikely the bill will be codified: Governor Katie Hobbs has openly expressed her disapproval for similar bills she deems against LGBTQ+ ideology.
“The purpose of this act is to bring clarity, certainty, and uniformity to the laws of this state regarding sexual discrimination, equality of the sexes and benefits or services that are specifically provided to males and men and females and women,” read the bill.
WDI USA President Kara Dansky, a Democrat, wrote in an Arizona Daily Independent op-ed that the popularized replacement of the concept of sex with gender identity results in the discrimination and oppression of women.
“[The victories of women’s rights] are being thrown out, including by Democratic women leaders, because of the nonsensical, psuedoscientific concept of ‘gender identity’ — the idea that somehow sex isn’t real, that a person can be the opposite sex, or that there is some mysterious third sex class (there isn’t),” said Dansky. “There is nothing progressive about pretending sex isn’t real.”
Dansky’s organization most recently filed a brief in the ongoing Washington court case determining whether a female-only nude spa may exclude men.
Brief filed yesterday in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. At issue is whether Washington state law prohibits a female-only nude spa from excluding men. https://t.co/JF5iBlWrcg
Significantly, SB 1628 would declare in no uncertain terms that the term “sex” indicated the existence of only two sexes: male and female, biological truths established at birth which are “objective and fixed.” The defined term “sex” further explicitly excludes concepts like “gender identity” or similar terms, which the bill noted imparted subjective senses of self and antonymous with the term “sex.”
The legislation further clarified that differences in sex development wouldn’t establish a third sex, such as those cases in which an individual with a congenital and medically verifiable disorder or difference in sex development. In those cases, the bill specifically directs compliance with accommodations according to federal and state law.
Other definitions given for sex-based terms included:
“Male,” meaning an individual who has, had, will have or would have, but for a developmental anomaly or accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces sperm for fertilization of female ova;
“Boy,” meaning a human male who has not yet reached adulthood;
“Man,” meaning an adult human of the male sex;
“Father,” meaning a male parent of a child or children;
“Female,” meaning an individual who has, had, will have or would have but for developmental anomaly or accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces an ova;
“Girl,” meaning a human female who has not yet reached adulthood;
“Mother,” meaning a female parent of a child or children;
“Equal,” meaning the recognition of the equality of sexes but not sameness or identicality;
With those definitions, Senate Bill 1628 would effectively root out gender identity protections by replacing the term “gender” with “sex” in all laws, rules, publications, orders, actions, programs, policies, and signage. The bill also directed the sex-based segregation of environments like bathrooms, locker rooms, living facilities, athletics, domestic violence shelters, and sexual assault crises centers.
Further, public schools as well as those agencies that collect vital statistics related to sex would identify all individuals as either male or female.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) says “Bidenomics” is to blame for the surging gas prices in his district, the fifth congressional district.
According to Biggs, “Bidenomics” includes a “war on domestic energy,” meaning the oil and gas industry.
The average gas price in Arizona, per AAA, sits at about $4 per gallon, a steady rise from prices over the last month but a slight decline from the average last year, when prices hit about $4.30 a gallon.
Arizona’s averages have consistently sat higher than the national averages over the past year.
“Biden’s war on domestic energy hits Americans in the pocketbook. Gas is over $4.00/gallon in my district!” said Biggs. “Arizonans are suffering thanks to Bidenomics.”
Biden's war on domestic energy hits Americans in the pocketbook.
The highest-ever recorded average for gas prices in Arizona was nearly $5.40 in the summer of 2022.
AAA has attributed the recent steady rise in gas prices to the increase in oil prices. Crude oil hit over $10 per barrel earlier this year, attributed to Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and increased conflicts in the Middle East.
The Biden administration has reportedly urged Ukraine to cease its attacks on Russian oil refineries, out of concern for rising gas prices. However, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed those requests from U.S. officials, telling The Washington Post that the U.S. lacks authority to dictate his military strategy.
“We used our drones. Nobody can say to us you can’t,” said Zelensky.
Mapping of gas prices nationwide reflects a trend for prices to be highest around the West Coast, lowest around the midsection of the country, and slightly higher again around the East Coast.
Another factor for the upward surge in gas prices relates to the Biden administration’s increased pressures on oil and gas production — such as the plan announced last fall to scale back leasing for offshore oil and gas drilling — in an attempt to increase American reliance and support for “clean energy” alternatives.
Biden campaigned on the promise to abolish the oil industry, and “end fossil fuel.” His first executive order laid some of the framework to fulfill that promise, such as imposing a moratorium on certain oil and natural gas leasing activities, and directing agencies to revise fuel and emissions standards for vehicles.
On Thursday, the Biden administration announced $20 billion in grants to private companies for clean energy initiatives.
On Wednesday, the Department of Energy canceled two purchases to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Agency officials indicated a desire to avoid buying back oil above its target price of $79 per barrel, since the cost per barrel is around $87.
The Biden administration has depleted the SPR by about 45 percent.
Last month, the Biden administration announced stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles such as freight trucks and buses. Available technologies to meet their new emissions standards include the advanced internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
In January, the White House paused permitting on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
What was supposed to be a three-way challenge for incumbent Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers has turned into a one-on-one contest with recently resigned Councilman Jamie Aldama. The third candidate was failed former state lawmaker Paul Boyer, who had a long and contentious relationship with the Glendale mayor and the city of Glendale. However, Boyer ultimately came up short of the signatures required to file for office and did not meet the April 1st deadline.
That makes the July 30th primary a winner take all event that promises to offer the citizens of Glendale two very different visions for the city. As mayor, Weiers has overseen the resurgence of this West Valley city, and a dramatic improvement in its economy, its bond rating, and its job base. The city regularly reports on companies and developments that have chosen Glendale or existing companies that are expanding.
While Weiers has been mayor, the city has hosted a number of national events, including two Super Bowls, and after this week, its second NCAA Final Four men’s basketball championship.
Aldama’s pitch is more nuanced, because after nearly a decade on the City Council he wants to take credit for the good things in the city, while simultaneously trying to convince voters that the city council is divided and failing in its job. This is a difficult tightrope for him to walk, say consultants, and supporters of the mayor point out that many of the projects and policies that have made Glendale successful are items that Aldama voted against, and those votes that contributed to the success of the city that Aldama voted for and could campaign on, were also championed by the mayor himself.
Aldama supporters believe the city would be better off if it embraced more of the left-leaning policies of cities like Phoenix, which has a Democratic mayor, like Aldama is trying to be. And Aldama himself has been very aggressive in campaigning as a Democrat and soliciting Democrat votes and support, even though city races are nonpartisan and those sorts of partisan appeals are generally frowned upon.
Campaign finance reports will be filed soon and will give more insight into the race and the prospects for the two candidates, but as with mayoral elections every four years, Glendale voters are once again in for a ride.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Flagstaff schools are gearing to update their sex ed curriculum with material introducing gender ideology.
Gender ideology topics, such as gender identity and transgenderism, would be introduced to Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) students as young as the fifth grade, per the district’s ongoing review of its Social/Sexual Health Curriculum for grades 2, 5, 7, 9, and 11.
The district last updated their sex ed curriculum in 2006. As the existing curriculum is nearly 20 years old, the curriculum doesn’t include any discussions of gender ideology; rather, the curriculum clearly distinguishes sex education content between the two genders.
A sexual health educator brought in by the district to advise on the curriculum updates — Sydney Tolchinsky with Coconino County Health and Human Services — told the district in a meeting earlier this year that fifth graders could be transgender and not speaking openly about it. That’s why, Tolchinsky advised district officials, schools should leave it up to the students to pick which classroom they attend to receive their sex education.
Under the existing curriculum, sex education classes for grades 5 and 7 occur in gender-segregated classrooms. Coeducational classes don’t occur until grades 9 and 11.
🧵 on Flagstaff Unified School District (DM us if this is your district)
Listen to this @FlagstaffUSD1 sex education meeting regarding sex-ed for 5th graders.
— Arizona Women of Action (@azwomenofaction) April 3, 2024
Tolchinsky further advised the district to get rid of gender-based distinctions in lessons in order to be inclusive of transgender students, such as saying “people who have periods” rather than teaching students that only biological females have periods.
“What we’ve started doing is just not having different lessons, we just have the same lesson in both rooms to be really inclusive of all genders, and trying to change our language, instead of saying ‘girls have periods and boys don’t,’ saying ‘people with a uterus are going to have periods most likely and people without a uterus won’t,’” said Tolchinsky. “Sometimes that might mean a boy might have a period and girls might not have a period for a lot of reasons.”
Failing to have a menstrual period as a biological female is a condition known as “amenorrhoea.” Unless a female is pregnant, breastfeeding, experiencing menopause, or underwent surgery to remove the uterus or ovaries, amenorrhea is a sign of a condition warranting medical attention.
Common causes of amenorrhea include major hormone disruptions caused by emotional stress, extreme weight loss, excessive exercise, or reproductive disorders. Untreated, amenorrhea can present many health risks: reduced fertility, increased risk of cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, increased risk of early onset osteoporosis, and premature menopause and aging.
For males, phallic bleeding may indicate a variety of medical conditions: physical trauma, balanitis, prostatitis, urinary tract infection, ruptured blood vessels, infection, a reaction to medications, or even cancer.
Under Tolchinsky’s suggested teachings, students may believe that conditions like amenorrhea or phallic bleeding are normal and not a cause for concern.
FUSD Assistant Superintendent Lance Huffman agreed with Tolchinsky that gender-neutral language eliminating gender differences would be beneficial.
“We might want to shift to ‘people’ language rather than just boys and girls so some people get periods or people with a uterus may and people with a penis will not,” said Huffman.
Arizona doesn’t require schools to teach sex ed at any level. However, the state does require parents to “opt in” with written permission for all grade levels. Should parents opt out, each individual school provides alternative instruction.
In 2021, the legislature approved a bill requiring, in part, parental consent for discussions of gender ideology in sex ed. Then-Governor Doug Ducey vetoed the legislation, critiquing the bill language as “overly broad and vague,” which the governor said would cause misinterpretations by schools and inhibit child abuse prevention education in early grades.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, (D-Ariz), announced his cancer diagnosis on Tuesday.
The District 7 congressman, 76, issued a press release on his illness the day after April Fool’s Day. Grijalva didn’t disclose the specifics of his diagnosis, such as whether it was fatal. The congressman clarified that he would maintain his seat through treatment, which he has already begun.
“This diagnosis has been difficult to process, but I am confident in the vigorous course of treatment that my medical team has developed, and I’ve begun my journey to fight this cancer,” said Grijalva.
Grijalva discovered his cancer after seeking medical treatment for a persistent cough, initially diagnosed as pneumonia.
Grijalva was first elected to Congress in 2003, and has held his seat since then. The congressman serves as the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and also sits on the Education and Labor Committee.
Grijalva is also the chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and maintains membership with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
During his 20 years in Congress, Grijalva has introduced 344 bills, 10 of which became law:
HR 4881, the Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act, directing the Department of the Interior to take tribally owned lands in Pima County into trust for the benefit of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, and made into part of the Pascua Yaqui Reservation. The act allows gaming on the land taken into this trust.
HR 2030, the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act, requiring the Department of the Interior to carry out the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan submitted to Congress on March 19, 2019, by Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
HR 507, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Trust Land Act, holds in trust for the tribe all right, title, and interest of the U.S. in and to approximately 20 acres of federal land from two parcels, one of which was owned by the Tucson Unified School District. The lands held in trust under this act prohibit gaming, as well as the forfeiture or abandonment of any water rights from these lands.
HR 3319, allowing the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to determine the requirements for membership in that tribe. The tribe expanded its membership with the perks of federal services and benefits to any with Pascua Yaqui blood enrolled by the tribe.
HR 3739, amending the Arizona Water Settlements Act to modify the requirements for the statement of findings. The amendment makes the Arizona Water Rights Settlement effective as of the date the Secretary of the Interior publishes in the Federal Register a statement of findings that specified conditions apply. These conditions included the judgment and decree attached to the Tohono O’odham settlement agreement approved in state court.
HR 5857, naming a USPS facility in Tucson as the “Morris K. ‘Mo’ Udall Post Office Building.”
HR 1075, designating a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port of Entry in Douglas, Arizona as the “Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry.”
HR 794, the Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act, declared the reservation boundaries to be defined by the Robbins Survey of 1875 and the Harrington Resurvey of 1912. These surveys included 16,000 acres known as the La Paz lands. The act reversed a 1915 executive order excluding those lands from the survey. The land within this trust was exempted from gaming.
HR 327, allowing binding arbitration clauses to be included in all contracts affecting land within the Gila River Indian Community Reservation.
HR 326, amending the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to adjust the boundary of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and for other purposes.
Over the past few years, the long-serving congressman has made headlines for his consistent dismissal of the border crisis as an issue. Grijalva most recently skipped out on a hearing to address the border in his district. The hearing was arranged by the subcommittee of the committee in which he serves as a ranking member.
Grijalva disregarded the border hearing as an ulterior means of scapegoating immigrants.
The congressman also praised President Joe Biden’s administration following the president’s State of the Union, especially in regard to the border.
“Trump and Republicans remain fixated on the southern border and chose to block bipartisan immigration reform for the sake of campaign politics,” said Grijalva. “It’s clear the American people have benefitted from the leadership of President Biden and his commitment to defending the freedoms and values essential to American democracy.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
