Arizona Legislative Republicans and Democrats are continuing their legendary clashes over a bill that would severely punish unlawful exposures to minors.
SB 1698, sponsored by Senator Justine Wadsack, “establishes unlawful exposure to an adult oriented performance or business as a class 4 felony offense punishable as a dangerous crime against children and requires a person convicted of the offense to register as a sex offender,” according to the overview provided by the Arizona House of Representatives.
In a video explanation of the genesis behind this bill’s introduction, Senator Wadsack said she “felt a conviction to create this bill after coming across events like the drag queen story hours, which involve sexual adult performance in sexually explicit attire, reading books to children – often elementary school age.”
"I'm passionately working on a bill which establishes the offense of unlawful exposure to an adult oriented performance or business and classifies a violation as a class 4 felony."
In February, SB 1698 passed both the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, before it was approved by the entire Senate chamber in early March by a 16-14 party-line vote. Before the vote on the Senate floor, Senator Wadsack inserted a five-part floor amendment, which (among other things) removed the definition of “drag show” from the original bill.
After the final Senate action on the bill, it was transmitted to the Arizona House of Representatives, where it was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.
#SB1698: My bill just passed in the Senate! It makes it unlawful for adult oriented performances, such as Drag Queen Story Hour as it specifically targets children.
— AZ Senator Justine Wadsack (@Wadsack4Arizona) March 2, 2023
This week, the House Judiciary Committee considered the bill, and, after vigorous debate, passed it by a vote of 5-3. All Republicans voted to affirm the legislation, and Democrats voted to oppose. House Democrats labeled SB 1698 as one of the chamber’s “hateful bills,” linking the policy proposed by Wadsack to a hypothetical outcome that would see the end of “school-play versions of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.”
Hateful Bills Alert 🚨 Sen. Justine Wadsack’s SB1698 criminalizing drag shows in House Judiciary 9am. And SB1026 Sen. John Kavanagh’s bill to ban state funding for drag performances (House Government 10 am) so fare thee well school-play version of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” pic.twitter.com/BY9hOpfK2Z
House Judiciary Committee Republicans made their voices heard during this hearing, pushing back against individuals speaking out against the bill and their colleagues from across the aisle. Representative Alexander Kolodin said, “All this bill does is prohibit parents from taking their kids to a sex show or a drag show. It’s common sense. How could you be against that?”
Representative Cory McGarr stated that “there is a growing trend that for some reason we are pushing hyper-sexual material on children. But to oppose this bill on the merit, to me, seems completely insane.”
Countering the naysayers of the bill, the bill sponsor, Senator Wadsack, previously clarified what her legislation does or does not do: “This bill does not target entertainers who are performing for adults. This bill also deals with individuals providing adult entertainment to minors, which is absolutely what crosses the line.”
Representatives from the National Association of Social Workers, Children’s Action alliance, American Civil Liberties Union of AZ, AZ Attorneys for Criminal Justice, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona registered in opposition to the bill during the legislative process.
SB 1698 is expected to make its way to the House floor for a vote in the near future.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
A bill meant to add transparency to Arizona’s elections is approaching its final hurdle in the Legislature.
HB 2722, sponsored by Representative Gail Griffin, “authorizes the officer in charge of elections, the county recorder or any person who is designated by the county board of supervisors to count all or any portion of the ballots in an election by hand” – according to the purpose provided by the Arizona Senate.
In a statement to the House Municipal Oversight & Elections Committee, Representative Griffin explained the purpose of her legislation: “It’s a simple bill. It allows the counties to do a hand count. We believe that they already have the authority to do it, but this clarifies it.”
Last month, Griffin’s bill cleared the Arizona House by a party-line 31-28 vote – with one member (Representative Shah) not voting. Before the action from the full chamber, HB 2722 passed the House Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee with a 6-4 tally; all Republicans voting in favor of the legislation and all Democrats in opposition).
After the House transmitted this bill to the Senate, it was assigned to the Elections Committee, chaired by Senator Wendy Rogers. Rogers recently brought HB 2722 up for consideration, and it passed out of her committee with another party-line vote of 5-3.
During the committee hearing, Representative Griffin stopped by to testify for her bill. She told the members of the committee that she had worked with the Cochise County Recorder David Stevens on the bill’s language.
Democrat Senator Anna Hernandez had some harsh words for the bill sponsor before voting against the bill in the Senate committee: “I’m not inclined to support any legislation that is being pushed by someone who runs an institute that posts conspiracy theories…around elections.” Another fellow Democrat on the committee, Senator Mendez, added, “Advocates, policy advisors – everyone has noted to us that hand counts only produce inaccurate results, confused voters, and consume extensive time, money, and labor…We should not be inviting all of this chaos and pretending as if this is going to solve our problems.”
Senator Rogers had the final word on the bill before it officially passed her committee, saying, “Whatever it takes to get accurate, reliable results – because 250 years of blood and treasure have been spilled for our sacred vote.” She also read a 2019 quote from then-U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, which stated: “This shouldn’t be a controversial statement: The United States must embrace hand-marked paper ballots.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
The city of Phoenix is looking to expand its public transit system by adopting a new busing route that connects to light rail, a type referred to as “Bus Rapid Transit” (BRT). The city held a public meeting last Tuesday to discuss the proposed expansion. This would be the first BRT in Phoenix.
BRT is a busing system that incorporates the speed and capacity of light rail systems. The approved BRT system will span along 35th Avenue from Trail Inn Lodge/W. Van Buren Street, where it stems from Central Station and intersects the light rail system, to Cheryl Drive, where it runs up to Black Canyon Highway and intersects the light rail. There are 16 proposed BRT stations.
Your voice matters, and we want to hear from you! 🚌
Meet with the #PHX Bus Rapid Transit team to learn more about the future of #BRT: 📅March 28 🕔5:30 – 7:00 PM 📍Trinity United Methodist Church
Where regular busing systems carry about 60-80 passengers on freeways and use High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes during the morning and evening, mainly for commuters, with limited stops near the beginning and end of their route, BRT carries 100-150 passengers throughout the day on major roads with prioritized right-of-ways like bus lanes.
BRT is part of the city’s 2050 plan, approved in 2015. The city notes that exact costs for the BRT haven’t been determined yet.
The city will go forward with its plan to expand public transit options as ridership has faced an overall decline over the past five years. Ridership dropped from 2018 to 2021 before increasing slightly in 2022. According to available Valley Metro data, ridership for February 2022 was the exact same as ridership for January 2023 — indicating that ridership may not increase from last year’s totals.
From 2018 to 2019, ridership dropped by 2.4 million; from 2019 to 2020, ridership dropped by 11.85 million; from 2020 to 2021, ridership dropped by 25.19 million; and from 2021 to 2022, ridership recovered by 4.5 million.
BRT is generally customizable to the needs of each city, generally including these key elements: advanced fare collection through methods like mobile apps, smart cards, or ticket kiosks; road modifications to prioritize busing like queue jump lanes, bus-only lanes and corridors, turn restrictions, or extended green lights and shortened red lights; expansive bus stations with canopies, seating, travel information screens, and ticket vending machines; and customized buses with amenities like USB charging ports and space for bikes.
Over 160 cities globally have BRT systems. Major cities in the U.S. with BRT systems include Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; Cleveland, Ohio; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Kansas City, Missouri; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; Omaha, Nebraska; Provo-Orem, Utah; and Houston, Texas.
According to the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP), none of those cities’ BRT systems ranked high for meeting the BRT Standard. The standard rates are based on best practices: safety, operations, design, right-of-way dedication, busway alignments, and onboard fare validation.
The Phoenix City Council first approved the BRT system in October 2021.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Attorney General Kris Mayes is pushing to soften policy on blood donations from sexually active, gay men. Mayes joined 22 other states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in supporting the policy change proposed by the Biden administration, which would reject potential donors who had sex with a new partner or more than one partner within the prior three months.
Current policy prohibits gay or bisexual men from donating blood if they’ve been sexually active within the prior three months. In a press release, Mayes called this protective measure “outdated.”
“Discriminatory blood donation policies not only stigmatize the LGBTQ community, and gay and bisexual men in particular, but also endanger the lives of patients in need,” said Mayes. “It’s long past time to abandon outdated practices and embrace a risk-based approach that allows all eligible donors to contribute to the blood supply. If implemented, the new guidance proposed by the Biden administration will undoubtedly save lives.”
Attorney General Kris Mayes today joined a 22-state coalition in support of the Biden Administration's new proposed policy that would make it easier for the LGBTQ population to donate blood and plasma.
— Arizona Attorney General's Office (@arizonaago) March 31, 2023
Initially, the proposed policy change concerned offsetting the donor blood shortage resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FDA indefinitely rejected blood donations from sexually active gay or bisexual men beginning in the 1980s with the AIDS outbreak, prohibiting any man who’d engaged in sodomy even once. It wasn’t until 2015 that the FDA softened this policy to allow blood donations from sexually active gay or bisexual men, so long as that donor claimed to not have been sexually active within the prior 12 months.
The FDA again revised its guidance to reduce the 12-month waiting period to three months.
In their letter to the Biden administration, Mayes and the 22 states argued that modern donor blood testing can find the presence of HIV within anywhere from 10 days to three months of transmission. They cited other countries with similar nondiscriminatory donation policies.
Several of the countries listed, including Italy and Mexico, have noted a higher-than-desirable prevalence of HIV-positive donors over the years, as well as concerns that screening policies don’t reach far enough.
The attorneys general also noted that men who claim to be in a monogamous, homosexual relationship suffered the greatest burden under current policy. Based on current data, monogamy is less commonly practiced by gay or bisexual men.
HIV and AIDS aren’t the only sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) that primarily result from sodomy. Last year, a global monkeypox outbreak occurred after an infected British man engaged in sexual activity while attending two raves in Belgium and Spain. The man caught monkeypox in Africa, where the disease is mainly endemic in animals.
The other states joining Arizona in supporting the Biden administration’s proposed policy change include California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Arizona Democratic Party (ADP) Vice Chair, Brianna Westbrook, signaled support for gun violence following the Nashville, Tennessee school shooting last Monday.
Westbrook indicated support in a call for violence against “transphobes” on Monday following the Nashville, Tennessee school shooting. Westbrook liked a tweet from Gov. Katie Hobbs’ now-resigned press secretary Josselyn Berry.
Berry had tweeted a GIF of a woman walking forward with two guns raised with the caption, “Us when we see transphobes.”
#BREAKING@BWestbrookAZ8 liked the tweet from Katie Hobbs’ press secretary threatening to kill “transphobes.”
Brianna is the vice chair for the @azdemparty and is running for state house in #LD5.
This wasn’t the first incitement to violence from Westbrook. Following the summer of Black Lives Matter (BLM) riots, Westbrook concurred with fellow activist — Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona board member Chris Love — that blue alerts shouldn’t exist. Blue alerts are issued when a suspect poses an imminent or credible threat to law enforcement, or an officer is missing.
Westbrook’s response to the Nashville school shooting isn’t unique among trans activists. In the aftermath of the tragedy, other transgender activists have issued public responses ranging from apathy to celebration. Three children and three faculty were killed by the shooter, a woman who sometimes identified as a transgender man.
Twitter user Thomas Mix wrote that he hopes it was Republicans who were killed at the Christian school shooting in #Nashville. Three of the murdered were young children. pic.twitter.com/eRXWiTseo9
Other transgender activists have appeared to call for more bloodshed.
After the mass shooting at the Nashville Christian school by a #trans assailant, leftist trans porn model "Tiffany Starr" appears to call for more terrorist attacks. She uses the hashtag "TransTerrorism" along with an image of a game character showing off an arsenal of deadly… pic.twitter.com/AZsuna8qXc
Radical #trans activist group, the Trans Resistance Network, has released a statement mourning the death of the #Nashville Christian school mass shooter. The statement says there were two tragedies, the murder of the children & school staff, & also that… pic.twitter.com/XkbEeqfb7j
The shooting occurred days before a planned “Trans Day of Vengeance,” scheduled to occur on April Fool’s Day. The event was planned by the Trans Radical Activist Network (TRAN); a day after the shooting, the group issued a statement that it would continue the event as planned. However, the group canceled the event on Friday, citing a “credible threat” of violence.
The organization, who subsequently made their Twitter account private following backlash on the event and their remarks, indicated that the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was a victim as well. TRAN erroneously referred to Hale as “Aubrey.”
“Hate has consequences,” wrote TRAN.
The 'Trans Resistance Network' has released a statement that Audrey Hale is the real victim in the Christian school shooting pic.twitter.com/qNrsTpiM8B
Twitter users who shared images of the poster, even with the attempt to raise awareness or issue a warning, had their accounts suspended. This included the accounts of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, who quoted the Bible in response to the threats of violence.
This is a lie.
My Congressional account was suspended for 7 days for exposing Antifa, who are organizing a call for violence called “Trans Day of Vengeance.”
The day after the mass murder of children by a trans shooter.
There’s a Trans Day of Vengeance planned for April 1st, and members of congress are screaming in the halls about the 2nd Amendment. You don’t want to miss this. Tune in right now: https://t.co/kTKLsNdJlQpic.twitter.com/VlEwJF4PZI
Secretary of State Adrian Fontes attempted to build up his fundraising campaign email list by dissing gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and her “MAGA fascist” supporters.
In an email last month, the secretary asked for his supporters to not only pressure the Arizona Supreme Court to reject Lake’s lawsuit, but to impose punishments on her and her supporters.
“We need you to make your voice heard and tell the Arizona Supreme Court that MAGA fascists must be held accountable for their election denying lies,” stated Fontes. “We’re demanding that Lake’s last lawsuit be dismissed and her legal team sanctioned for wasting the resources of the Arizona legal system.”
The body of the email is reproduced below in full:
Kari Lake just doesn’t know when to quit. We’ve already seen her attempts to overturn the 2022 election fall flat, but now Kari Lake is approaching her last legal option. She’s appealed her election case to the Arizona Supreme Court, and if they refuse her appeal, she’ll have no legal recourse left.
Even though the facts and case precedent are on our side, we can’t leave our democracy to chance. We need you to make your voice heard and tell the Arizona Supreme Court that MAGA fascists must be held accountable for their election denying lies.
We’re demanding that Lake’s last lawsuit be dismissed and her legal team sanctioned for wasting the resources of the Arizona legal system. Our democracy has stood strong, and with Lake’s last defeat on the horizon, we can finally shut the door on the 2022 election and look forward to Arizona’s future.
Can we count on you to sign our petition urging the Supreme Court to dismiss and sanction Lake for her frivolous election lawsuits? A strong rejection of these election lies is essential for the health of Arizona’s democracy. Stand with us and make your voice heard by signing the petition today.
I know I'll get called out again, but this is not a good look for our Sec. of State to be doing this! I am opposed to the continual Kari Lake Poo Flinging Contest in the Courts, but this is not right. pic.twitter.com/MEUCV6OfCB
Critics of the call to action were quick to point out that the only way to “petition” the court would have been to file an amicus brief ahead of last week’s deadline.
Not smart.
And, as an attorney, he knows that the only appropriate way for his supporters to "petition" the court would have been to file an amici by last week's deadline. (They even could've received an extension😉.) –PW
The referenced case, Lake v. Hobbs, is pending a ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court. Lake asked the court to expedite the hearing in January, ahead of Hobbs’ swearing in, but the court rejected her request. Lake asked the court, again, to expedite the hearing earlier this month; the court accepted. The Arizona Supreme Court granted review of the case late last month on one of the seven issues, concerning Maricopa County’s signature verification process.
In his most recent response opposing Lake’s lawsuit, Fontes asked the court for Lake to be punished.
“This [lawsuit] justifies the imposition of sanctions, or some kind of admonishment, so others will not follow suit,” stated the response. “If this Court sits silent in the face of what has occurred, then those who would due [sic] our union harm will continue to malign and erode the foundations upon which our great state stands.”
Fontes has persisted in issuing jabs against Lake and her supporters amid the ongoing lawsuit. Earlier this month in an interview with MSNBC, several days after the Arizona Supreme Court accepted Lake’s motion to expedite review, the secretary pretended to not know Lake.
“Who are you talking about? I don’t know of anybody of relevance in Arizona named Kari Lake,” asked Fontes.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
