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What’s Advancing, and Where to Push Back
- Carol Tappenden
- Dec 20, 2025
- 4 min read
This week shows how quickly coordinated attacks on queer and trans students are moving across the country and here in Arizona. The same ideas are showing up at school board meetings, in pre-filed legislation, through ballot initiatives, and in votes in Congress. These are not disconnected incidents. They are part of a deliberate effort to limit who public schools serve and who gets to make decisions about young people’s lives.
What is at stake is not a policy disagreement. It is whether trans students are allowed to exist openly in schools, whether educators are free to support them, and whether families retain the right to make decisions about their children without government interference. Each of these fights may look narrow on its own, but together they form a broader push to erase protections and normalize exclusion.
Below, we break down what is moving right now, where pressure is being applied, and where intervention still has the power to change outcomes.
🏛️ Federal Policy Watch
House Advances Bills to Restrict Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed multiple bills aimed at restricting access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. These include proposals sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that would criminalize certain providers and Rep. Dan Crenshaw to block Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care. The bills passed narrowly along party lines.
These measures strip families and medical professionals of decision-making authority and replace evidence-based care with political ideology. They are part of a broader federal effort to roll back protections for trans people under the guise of “protecting children.”
What happens next:
These bills now move to the U.S. Senate, where their future is uncertain but far from settled.
What you can do:
Contact your U.S. Senators and Representative to oppose federal bans on gender-affirming care
Support organizations mobilizing legal and legislative resistance
Share accurate information that counters fear-based misinformation about trans healthcare
🏛️ Arizona Legislative Update
Anti-Trans Athletics Measure Headed for the Ballot
Last week, Arizona lawmakers pre-filed HCR 2003, a ballot measure introduced by Rep. Bliss that would amend state law to restrict participation in interscholastic and intramural athletics based strictly on “biological sex.” The measure would also mandate sex-segregated use of athletic facilities and create broad private rights of action against schools and athletic associations.
If advanced by the legislature, it will go directly to Arizona voters, removing the governor’s ability to veto it and placing fundamental questions about transgender students’ rights on the ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure would:
Bar transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports
Force schools to police students’ bodies and identities
Expose schools and athletic associations to litigation
Increase harassment and exclusion of trans and gender-nonconforming students
This proposal mirrors a national strategy to advance anti-trans policies through ballot measures after similar bills failed or were vetoed in other states, deliberately shifting decisions about transgender students’ rights from elected officials to voters.
🏫 School Board and District Updates
Scottsdale Unified School District
Anti-trans rhetoric surfaced again during public comment at the December 9, 2025 Scottsdale Unified School District governing board meeting. Speakers used inflammatory language targeting LGBTQ+ inclusion and district policies, echoing national culture-war talking points rather than addressing student wellbeing or educational outcomes.
Hall Monitors flagged this moment as part of a growing pattern: coordinated speakers using local school boards to normalize hostility toward queer and trans students, even when agenda items are unrelated.
Phoenix Elementary School District
A Phoenix elementary music teacher was targeted after playing “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan in class, sparking online harassment and coordinated complaints. The incident reflects a broader trend of educators being disciplined or intimidated for affirming queer students or incorporating inclusive content.
🗳️ Weekly Civic Power Series
Part 6: How to Intervene Early When a Policy Is Still “Just a Draft”
Most harmful school policies don’t start as final votes. They start as drafts, agenda items, “discussion only” memos, or consultant recommendations. That early phase is where community power matters most.
Why early intervention works:
Draft policies are easier to change than finalized ones
School boards are more vulnerable to public pressure before positions harden
Administrators often test ideas quietly before taking them public
What early intervention looks like in practice:
Monitoring agendas and attachments, not just final votes
Submitting written public comment before meetings
Asking for data sources, legal justification, and policy impacts
Demanding advisory committees or community review before action
Bottom line:
If you wait until a policy is up for a final vote, the damage is already halfway done. Power comes from showing up early, asking uncomfortable questions, and forcing transparency before momentum builds.
Next week - Part 7:
What to Do after a Policy Passes (and Why the Fight isn't Over).
🗞️ In the News
🧾 Discrimination & Harassment Complaint Form
Queer students continue to face discrimination, slurs, and harassment from peers and even faculty. Documenting these incidents matters. Each report ensures state officials can’t ignore the problem. Bullying and discrimination harm students’ education, mental health, and safety.
💪 Stand With Students
Every student deserves to feel safe, supported, and seen at school. Your involvement, whether as a Hall Monitor, volunteer, or donor – keeps that promise alive. Get involved today!