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The Department of Education said that 20% of state athletic associations currently allow students to participate in the sport that aligns with their gender identity.

Transgender legal scholars and advocates say they were relieved to see the Biden administration extend some protections for transgender students’ sports participation - but they say they remain cautious about the effect on high school and college sports. Read more»

This is the first time an anti-trans bill dealing with school sports has made it through a chamber of Congress. But in the states, this legislative session alone, 498 bills that would restrict the rights of transgender people in all kinds of policy areas have been introduced in 49 states.

U.S. House Republicans voted Thursday to prohibit transgender student athletes from competing on girls sports teams consistent with their gender identity, at the same time multiple GOP-dominated states are making similar moves. Read more»

As many as 21 states currently have laws that prevent trans students from joining sports teams consistent with their gender identities, and at the federal level, Republicans are pushing for a national version.

Two Arizona girls are suing to strike down the state’s trans athlete ban, arguing that it unfairly discriminates against them and violates federal equal protection laws. Read more»

So far, 18 states with Republican-controlled state legislatures have banned transgender athletes from competing in sports that are consistent with their gender identity.

A U.S. House committee passed a bill on a party-line vote that would block transgender girls from competing in school sports consistent with their gender identity, a reflection of a broader push in multiple states to curb the rights of transgender student athletes. Read more»

Michael Grabowski was kicked off of Arizona’s cross-country team in September 2018, losing his scholarship and in turn being forced to attend a different school.

A Ninth Circuit panel will decide whether homophobic slurs used against a former University of Arizona student-athlete counted as sexual harassment under Title IX, which hinges on whether those he said harassed him actually believed he was gay. Read more»

Former Arizona softball player Susie Parra was a three-time All-American selection and earned the National Player of the Year award in 1994.

Arizona softball great Susie Parra earned the nod as the University of Arizona Wildcats’ representative in the 2023 Pac-12 Hall of Honor class - part of the Hall of Honor’s first-ever all-female class of inductees. Read more»

Marchers walk by the historic state Capitol building in Phoenix on Jan. 22, 2023, during a protest of recent bill proposals that criminalize drag shows.

Arizona Republican lawmakers unanimously backed a measure that critics warn would harm trans students, ignoring pleas from parents and students to reject it, and in spite of its unconstitutionality and guaranteed veto. Read more»

Two-time Olympian and World Cup champion Briana Scurry, who attracted a large audience for a Title IX event at Arizona State, helped start the fight for equality in women’s soccer. Despite her accomplishments, she said, “Part of my journey was impeded by the color of my skin.”

Although the Title IX and Global Football event celebrated just how much women’s sports have changed, it also highlighted the need for even more improvement - and with the National Women’s Soccer League recent reports of abuse, the fight for change continues in women’s soccer. Read more»

Despite the decrease in the U.S. teen pregnancy rate, it is still one of the highest in the developed world. There were almost 160,000  births to 15- to 19-year-olds in 2020.

Though Title IX guarantees the right to an education for pregnant and parenting students, schools already fail this population, and advocates worry the Supreme Court elimination of the right to abortion could increase the number of pregnant and parenting teens. Read more»

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade could have recruiting ramifications at universities in Arizona, which has a pre-Roe abortion ban on the books and where clinics have stopped performing abortion services since the June 24 ruling. Read more»

In at least seven states—Arizona, South Dakota, Georgia, Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia—Republican lawmakers have filed legislation that would prohibit transgender girls from participating on sports teams for girls and women in high school and college. Read more»

Students walk across campus at the University of Arizona in this 2020 file photo. A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the university cannot be held liable under Title IX for an assault committed off-campus by a football player against another student.

The University of Arizona cannot be held liable under Title IX for a football player’s off-campus assault of his girlfriend, even though the university exercises “substantial control” over its student athletes, a federal court said Tuesday. Read more»

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is pushing schools to reopen as normal this fall, arguing it’s healthier for kids than staying home. Critics say she has not told schools how to reopen safely in the face of COVID-19.

Arizona Schools Superintendent Kathy Hoffman said Wednesday that the already delayed Aug. 17 start of in-person classes may have to be pushed back again in light of continuing concerns about COVID-19 safety. Read more»

Transgender activists have voiced concerns about House Bill 2076, which would require interscholastic and intramural leagues to classify separate co-ed, male and female sports specifically.

Female transgender students could be restricted from competing in Arizona sports under a new proposed bill. If voted in, the new state law would require interscholastic and intramural leagues to classify sports specifically. Read more»

Arizona school officials welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to reverse an Obama-era policy requiring equal access to facilities for transgender students, saying it should be a local decision.

Arizona officials have welcomed the federal government’s reversal of an Obama administration rule that required equal access to school facilities for transgender students, arguing that communities are better able to handle the issue locally. Read more»

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