Civic Advocacy On Thursday, June 8, Governor Hobbs announced her veto of SB 1040, a bill that would have restricted bathroom access for transgender students. This action marks a full decade of failure for anti-trans bathroom bills in Arizona, a particular obsession of state Senator John Kavanagh. Governor Hobbs kept her veto letter brief, writing: SB1040 is yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state legislature. As I stated in my veto letter for SB1001, I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children. Today, June 12, the legislature wil ..read more

It’s the start of Pride Month, so we’re shaking up our usual format to talk about the big picture of what’s happening in Arizona, why we do what we do, and how you can get involved. And because it’s Pride Month, we’re going to extend a special invitation to join us as a monthly donor; make sure to choose your favorite sticker design so that we can mail it to you with a thank you letter! What We’re Seeing in Arizona We have a lot to celebrate this month, and even just one year ago, that was not a guarantee. Heading into the 2022 midterm elections, we had seen a record number of anti-trans bills ..read more

On today’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we’re joined by Shae from Arizona Trans Together for a wide-ranging discussion about mutual aid and community building, hormone therapy and its gatekeepers, and the overlaps between neurodivergent and trans communities. Links * Arizona Equals Celia * Arizona Equals Jesse & Gabe * Brick Road Coffee * AZTYPO * one-n-ten * Erin’s Informed Consent HRT Map Full Transcript Jeanne From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizona Equals Conversation. I'm Jeanne Woodbury. I'm the interim executive director at Equality Arizona, and each we ..read more

Civic Advocacy Each month we host two Civic Advocacy Jams, the centerpiece of our strategy to make policymaking and local government more accessible to the queer community. In just an hour and a half, we take real problems from our lives and transform them into policy solutions. It's a little like a hackathon, but it's not just for policy nerds — if you've ever looked at a system and thought "we could be doing this better," this is the event for you. Our next event will be held on June 3 at the Tempe Public Library, and we’ll be bringing the Civic Advocacy Jam back to Tucson on June 17! Civic ..read more

On this week’s episode of the Arizona Equals Conversation, we talk with Canella Caro, a student at ASU who plan to be a history teacher, about hope in uncertain times, the process of learning empathy, and the culture of right-wing echo chambers online. The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories. Full Episode Transcript Jeanne Woodbury From Equality Arizona, you're listening to the Arizon ..read more

Action Alert On Monday, half a dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills cleared their final vote in the legislature. Among these was SB 1001 — the first bill of the session — which threatens to rob trans and non-binary kids of life-saving affirmation and support. Governor Hobbs has already publicly pledged to veto SB 1001, but as it and other anti-LGBTQ+ bills are sent to her desk over the next week, it’s important to use your voice to make the case for more thoughtful, empathetic, and people-centered policymaking. Three things you can do today * Call Governor Hobbs at (602) 542-4331 to thank her for being an ..read more

With a busy start to the week for anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the legislature, this week’s episode, featuring Samuel Ndinjiakat Jr is coming out a little behind schedule, but it’s well worth the wait. Woven through his story of student organizing is a fascinating conversation about race and gender with a rare pairing of academic depth and personal, emotional relevance. The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityar ..read more

Action Alert: SB 1161 Call on your Representatives to vote for affordable housing! As the session winds quickly to a close, there’s very little time left to accomplish important action on the state’s housing crisis. We have a shortage of over a quarter-million homes, and LGBTQ+ people are particularly vulnerable to a lack of affordable housing. One bill that would make a meaningful change for LGBTQ+ people in our biggest cities is SB 1161, which would speed up development of affordable housing (specifically and exclusively) along public transit corridors. This has a double impact of increasing ..read more

On today’s episode, we’re joined by our friend Matthew Coelho to talk about the joys of family, music, and the Southern Arizona desert. This is the third in a series of three interviews recorded in Matthew’s home in Tucson, following our episodes with Juan McElroy and Matthew’s husband Blake Coelho. The Arizona Equals Conversation is an interview podcast collecting the stories of LGBTQ+ people living in Arizona. To listen to past episodes of the podcast, or to sign up to be a guest on a future episode of the show, visit equalityarizona.org/stories. Full Episode Transcript Jeanne Woodbury From ..read more

Ask Smart People Smart Questions is a podcast and event series where we create the context to have bigger conversations about some of the big issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community. This month we’re talking about public education, specifically through the lens of governance. Over the past few years, there’s been an increasing trend of targeted disruptions in school board meetings, so we wanted to bring together a panel of experts to figure out where this is coming from and to learn about the structural problems and solutions at play. We were joined by Richie Taylor, Jeanne Casteen, and Katie ..read more